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THE JOURNAL OF

AMERICAN FOLK-LORE

VOLUME XVIII

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BOSTON AND NEW YORK

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HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 270, 271 STRAND

LEIPZIG: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ, QUERSTRASSE, 14

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Cob. 2,

THE JOURNAL OF

AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

Vol. XVIII. — JANUARY-MARCH, 1905. — No. LXVIII.

DISENCHANTMENT BY DECAPITATION.i

Decapitation as a means of disenchantment occurs in two Middle
English romances which deserve a closer study than they have yet
received, — TJie Carl of Carlisle ^ and T/ie Turk and Gawain.^ In
The Carl of Carlisle, which belongs to the same group as the Old
French Chevalier a I'Esp^e,'^ the decapitation is the last act in a com-
plicated process of unspelling. The bespelled person is a cruel giant
who puts to death every stranger who seeks harborage in his castle.
Gawain, with Kay and Bishop Baldwin, having lost his way, is forced
to seek the Carl's hospitality, though the Bishop is well aware that
he belongs to the class of personages known to modern scholars
as " Difficult Hosts." Gawain's courtesy, however, enables him to
become master of the situation. The savage host makes several ex-
traordinary requests, but Gawain yields cheerful acquiescence to them
all. Next morning the Carl bids Gawain take a sword and strike off
his head. To this also Gawain assents, though not without express-
ing considerable reluctance. As soon as his head was off, the Carl,
we are told, "stood up a man of the height of Sir Gawain," and
thanked the knight for delivering him from the "false witchcraft"
under which he had labored for forty years. It was this enchantment
which had made him act so murderously ; he had killed guests enough
to make five cartloads of bones.

In The Turk and Gawain, the hero visits the Isle of Man under the
guidance of a " Turk," that is, a dwarf. The island is inhabited by
giants. The King of Man requires the performance of various diffi-
cult feats, all of which are accomplished by the Turk. Finally the

1 Address by the Retiring President, at the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the
American Folk-Lore Society, Philadelphia, December 30, 1904.

2 Madden, Syr Gawayne, pp. 187 ff., 256 ff . ; Hales and Furnivall, Bishop
Percy's Folio Manuscript^ iii. 275 ff.

' Madden, pp. 243 ff. ; Hales and Furnivall, i. 88 ff.

* Edited by M^on, Nouveau Reciieil de Fabliaux et Contes, 1823, i. 127 ff., and
by E. C. Armstrong, Baltimore, 1900.

2 ' Journal of American Folk-Lore.

heathen king is slain. Then the Turk bade Gawain strike off his
head ; and when this was done, he "stood up a stalwart knight," sang
Te Deum, and thanked Gawain heartily.

On another occasion I hope to discuss these romances fully. For
the present, I will, with your permission, confine myself to the single
incident of Unspelling Decapitation, which is common to them both.
In the Carl, the bespelled person is a cruel monster until he is re-
leased from enchantment ; in the Turk, he takes the role of Helpful
Attendant, performing superhuman tasks as a substitute for the hero.
In both, he urges the reluctant Gawain to cut off his head,i and this
is the final act in a somewhat complicated process of disenchantment.
The efficacy of decapitation in undoing a spell is a widespread pop-
ular belief, and many of the tales in which it occurs are otherwise
parallel either to The Carl of Carlisle or to The Turk and Gawain. In
what follows, there is, of course, no attempt at exhaustiveness. My
purpose has been to illustrate the belief by means of typical examples,
and to bring out its significance as an article of the popular creed.

We may begin with the Decapitation of Helpful Animals.

In a Gaelic tale a serviceable steed bids the hero " take a sword
and . . . take the head off me." The hero objecting, the horse
replies : " In me there is a young girl under spells, and the spells
will not be off me till the head is taken off me." In the same story
a serviceable raven makes a similar request : " A young lad under
spells am I, and they will not be off me till the head comes off me."
The pair are transformed and make a fine couple.^ This is an instruc-
tive example because it is outspoken. Usually, however, and more
properly, the animal does not tell the hero or heroine why the be-
heading is to be performed. So, for instance, in a Swedish tale, Den
underbare Hasten, the horse simply asks the hero to strike off his
head, and when this is done he recovers his proper shape, that of a
prince, the brother of the heroine.^

* There is no beheading in the Porkington version of the Carl (edited by
Madden), but this text has omitted the motif of disenchantment altogether, to
the manifest injury of the romance.

3 The Rider of Griatiaig, J. F. Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands,
no. 58, iii. 16-18; of. QwxWn, Hero-Tales of Ireland, pp. 354-5. See also The
Black Horse, from Campbell's manuscript collections, Jacobs, More Celtic Fairy
Tales, pp. 57 ff., and, on the supposed Indian provenience, Hartland, Folk-Lore,
V. 331-2. Cf. Leskien u. Brugman, Litauische Volkslieder u. Mdrchen, p. 386, and
Wollner's notes, pp. ^■^y-^2,

8 Eva Wigstrom, Sagor ock Afventyr upptecknade i Skhne, p. "j^/m Nyare
Bidrag till Kdnnedom, etc., vol. v. In the Norwegian ballad of Asmund
Fregdegcevar, the hero, who has rescued the king's daughter from the land of the
trolls by the aid of a magic horse, strikes off the horse's head : " detS vart ein
kristen mann," namely, the queen's youngest brother, Adalbert, son of the En-
glish king (Landstad, Norske Folkeviser, no. i, sts. 62-63, p. 21). Cf. Curtin,

Disenchantment by Decapitation. 3

In the Lettish epic Needrischu Widwuds} the hero Widewut is
much helped by a werewolf {wilkata), who, among other services,
replaces the heads of the hero's two companions and brings the dead
men to life by means of a magic elixir. The wolf then insists on
being beheaded in his turn, and, when his request is granted, is
transformed into a handsome youth.

The serviceable cat becomes a princess on being decapitated in
Mme. d' Aulnoy's La CJiatte Blanche^ and in the Norwegian Herrepeer
(Sir Peter).^ In Perrault's Le Chat Bott^ there is no beheading and
no disenchantment, but, instead, a delicious specimen of French wit :
" Le Chat devint grand Seigneur, et ne courut plus apr^s les souris,
que pour se divertir." ^ In a Tyrolese story the hero, at the cat's
request, takes the animal by the hind legs and dashes her against
the hearth till he sees her no more. Immediately she reappears as
a beautiful maiden, whom he marries.*

In the Welsh Gypsy tale of The Black Dog of the Wild Forest,
two helpful little dogs, Hear-all and Spring-all, who have saved the
hero's life, require him to cut off their heads, threatening to devour
him if he refuses. As Jack travelled on, grieving, " he turned his
head round at the back of his horse, looking behind him, and he
saw two of the handsomest young ladies coming as ever he saw in
his life." They are Hear-all and Spring-all.^ Similarly, three black
dogs in a German tale, who have served the king well, are beheaded

Myths and Folk-Tales of the Russians, etc., pp. 293, 405, in both of which the
horse makes the reason known. Bayard, the helpful horse in Le Prince et son
Cheval (Cosquin, Contes pop. de Lorraine, i. 133 ff.), does not ask to be disen-
chanted, but simply requests his dismissal. He is certainly bespelled, however:
" Je suis prince aussi bien que vous : je devais rendre cinque services k un prince "
(i. 137). A Christianized incident of this sort is in Vernaleken, Osterreichische
Kinder ti. Hausmdrchen, no. 46, p. 252: a horse says, " Hew off my head," and
when this is done, a white dove flies forth and up to heaven.

1 Put together by Lautenbach-Jusmiea, song 17, Jelgawa, 1891, pp. 211 ff. ; see
summary by H. Wissendorff de Wissukuok, Revue des Traditions Populaires,
xii. 160-1.

2 AsbJ0rnsen og Moe, Norske Folkeeventyr, 2d ed., 1852, p. 162 (translated by
Dasent, Popular Tales from the Norse, 2d ed., 1859, P- 347) ! so in Kong Knud
fra Ktwlande (variant), p. 431, and in another version (in which the cat becomes
a prince), p. 433. See Lang, PerrauWs Popular Tales, 1888, Inirod., p. Ixxii.
Asbjernsen and Moe cite a number of parallels. Cf. the German mdrchen of Der
Federkonig (Haltrich, Deutsche Volksmdrchen aus dem Sachsenlande in Sieben-
biirgen, 3d ed., 1882, p. 50). In Das weisse Kdtzchen (Kuhn u. Schwartz,
Norddeutsche Sagen, p. 334), the kitten's paws and head are cut off, and the
transformation begins on the amputation of the first paw.

8 Lang's ed., as above, p. 35.

* Zingerle, Kinder- und Hatismdrchen, 1852, no. 9, p. 52 ; ed. 1870, p. 42.

•^ Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, pp. 267-71. There are unspelled green dogs
(which remind us of the fancy brackets in French romance) in a tale in the Celtic
Magazine^ xiii. 279.

4 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

at their own request : " Siehe, da standen nun einmal drei Konigs-
sohne." ^

In the West Highland tale of Mac Iain Direach, the fox, who has
assisted the hero materially, remarks as they come to a spring by
the side of the road : " Now, Brian, unless thou dost strike off my
head with one blow of the White Glave of Light into this spring,^ I
will strike off thine." Brian complies, and " in the wink of an eye,
what should rise up out of the well, but the son of the King that was
father of the Sun Goddess." ^

When we pass from Helpful Animals who are unspelled by decapi-
tation to Helpful Servants who are released from enchantment by
the same means, we approach sensibly nearer to the situation in
The Turk and Gawain. Frequently (as in that poem) the helpful
attendant wears a monstrous or dwarfish likeness till he is disen-
chanted.*

In the Welsh Gypsy story of An Old King and his Three So7is in
Englajid, Prince Jack has been entertained and helped at various
stages of his journey by three brothers, whose heads, at their request,
he cuts off and throws into a well. What happens may be seen
from the case of the eldest of the three: " No sooner he does it, and
flings his head in the well, than up springs one of the finest young
gentlemen you would wish to see ; and instead of the old house and
the frightful-looking place, it was changed into a beautiful hall and
grounds." There is complete disenchantment, it will be observed,
of place as well as of person. This oldest brother is described as a
frightful creature : " He could scarcely walk from his toenails curl-
ing up like rams' horns that had not been cut for many hundred
years, and big long hair," and so on.^

^ Haltrich, as above, pp. 107-8.

2 The spring is significant. Immersion in water or some other liquid is often
a means of dissolving a charm, and sometimes operates as one of several measures
conducing to that end. See Child, Ballads, i. 338, 507, ii. 505, iii. 505, and add
Laistner, Rats el dcr Sphinx, § 31, i. 252 f¥.

* J. F. Campbell, no. 46, ii. 358-9. Campbell's story was derived from John
Macdonald the tinker, whom Mr. Hindes Groome makes out to have been a Gypsy
{Gypsy Folk-Tales, pp. Iviii-lxi; cf. Nutt, Folk-Lore, x. i\\--i). It is reprinted,
with valuable notes, in Groome's Gypsy Folk-Tales, pp. 283-9.

* Cormac's Glossary, s. v.prt'ill, Stokes, Three Irish Glossaries, pp. 36-38, and
O'Donovan's translation, ed. Stokes, pp. 135-7 ; O'Curry, Manners and Customs,
ii. 89 ; Nutt, Revue Celiigue, xii. 194-5 ; the same, Holy Grail, pp. 139-41, 205-6 ;
Zimmer, Kuhn's Ztschr., xxviii. 438 ; hntheacht na Tro?ndhaitnhe, ed. Connellan,
Ossianic Society, Transactions, v. 1 14 £f. ; Life of S. Fc'chin of Fore, §§ 37-38, ed.
Stokes, Revue Celtique,x\\.2,^2-$; Maclnnes, Folk and /Zero 7"<2/^j-,pp.9i-93(with
Nutt's note, pp. 454, 467-8) ; Maynadier, PVife of Bath's Tale, pp. 65 ff., 195 ff. ;
J. F. Campbell, iii. 299-300 ; Curtin, Myths a7td Folk-Lore of Ireland, pp. 235 ff. ;
Mac Dougall, Folk and Hero Tales, pp. 35 ff. ; Hyde, Beside the Fire, pp. 18 ff.

* Groome, In Gipsy Tents, 1880, pp. 299-317 ; the same, Gypsy Folk-Tales,

Disenchantment by Decapitation. 5

In the Irish Mac Cool, Faolan, and the Mountain, an old forester,
who has assisted Dyeermud and Faolan in some very perilous adven-
tures, asks Dyeermud to cut off his head, Dyeermud consents after
the old man has told him that he is under enchantment and cannot
be otherwise released. " He cut off his head with one blow, and
there rose up before him a young man of twenty-one years." He
had been enchanted by his stepmother.^

Sometimes the person disenchanted by beheading is not a helpful
animal or attendant, but the heroine of the story. There is a good
instance in the Saxon tale of SaiisewindP' Here a woman who lives
with the ogre Sausewind tells him of three enchanted princesses and,
gets from him the answer : " Wenn einer ein Schwert nimmt und
schlagt dir den Kopf ab, so bist du die eine ; dort unten am Wasser
steht ein Erlenbusch, wenn davon der rechte Ast . . . abgehauen
wird, so ist das die zweite ; und oben am Wasser steht noch ein
Busch, wird davon ebenfalls ein Ast abgehauen, so ist das die dritte;
dann sind alle drei wieder beisammen." A visitor — a young man —
then effects the disenchantment in the way prescribed. Again, in
the Saxon tale of Der dimime Hans (a variant of a well-known mdr-
chen)? Hans serves a mouse, the mistress of an enchanted castle,
for three years. At the end of the third year, the mouse bids him
beat her till she is covered with blood {bliitriinstig). He does so.
Immediately the castle is disenchanted and full of life ; the mouse
becomes a crown-princess and marries Hans. In a variant,* a cat
takes the place of the mouse, and Hans has to cut wood during his
three years of service, make a huge fire, and finally throw the cat
into the flames.

Sometimes the disenchanted person is a prince, and the maiden
who releases him wins him as a husband. Thus in a West Highland
tale^ which is a variant of the well-known Frog Prince, the frog, for
whom the girl has made a bed beside her own, finally says : " ' There

no. n, pp. 220-32 ; see also Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, 1891, iii. 110-20.
From the first of these publications the tale was reproduced, with changes and
comments of which Mr. Hindes Groome complains {Gypsy Folk-Tales, p. 232), by
Jacobs, More English Fairy-Tales, pp. 132-45, 232-3.

^ Curtin, Hero-Tales, pp. 510-11.

2 Schambach u. Miiller, Niedersdchsische Sagen u. Mdrchen, pp. 260 £f.

8 The same, pp. 268 £f.

* The same, p. 368. This story has great similarities to the Swedish mdrchen
of Den Fdrtrollade Grodan (Hylt^n-Cavallius and Stephens, Svenska Folk-Sagor
och Afventyr, no. 1 5, i. 25 1 £f.), translated by Thorpe, Yule- Tide Stories, pp. 226 ff .
(The Enchanted Toad). In Afanasief, vol. v. no. 28 (Ralston, Russian Folk-
Tales, p. 134), a helpful bull-calf tells the hero to kill him and burn his carcass;
from the ashes there spring a horse, a dog, and an apple tree, all three of which
play an important part in the next act of the drama.

^ J. F. Campbell, no. 33, ii. 130 ff.

6 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

is an old rusted glave behind thy bed, with which thou hadst better
take off my head, then be holding me longer in torture.' She took
the glave and cut the head off him. When the steel touched him,
he grew a handsome youth ; and he gave many thanks to the young
wife, who had been the means of putting off him the spells, under
which he had endured for a long time." In an Annandale version
of The Frog Prince, the frog asks the girl to cut off his head with
an axe.-^ In Grimm's version and some others, the frog is dashed
against the wall by the girl in anger at its request to be taken into
her bed, and the transformation follows.^

The Frog Prince is particularly interesting, since it combines, in
some of its versions, disenchantment by personal contact with disen-
chantment by decapitation or by some other method of killing the
magical body. In some forms of the great class of "animal-spouse "
tales, the mysterious husband is a man by night and an animal (frog,
serpent, wolf, etc.) by day, and lays aside his beast-skin when he
assumes human shape.^ This gives us a clear insight into the real
meaning of disenchantment by beheading. We shall return to the
point later.

Especially important for the illustration of The Carl of Carlisle are
the instances in which the bespelled person who is released by
decapitation is a cruel and murderous demon or monster until he is

1 R. Chambers, Popular Rhymes of Scotland, 1842, p. 52 (ed. of [1870], pp. 88-
89), from C. K. Sharpe, who learned it from a nurse about 1784.

* See R. Kohler, Orient u. Occident, ii. 330 ; Landau, Ztschr.f. vergl. Littera-
turgeschichte, i. 17. There is an English version from Holderness in Jones
and Kropf, Folk-Tales of the Magyars, Folk-Lore Society, pp. 404-5, in which,
as in a version of The Frog Prince given by F. Pfaff in his Mdrchen atis Loben-

feld {Ale^nannia, xxvi. 87, 88), the frog is taken into bed, but there is neither
smashing nor decapitation. In Haltrich, Deutsche Volksmdrchen atis dein Sach-
senlande in Siebenbilrgen, 3d ed., 1882, p. 37, a little creature, apparently a dwarf
or elf, who has been changed into a toad by enchantment, resumes his proper
shape when the toad is smashed to pieces. Cf. Laistner, Rdtsel der Sphinx,
i. 59.

* On the Frog Prince or Princess, and on the burning of the frog (or other)
skin or of the whole frog to effect the transformation or to ensure its perma-
nence, see Benfey, Pantschatantra, i. Einl. § 92, pp. 266-9 (where there are
many references). There is some good material in De Gubernatis, Zoological
Mythology, ii. 376 ff. See also Der Prinz vtit der Schweinshaut, Kohler,
Kleinere Schriften, i. 315 ff. A Zulu story of a prince in serpent form (Callaway,
Nursery Tales of the Zulus, i. 321 ff.) is a fine example of confusion between a
person who really has the shape of a serpent and one who is disguised by being
clad or inclosed in a serpent's skin. The narrator cannot keep the distinction in
mind at all. For one shape by day, another by night, see Child, Ballads, i. 290,
iv. 454, V. 289; Maynadier, The Wife of Bath's Tale, 1901, pp. 201 ff. ; Kroeber,
Cheyenne Tales, no. 18, fournal of American Folk-Lore, xiii. 181. Many refer-
ences for the transformation of animal spouses are collected by S. Prato, Bulletin
de Folklore, i. 316-35.

Disenchantment by Decapitation. 7

relieved from enchantment. This comes out clearly in the first
adventure of Art and Balor Beimenach} The princess of Greece will
not marry Art unless he brings her the head of the Gruagach of the
Bungling Leaps. Art fights the monster thrice. The first time he
beheads him, but the body goes down through the earth, the head
follows, and the next day the gruagach is whole and twice as strong
as before. The second day Art seizes the head before it has time
to sink into the earth and starts off with it toward the king's castle.
On the way he meets three men with a headless body. Art foolishly
allows them to apply the gruagach's head to the trunk, and on the
instant men, head, and body go down through the earth. The third
day a raven carries off the head. Instructed and helped by a friendly
old man, Art recovers the head, which he carries to the castle of the
king of Greece. The princess consents to marry him, but he refuses
her. Acting on the old man's instructions. Art carries the head
back to Jiiin. " The old man threw the head on a body which was
lying in the cabin ; the head and the body became one, and just like
the old man." The old man says : " The gruagach was my brother,
and for the last three hundred years he was under the enchantment
of . . . the only daughter of the King of Greece. The princess is
old, although young in appearance ; my brother would have killed
me as quickly as he would you ; and he was to be enchanted till
you should come and cut the head off him, and show it to the
princess, and not marry her, and I should do as I have done. My
brother and I will stay here, take care of our forests, and be friends
to you." 2

The Highland tale of T/te Widow and her Daitghters ^ is another
case in point. It is a Blue Beard story, curiously modified by the
motif of unspelling decapitation. A great gray horse (who is also
called a king, and who apparently is a man by night)* abducts a
widow's three daughters one after another. He decapitates the first
two for entering a forbidden chamber. The third escapes by a ruse
and reaches her mother's house. Her lover pursues " in a wild
rage." " When he reached the door he drove it in before him. She
was standing behind the door, and she took his head off with the bar.

^ Curtin, Hero-Tales, pp. 312 ff.

'^ The same, p. 323.

8 J, F. Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands, no. 41, ii. 265 ff. See
Campbell's references, ii. 275. Kohler, Orient and Occident, ii. 679 {Kleinere
Schriften, i. 256-7), and Jahrb. f. rotn. Litt., vii. 151 ff. {Kleinere Schriften,
i. 312 ff.), adds little that helps us here. See also Laistner, Rdtsel der Sphinx^
ii. loi. In Die singende Rose (Zingerle, Kinder u. Hausmdrchen, 2d ed., 1870,
no. 30, p. 154), an old graybeard makes the princess strike off his head; a key
comes out of it, which opens all the doors and chests in the castle.

* This may be said to be implied, though it is nowhere stated.

8 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

Then he grew a king's son, as precious as ever came," and they were
married.^

The very formidable giant called the Bare- Stripping Hangman, in
the Gaelic tale of that name,^ turns out to be under spells, from which
he is released when the egg which contains his life has been crushed,
and when his hands and feet have been cut off and cast into a fire.
" As soon as the hair of the head was singed and the skin of the feet
burnt, the very handsomest young man they ever beheld sprang out
of the fire." He is the king's younger brother, "who was stolen in
his childhood." This is also an instructive example. The Bare-
Stripping Hangman belongs to the class of giants who have no soul
in their body, — Koshchei the Deathless, corps-sans-dme, Punchkin,
and the rest,^ — and should be destroyed, not disenchanted. By the
addition of the disenchantment motif, the monster is made into a
bespelled mortal.*

The idea that fierce or destructive creatures need only to be sub-
dued or disenchanted to make them kindly, or even to win them to
marriage, is familiar enough from the story of Brynhildr. An instruc-
tive instance from North America is the Dakota legend of two can-
nibahstic wives who wish to kill their husbands, but become harmless
when freed from the spell. The phrase is, " He made them good." ^
There is a very interesting parallel in the wild Armenian tale of
Zoohisia, which also shows the confusion between an immortal won
as a bride and a mortal released from spells.^

^ In a variant reported by Campbell (ii. 274-5), the transformation is missing.
Here the girl beheads the giant (who is previously called a horse) with a sword
and holds it on the spinal marrow till this cools, in order that the head may not go
on again. This is clearly the proper ending. It is instructive for our present pur-
pose to observe how the idea that beheading releases from enchantment has affected
the catastrophe in the other version.

2 Mac Dougall, Folk and Hero Tales, pp. 76 ff.

8 See Cosquin, Contes pop. de Lorraine., i. 173 ff.; Hartland, Legend of Perseus,
index, under external sojil ; Ralston, Russian Folk-Tales, pp. 84 ff. ; Curtin, Russian
Myths and Folk-Tales, pp. 165 ff. ; J. W. Wolf, Deutsche Mdrchen u. Sagen, pp.
87-93 ; Rand, Legends of the Micmacs, p. 245 ; Kphler, Orient u. Occident, ii. 100-
103 {Kleinere Schriften, i. 158-61) ; Frazer, Golden Bough, 1890, ii. 296 ff., 2d ed.,
1900, iii. 351 ff. ; Seklemian, The Golden Maiden and other Folk Tales and
Fairy Stories told in Armenia, Cleveland and New York, 1898, p. 133; Friis,
Lappiske Eventyr og Folkesagn, pp. 46, 5 1 .

* CI. a similar confusion in Maspons y Labrds, Lo Rondallayre, Quentos popu-
lars Catalans, no. 27, ii. 104-10.

* S. R. Riggs, Dakota Myths, in Contributions to North American Ethnology,
ix. 141-2.

•* A king's son and his companions follow an antelope into a forest, where they
find a tent by a fountain. Within is a table spread with delicious viands. The
prince does not eat or drink, like his companions, but explores the neighborhood
and is shocked to find, not far from the tent, a heap of human skeletons. ThQ

Disenchantment by Decapitation. 9

A few other examples of disenchantment by decapitation may be
cited to show how readily this feature attaches itself to almost any
kind of tale of supernatural creature.

In a German tale a girl hears night after night a voice calling on her
to rise. At last she gets out of bed and sees a woman, who asks her
to come and free her. The girl follows through a long subterranean
passage, entering at length a brilliantly lighted hall. Here sit three
black men at a table, writing, and on the table lie two bright swords.
" Take one of these swords," says the woman, " and cut off my head :
so bin icli erldst." The girl is about to obey, when her brother, who
has followed her, interferes. The woman seizes the girl angrily and
throws her violently to the floor, so violently that she becomes a heap
of ashes. Then there is a loud noise, and palace and all disappear.^

A cowherd is besought by a White Lady to strike off her head,
since he alone, she says, can release her. He alleges, in excuse,
that he has no axe. She fetches one with a silver handle, but he
runs away. In another form of the same story, the White Lady
brings with her a block, a broad-axe, and a bunch of keys. She tells
the herd that she is under a ban {verwunscki), and begs him to cut
her head off before noon, in order to release her. She promises him
great treasures. He delays too long, and she vanishes, declaring
that not for another hundred years will one be born who can set her
free.2 This is an ordinary legend of a White Lady, the only pe-
culiarity consisting in the manner of disenchantment : kissing is far
more common.^ In another version the White Lady conducts the
peasant into a hill and gives him treasure, which, however, disappears
when twelve o'clock strikes and the blow has not been dealt.*

Disenchantment by beheading is, by a singular confusion, intro-
duced into a Swabian version of the widespread story of the Thank-
ful Dead Man. A bird flies to Karl's window with a dagger in its

food and water are poisoned, and all his companions die. Soon horsemen approach
and pillage the dead men, the prince looking on from a place of concealment.
The robber leader turns out to be a beautiful virago, Zoolvisia, with whom he falls
in love. She it was who had enticed hunters to the spot in the form of an antelope.
The youth visits Zoolvisia's castle and manages to deprive her of the talisman on
which her power depends. " You have overcome me," says Zoolvisia ; " you are
brave and a real hero worthy of me. No one except you has ever heard my voice
and lived. Now my talisman is broken, and I have become a mere woman."
Thereupon she accepts the prince as her husband. Seklemian, The Golden Maiden
and other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories told in Armenia^ 1898, pp. 59 ff.

^ Kuhn, Mdrkische Sagen 21. Mdrchen, no. 94, pp. 99-100.

^ Schambach u. Miiller, Niedersdchsische Sagen u. Mdrchen, no. 106, pp. 77-78.

8 See examples in Child, Ballads, i. 307 ff., 338, note, ii. 502, 504, iii. 504, iv. 454,
v. 214, 290 ; Schofield, Studies on the Libeaus Desconus, in Studies and Notes,
iv. 199 ff.

* Schambach u. Miiller, no. 107, p. 79.

lo Journal of American Folk-Lore.

beak and tells him to cut off its head. The bird has assisted him,
and Karl is unwilling, but at last he obeys. The head of the bird
falls into the room ; the trunk flies away, and there stands before
Karl the spirit of the merchant whose corpse he had ransomed.^

So far, we have confined our attention, in the main, to decapitation
as a means of unspelling, but we have compared a few stories in
which some other forms of violent death have the same effect. Be-
heading, then, is only a special means of putting to death : the main
point is to kill the enchanted body. Thus in the Irish Mac Cooly
Faolan, and the Moimtain, Faolan pierces a man with his sword in
the darkness. " The man fell dead ; and then, instead of the old man
that he seemed at first, he rose up a fresh young man of twenty-
two years." He was Faolan's uncle, and could not be freed from
enchantment till pierced with a particular sword, which Faolan
carried.^

Transformation from a dwarf to a man, as in The Turk and
Gawain, occurs in an Austrian tale, Der erldste Zwerg. A laborer
gives a dwarf such a stroke in the head that he falls dead ; but he
immediately becomes a beautiful youth and thanks the laborer for
his "Erlosung."^

The Kathd-sarit-sdgara tells of a Vidyadhara who has been com-
pelled by a curse to take the form of a camel. He is to be restored
only when he is killed in that form by a certain king, — which hap-
pens.* So, in the same collection, a Yaksha is doomed by a curse to
be a lion till he is killed by a certain king with an arrow. This hap-
pens, and he regains his human form.^

The following is perhaps merely an anecdote of condign punish-
ment after death, not an instance of disenchantment. A Scnn in the
Watthenthal saw a red bullock, which advanced in a threatening
way. He caught him by the horns and forced him over the brink
of a ravine. The bullock fell and was dashed to pieces. Up came
the spirit of another Senn, and thanked him for his release. He had
masqueraded in this shape as a punishment for once having thrown
a peasant's bullock into this chasm.^

^ E. Meier, Deutsche Volksmdrchen aus Schwaben, no. 42, p. 151. Cf. Simrock,
Der gute Gerhard u. die dankbaren Todten, Bonn, 1856, p. 57. On the Thank-
ful Dead, see Hippe, Herrig's Archiv, Ixxxi. 141 ff., and Kittredge, Studies and
Notes in Philology and Literature, viii. 250, n.

"^ Curtin, Hero-Tales, pp. 495-6. The incident is really out of place in this
tale, which, at this point, is a case of the attempt to resuscitate dead warriors (the
"Hilda-saga").

8 Vernaleken, Osterreichische Kinder u. Hausmdrchen, p. 171.

* Bk. xii. ch. 69, Tawney, ii. 141-2.

^ Pt. i. ch. 6, Tawney, i. 37.

^ Von Alpenberg, Deutsche Alfiensagen, no. 98, pp. 96-97.

Disenchantment by Decapitatio7t. 1 1

Often a wound that is not sufficient to cause death is enough to
effect a disenchantment, so as to make the person who suffers it re-
turn to his proper shape. Indeed, the mere drawing of blood may be
all that is required. So in a story from Annam, a farmer, while cut-
ting grass, accidentally amputates the tail of a serpent. The snake
immediately becomes a fine young man.^ Again, in a story from
Brittany, a beautiful woman has been changed into a turtle. Two
men are fighting for her hand. Throwing herself between them to
end the combat, she is wounded, and, as soon as her blood flows, her
metamorphosis is at an end.^ In a legend of Auvergne a wicked
baron is condemned for his crimes to wander as a loup-garoii till a
Christian shall make his blood flow. Wounded by a woodcutter, he
resumes his human form and dies instantly.^ In a Lapland tale a
lad draws blood from the hand of one of two fairy maidens who are
dancing about him. Instantly the boatload of persons among whom
the women have come vanishes, boat and all. Only the maiden
remains. " Now you must take me to wife," says she, " since you
have drawn blood upon me." *

In a Gypsy story from Transylvania, two wild geese, on being
shot, fall to the ground as two beautiful maidens.^ In a Maori
legend, the god Maui, in pigeon-form, is hit with a stone, and he
immediately turns into a man.^ A precisely similar incident is found
in the Irish Wooing of Enter : Derbforgaill, daughter of the King of
Lochlann, wishing for the love of Cuchulinn, takes the form of a bird
and flies to Ulster, along with one of her maids, who is also in bird-
likeness. Cuchulinn wounds her with a stone from a sling. Immedi-
ately both resume their mortal shape. The rest of the saga does not
now concern us.'' In the Latin De Rebus Hiberniae Admirandis, as

* Landes, Contes et L^gendes Annamites, pp. 12-13. In a Tyrolese story, a
bride accidentally steps on her snake-husband's tail and crushes it, whereupon he
becomes a handsome prince : Schneller, Mdrchen u. Sagen mis Wdlschtirol, no.
25, p. 65 (see Crane, Italian Popular Tales, pp. 324-5, with the references).

^ Sdbillot, Cotites populaires de la Haute-Bretagne^ [i.] 13-14.
8 Antoinette Bon, Revue des Trad. Pop., v. 217-18 (reproduced by Sdbillot,
Litt. Orale de V Auvergne, p. 231).

* Friis, Lappiske Eventyr og Folkesagn, no. 7, pp. 24-25, cf. p. 39.

5 Von Wlislocki, Mdrchen u. Sagen der transylvanischen Zigeuner, no. 14, p. 33.
In a Lithuanian tale, St. George {lurgis), tired with hunting, sits down on a stone ;
out comes a black serpent and creeps towards him ; he shoots her down and she
immediately becomes a beautiful maid, whom he marries : Veckenstedt, Mythen,
Sagen und Legenden der Zamailen, i. 289-90. Veckenstedt's collection is dis-
credited (see Karlowicz, Mehisine, v. 121 £f.), but this incident must be substan-
tially correct.

^ Buller, Forty Years in New Zealand, London, 1878, p. 185.

' Tochmarc Entire, translated by Kuno Meyer, Archceological Review, i. 304
(same, revised, in Hull, Cuchullin, p. 82). Cf. Zimmer, Haupt's Ztschr., xxxii.

12 Journal of Americaji Folk-Lore.

well as in the Mirabilia in Todd's Irish N'cmmis} there is an account
of a man who threw a stone and brought down a swan. Running to
pick up the bird, he found it was a woman. She told him that she
was thought to have died, but that really she was carried off in the
flesh by demons. He restored her to her astonished relatives. In
a German story, Hans cuts and slashes among a lot of animals with
a sword, whereupon they are disenchanted and become mortals.^

We have already seen that decapitation, etc., must have been
regarded as a slaying of the enchanted body (the beast or bird form)
and therefore as the release of the human shape, so that the article
of the primitive creed which we are studying has its close association
with the belief in swan-maidens and werewolves and their feather-
garment or beast-skin. The real (human) body was thought of as
clad in the enchanted body or covered by it. This comes out with
perfect clearness in those stories in which the enchanted animal is
to be opened or skinned, and in which, when this is done, the real
person emerges from the skin or belly.

Thus the Breton Peronic kills and skins the enchanted horse at
its own request. He is much surprised " de voir sortir de sa peau
un beau prince."^ In the same collection, a black cat, born of a
woman, asks to be placed on its back on a table and to have its belly
ripped up with a sword. This done, " il en sortait aussitot un beau
prince." ^

217-18; Kuno Meyer, Revue Celtique, xi. 437-8; Nult's note in Mac Innes, Folk
and Hero Tales, p. 477; Hartland, Legend of Perseus, iii. 50.

1 An hexameter list of the Wonders of Ireland, printed by Thomas Wright,
Reliquiae Antiquae, ii. 103-107. This is no. 18 in the list (p. 105), and no. 21 in
that given in Todd's Irish N^ennius, pp. 210-11. It does not occur in Giraldus
Cambrensis, Topographia Hiberniae, ii. 4 £f. {Opera, Rolls Series, v. 80 £f.), nor
in the Norse Speculum Regale (see Kuno Meyer, Folk-Lore, v. 299 ff.). Clearly
by '' demons " we are to understand " fairies." The idea that persons thought to
be dead have really been abducted by the fairies is common in Ireland and else-
where. It underlies the beautiful Middle English romance of Sir Orfeo, which,
as the present writer has conjectured, may be based on a combination of the Irish
tale of the Wooing of Etain with the story of Orpheus and Eurydice {American
y our jial of Philology, vii. 176 ff.; Studies and Notes, viii. 196, note ; cf. Brand!,
Paul's Grundriss,\\. 630; Bugge, Arkiv for Nordisk Filologi,y\\. 108; Herz,
Spiel/Jiannsbuch, 2d ed., pp. 361-2).

^ Vernaleken, Osterreichische Kinder u. Hausmdrchen, no. 54, p. 316.

^ Luzel, Conies populaires de Basse-Bretagne, ii. 66-67 ; cf. the modern Irish
Story of Conn-eda, translated by N. O'Kearney, Cambrian fournal, ii. loi ff.,
1855 (reprinted in Folk-Lore Record, ii. 188-90, and by Yeats, /r/j/i Fairy and
Folk Talcs, pp. 306 ff.).

* The same, iii. 166. So also in Le Chat et les deux Sorciercs (iii. 131), which
is in effect another version of Le Chat A^oir. Something similar may once have
stood in The Red Pony (Larminie, West Irish Folk-Tales, p. 215), where the dis-
enchantment (p. 218) is confused and distorted.

Disenchantment by Decapitation. 1 3

A Catalan story has this feature in a singularly complicated form.
A wolf who has guided the cast-off daughter of a king to his palace,
sfives her elaborate directions for his own disenchantment. Accord-
ingly the girl builds a fire ; kills the wolf ; rips him up ; catches the
dove that emerges ; puts the dead wolf in the fire ; extracts an egg
from inside the dove ; breaks it, — and there emerges a beautiful
prince, who marries the girl.^

A queer variation of the skinning process occurs in a Swedish tale,
Kidet ock Kungen. A kid has become the trusted counsellor of a
king. One day he bids the king behead him, turn his skin inside
out, and force it on the flayed body again. It was a hard job; but
when it was finished, there stood a handsome prince whom the king
greeted as his son.^ Still more elaborate are the directions given
by a helpful ass (a prince under enchantment) in a Faeroe story :
" You must chop off my head and tail, skin me, cut off my legs, put
the head where the tail was and the tail in the neck, turn my hoofs
up toward my legs, and sew my hide together about me with the hair
inside."^ Here the symbolism of reversing a spell is carried out in
a grotesquely thoroughgoing fashion. Compare, for a part of the
process, the well-known trick of turning one's coat inside out for
luck in gaming, or to prevent being led astray by Robin Goodfellow
or other errant sprites.* Turning a somersault is a regular prelimi-
nary to transformation in Gypsy stories.^ In a legend of Derbyshire,
a certain treasure chest in an underground passage " can only be
fetched away by a white horse, who must have his feet shod the
wrong way about, and who must approach the box with his tail
foremost." ^

In the remarkable Zulu tale of Umamba, a prince born in the form

1 Maspons y Labrds, Lo Rondallayre, ii. 104, no. This will be at once recog-
nized as a variant of the folk-tale best known as Beauty and the Beast. There
is also a forbidden chamber, or cupboard, as in Blue Beard. The elaborate
directions for liberating the prince are properly directions for putting an effectual
end to a monster with a " separable soul " like Koshchei. Here, then, as in The
Bare-Stripping Hajigman, we have a composite (see p. 8, above).

2 Eva Wigstrom, Sagen ock Afventyr tipptecknade i Skdtte, p. 10 {Ayare
Bidrag, vol. v.).

* Jakobsen, Fcer^ske Folkesag7i og jEventyr., p. 399 (cf. pp. 401, 406, 407).

^ There is a good instance in Bishop Corbet's //^ri?tfr^fl/^(Dryden, Miscellany
Poems, 1 716, vi. 376; Corbet's Poems, 4th ed., edited by Gilchrist, 1807, p. 191).
Cf. Tyndale, Exposition of the First Epistle of St. John, Prologue : " They wander
as in a mist, or (as we say) led by Robin Goodfellow, that they cannot come to
the right way, no though they turn their caps " {Works of Tyndale and Frith, ed.
Russell, 1831, ii. 388).

^ See Groome, GyPsy Folk-Tales, pp. 16, 24, 40, 58, 59 ; M. Klimo, Contes et
Legendes de Hongrie, 1898, p. 243.

* S. O. Addy, Household Tales, London, 1895, p. 58.

1 4 Journal of A merican Fo Ik-Lore.

of a snake asks his young wife to anoint him and to pull off his snake-
skin, when he appears in his true shape.^ The teller of the tale
seems partly to have rationalized it, as if the prince wore his snake-
skin as a disguise. At all events, there is very instructive confusion
between a prince in snake-form and a prince concealing his true form
by wearing a snake-skin, and the close psychological connection
between the idea underlying the belief we are discussing and that
which underlies the belief in werewolves and swan-maidens comes
out very clearly. It does not appear that Umamba would ever have
abandoned or been released from his snake-form if he had not found
a woman willing to marry him. Thus Umamba connects itself with
The Frog Prince"^ and similar instances of disenchantment. That
the animal skin is conceived of as a covering to be stripped off comes
out clearly in stories in which the bridegroom is enveloped in several
such skins and the bride tells him to take them off.^

In an Armenian tale, Dragon-Child and Siin-CJiild,^ we have a
clear case of an enchanted prince born in monstrous shape, half man
and half dragon, who, when released from the spell, issues from the
dragon-skin, which bursts. While in dragon form the prince had
been a destructive being, devouring a maiden every week (like St.
George's dragon). His habitation is a dry well, and this associates
him with the familiar class of water-stopping monsters.

It would be useless, as well as wearisome, to multiply examples
further. Enough has been said to make it clear that both TJie Carl
of Carlisle and The Turk and Gazvain, whatever their dates may be,
preserve, in the matter of disenchantment, a naive and ancient super-
stition, which may fairly claim universal currency.

George Lyman Kittredge.

^ Callaway, Nursery Tales, Traditions and History of the Zulus, i. 327.
This is the tale mentioned, without a reference, by H. Husson, La Chaine Tradi-
tionelle, Paris, 1874, p. 130 (cited by Prato, Bulletin de Folklore, i. 334). Cf. the
Roumanian-Gypsy tale of The Snake who became the King's Son-in-law, trans-
lated from Constantinescu, Probe de Limba si Literatura Tigatiilor din RomAnia,
Bucharest, 1878, no. 3, pp. 61 ff., by Groome, Gypsy Folk-Tales, pp. 21-24. See
also Giambattista Basile's Lo Serpe, Pentamerone, ii. 5, ed. Croce, i. 209 £E.
(Liebrecht's translation, Der Pentamerotie, 1846, i. 191 ff. ; J. E. Taylor's, The
Pentamerone, 2d ed., 1850, pp. 153 ff. ; Keightley, Tales and Popular Fictions,
1834, pp. 185 ff.).

'^ See pp. 5-6, above.

8 Kohlcr, Kleinere Schriften, i. 318, note 2.

* Seklemian, The Golden Maiden and other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories told
in Armenia, Cleveland and New York, 1898, pp. 73, 74.

African Insliluiions in America. 15

AFRICAN INSTITUTIONS IN AMERICA.

The great majority of slaves brought to America were from that
part of Africa which extends from Sierra Leone to the Congo River,
the Guinea Coast. In America, they were distributed over an area
reaching from Argentina to New England. About the middle of
the eighteenth century the slave trade began to develop very
rapidly, and the number of slaves in America grew very fast at the
end of the century. The West Indies formed a sort of distributing
point whence slaves were procured for New England, Mexico, and
the Spanish Main in return for products of those places. In 1780,
besides the 1,500,000 whites of New England, New York, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania, it was estimated that there were 43,000
negro slaves; Massachusetts had 10,000, Rhode Island,. 5000, Con-
necticut, 6000, and New Hampshire, 4000 slaves.^

In New England the slaves were allowed considerable freedom, and
were given holidays on certain days for recreation and amusement.
One of these days was election day, when the whole community
took a holiday and gathered in the towns to vote. These days of
relaxation were made the occasion for a pompous and ceremonious
parade by the negroes. They decked themselves out in striking or
fantastic costumes, and on horseback or on foot accompanied their
" governor " through the streets. The parade included an accom-
paniment of hideous music, and was followed by a dinner and dance
in some commodious hall hired for the purpose.^ Sometimes, how-
ever, the dinner and dance were not preceded by the parade. The
central figure in these functions was the " governor," who was a
person of commanding importance. Just who this person was and
what the origin of these customs was, writers have left in doubt.
It has been said that they were the representatives of the kings of the
African tribes ; on the other hand, it has been thought that " the
negroes, having no voice in political affairs, naturally enough fell
into the curious habit of holding elections of their own, after the
manner of their white masters ; " ^ and some have gone so far as to
say that the election of a "governor" was an annual performance

^ Stiles, Diary, vol. ii. p. 410. Fowler, Hist, of Durham, p. 161, quoting from a
letter of the Governor of Connecticut to the Secretary of the Board of Trade.
Connecticut had 191,372 whites and 6444 slaves in 1774.

* The best single collection of material on this subject is by Senator O. H. Piatt,
on the Negro Governors, in New Haven Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. The same
subject is treated in Steiner, Negro Slavery in Conn.; F. C. Norton, Conn. Mag.
vol. v.; J. D. Shelton, Harp. Mon. Mag., March, 1894.

» N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. p. 318.

1 6 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

in imitation of the annual election of the whites. It has been thought
also that these "governors" were elected to preside over the whole
body of negroes in the State, but there is no evidence to show that
this was so ; on the other hand, the evidence does show that their
jurisdiction was local rather than over the whole State.

Without going into the question of whether the negroes really had
these so-called inaugural parades before the white people used them,i
it may be said that these customs of the negroes were a direct sur-
vival of their practices in Africa. In their own land they had elective
kings or chiefs chosen from among descendants of royal blood, and
many practices of a judicial and social nature which bear a strong
resemblance to those found among them in America.^ As time went
on these customs were greatly modified, partly by association with
different customs, but chiefly through the mere action of time and
the failure of fresh arrivals from Africa, until finally the meetings
became little more than an opportunity for a good time. The evidence
which has been preserved contains some contemporary records, but
the great mass of it is recollections recorded long after the events
(in some cases over sixty years), and is of little value by itself. These
recollections are interesting, however, and aid us with the help of
more definite material in forming a picture of the by-gone practices,
which began about the middle of the eighteenth century and ceased
about the middle of the nineteenth.

A gravestone stood in the burial ground of Norwich, bearing the
following inscription : " In memory of Boston Trowtrow, Governor
of the African tribe in this town, who died 1772, aged 66." ^ Another
case on record is that of Cuff, who on May 11, 1776, at Hartford,
resigned the governorship in the following words : " I, Governor
Cuff of the niegro's in the province of Connecticut, do resign my
governmentshipe to John Anderson, niegor man to governor Skene.
And I hope that you will obey him as you have done me for this ten
years past, when colonel Willis' niegor dayed I was the next. But
being weak and unfit for that office do resign the said government-
shipe to John Anderson." * The manifesto of the new governor
follows : " I, John Anderson, having the honor to be appointed gov-
ernor over you I will do my uttermost endeavor to serve you." The
appointment of a slave of a British officer on parole in the town led
to some uneasiness, and a committee was appointed to investigate.

1 N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. p. 320. Senator Piatt thinks the inaugural
parade of the whites commenced about 1830 in Connecticut.

"^ Details may be found in Spencer, Sociology .^ African Races^ Table 23, 25, 26.

8 Caulkins, Hist. N^or. p. 330.

* Hinman, Avi. Rev. p. 31 et seq. This abdication is duplicated in the case of
King Cassar at Durham. N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. p. 326.

African Institutions in America, 17

Their report of the examination of the persons concerned makes it
clear that Cuff had been advised by some of the negroes to resign to
Anderson, and that he had appointed the latter without an election.
On the other hand, Anderson stated that he had told the negroes
that if they would elect him governor he would treat them to the
amount of twenty dollars, and that he had done it as a matter of sport.
CufT appointed him because some of the negroes declared that they
would not have a Tory for governor.

From these two documents it is probable that there was a gov-
ernor in Norwich and Hartford at the same time, for Cuff says that
he has been governor for ten years, and succeeded another man on
death. In the next place it appears that Cuff resigned on the very
day of so-called "election," so that it is clear that he did not know of
any cause why there should be an election on that day. The cause
of his resignation was his feebleness and the desire of many for a
younger man, who could give them more fun. If there was no elec-
tion in 1776, there was none the year before, and Cuff, who had been
elected in 1766, was expected to hold his office until death.

In Derby, Tobias Bassett, the grandson of an African prince, was
governor, and his son after him ; ^ the latter " was of the very finest
physical mould, being over six feet tall and admirably proportioned.
He was, besides, ready of speech and considered quite witty." In
Seymour, " Juba served a number of years, and his sons, Nelson and
Wilson, were likewise honored, Wilson . . . being the last governor,
a few years before our late Civil War." ^

To proceed now to the secondary evidence : Professor Fowler says
the negroes " had their holidays and amusements ; they would
statedly or occasionally appoint a king, who was decorated with some
of the emblems of royalty. One of these kings the present writer
recollects to have seen. He had the appropriate name of Caesar,
and held his court on the west side of the town." ^ " The person
they selected for the office in question was usually one of much
note among themselves, of imposing presence, strength, firmness
and volubility, who was quick to decide, ready to command, and able
to flog. If he was inclined to be a little arbitrary, belonged to a
master of distinction, and was ready to pay freely for diversions —
these were circumstances in his favor. . . . The precise sphere of his
power we cannot ascertain. Probably it embraced matters and things
in general among the blacks, — morals, manners, and ceremonies ;" ^

1 Letter of Hon. Eben D. Bassett, N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. p. 331.
"^ N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. p. 330 ; " Quosh held the office for many
years ; " p. 334.

8 Hist. Dtirham, p. 161 ; Hist. Status of the Slaves in Conn., p. 16.
* Stuart, Hartford in the Olden Time, p. 38.
VOL. xvni. — NO. 68. 2

i8 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

" it kept the blacks in good order, while it at the same time inno-
cently gratified their fondness for enjoyment."-^ In their courts
they decided cases "generally with a leaning towards severity,"
whipping being a common punishment.^

The last cases show the presence of the element of heredity in the
elections, and establish the probability that the elections were not
annual, and were of an African derivation. We have the names of five
governors at Hartford, and the likelihood that there were governors
at Huntington, Middletown, Wallingford, and Farmington, besides
those mentioned herein.^ There is evidence that the institution was
present in Massachusetts and New Hampshire ;* in Rhode Island,
where the negro population was densest, it was closely observed.
Not long after the Revolution the negro population began to decrease,
owing to the removal of slaves to the South, and the lack of fresh
importations caused the institution to die out ; indeed, the circum-
stances in the case of Cuff show that it was even then on the wane ;
the customs attendant upon it lasted longest where the negro popu-
lation was largest and communication with the West Indies most
direct, namely, in New Haven and Rhode Island.

The two attendant circumstances which observers never failed to
recall were the "election" parade and ball. They could not have
failed to impress people in those times. " His parade days were
marked by much that was showy, and by some things that were
ludicrous. A troop of blacks, sometimes an hundred in number,
marching sometimes two and two on foot, sometimes mounted in
true military style and dress on horseback, escorted him through the
streets. After marching to their content, they would retire to some
large room which they would engage for the purpose, for refresh-
ments and deliberation. This was all done with the greatest re-
gard for ceremony."^ This function occurred annually; but it was

1 Stuart, Hartford^ 43 et seq.

' Ibid. The following is quoted by Piatt from a Rhode Island source, but, no
reference having been given, it is not possible to verify it: " The judicial depart-
ment consisted of the Governor, who sometimes sat in judgment in cases of appeal.
The other magistrates and judges tried all charges brought against any negro, by
another, or by a white person. Masters complained to the governor and magis-
trates of the delinquencies of their slaves, who were tried, condemned and punished
at the discretion of the court. The punishment was sometimes quite severe, and
what made it the more effectual was that it was the judgment of their peers ; people
of their own rank and color had condemned them, and not their masters, by
an arbitrary mandate. The punishment was by bastinado. . . . Execution was
done by the high sheriff or his deputy — and what made it more salutary in re-
straining the immorality, infidelity, petty larceny, or other delinquencies, was the
sneers and contempt of their equals." N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. p. 324.

^ Stuart, Hartford, pp. 39, 41, 37.

< N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. p. 321.

* Stuart, Hartford, p. 38 ; Caulkins, Norwich, p. 330. " At dinner the Governor

African Institutions in America. 19

this which at Hartford led people to suppose that the election was
annual, because the arrival of many outsiders there on the annual
election day made a fitting occasion for the parade and dance over
which the governor presided.

How easy it was to confuse the election and the parade and ball,
can be seen from the record in French's Journal : ^ " The next day the
negroes, according to annual custom, elected a governor for them-
selves, when John Anderson, Gov. Skene's black man, was chosen ;
at night he gave a supper and ball to a number of his electors, who
were very merry and danced till about three o'clock in the morning."
French was one of the Ticonderoga prisoners at Hartford, and his
record shows that the gathering and ball of the negroes was known
in the locality as " annual election," although it is clear that there
was neither a forecasted nor actual election at the time.

Considerable search has failed to reveal any very satisfactory
material relating to these institutions in the South. The laws
repressing meetings of negroes appear to have been severe.^ The
following account of an African " wizard " in Georgia is interesting
and important, but the fact that he is said to have operated " many
years ago " may detract somewhat from its value. An old Guinea
negro, a horse-trainer and hanger-on of sporting contests, "claimed
to be a conjurer, professing to have derived the art from the Indians
after his arrival in this country from Africa." The only use he made
of this valuable accomplishment was " in controlling riotous gath-
erings " of negroes, and " in causing runaway slaves to return, fore-
telling the time they would appear and give themselves up." He
would get the master and overseers to pardon their erring slaves.^
This shows a powerful control in this man over his fellows, and one
that could be put to good use if properly directed. The basis of
his power undoubtedly lay in some combination in the mores of the
negroes themselves. Traces of this individual power seem to be
present in the Gabriel revolt in Virginia in 1800, and in the Nat
Turner revolt at a later date.* It is not to be supposed that the
negroes would have submitted to a form of conjuration derived from
Indians. The great prosperity of the South came after the period
of active importation of slaves, so that in recent times there was not

was seated at the head of the long table, under trees or an arbor, with the unsuccess-
ful candidate at his right and his lady at his left. The afternoon was spent in dan-
cing,. games of quoits, athletic exercise." Updike, Hist, of the Episcopal Church
in Rhode Island, p. 1 78.

^ N. H. Col. Hist. Soc. Pap. vol. vi. p. 329. The record is the same date as the
resignation of Cuff.

2 Brackett, Negroes in Maryland., p. 100 ; Gayarrd, Louisiana., p. 539.

* Journ. Am. Folk-Lore., vol. xiv. p. 177.

* Calendar of Virgi?iia St. Pap.; Drewry, Southampton Insurrection.

20 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

a large number of negroes with the practices of Africa fresh in their

minds.^

II.

In Brazil and the West Indies the slave trade lasted longer than it
did in New England, especially in Brazil and Cuba, where the intro-
duction of negroes from Africa did not cease until after the middle
of the nineteenth century. There is an abundance of contemporary
evidence showing the condition of the negroes in these colonies, and
the government, in Cuba at least, legally recognized and made use of
their African customs as a part of the local police and as a means of
controlling the negro population. " The different nations are marked
out in the Colonies both by the master and the slaves. Each tribe
or people has a king elected out of their number, whom they rag
out with much savage grandeur on the holidays on which they are
permitted to meet. At these courtly festivals (usually held every
Sunday and feast day) numbers of free and enslaved negroes assem-
ble to do homage with a sort of grave merriment ; one would doubt
whether it was done in ridicule or memory of their former condition." ^

The fantastic parades took place in all. parts of Cuba, in the towns
and cities and on the plantations. The favorite times for the parades
were Carnival and El dia de los reyes, or twelfth day. This is a
description of El dia de los reyes at Gufnes in 1844: "Almost un-
limited liberty was given to the negroes. Each tribe, having elected
its king and queen, paraded the streets with a flag, having its name
and the words Viva Isabella, with the arms of Spain, painted on it.
Their majesties were dressed in the extreme of the fashion, and
were very ceremoniously waited on by the ladies and gentlemen of
the court, one of the ladies holding an umbrella over the head of the
queen. They bore their honors with that dignity which the negroes
love so much to assume." ^ Three of these tribes paraded at Guines,
and an athletic negro in fantastic dress accompanied the procession,
performing a wild dance and all sorts of contortions.* Here is one at
Havana in 1856: the negroes were free by law until four o'clock in
the morning ; they decked themselves out in the oddest kinds of cos-
tumes and paraded the streets, screeching out the songs of their
nations to the music of rattles, tin pans, and tambourines ; one had " a
genuine costume of a king of the Middle Ages, a very proper red,

^ Cf. Du Pratz, Louisiana, vol. ii. p. 255. The old negroes tended to break
down the superstition of the new negroes.

^ Letters from the Havana, during the Year 1820, p. 21. There is a translation
of these letters in Huber, Aper(^u sur Vile du Cuba, under title of Lettres sur la
Havane, pp. 57-60.

' Wurdiman, Notes on Cuba, p. 83.

* Ibid. Dr. Wurdiman spent three winters in Cuba, and his work seems care-
ful and accurate.

African Institutions in America. 21

close coat, velvet vest and a magnificent gilt paper crown. This negro,
who was enormously tall, and had a tolerably good-looking head,
gave his hand gravely to a sort of feminine blackamoor who repre-
sented some queen or other. He walked with a deliberate, majestic
step, never laughed, and seemed to be reflecting deeply on the gran-
deur of his mission to this world." ^

After the parade the negroes proceeded to their hall. These re-
unions on Sundays and festivals were called Cabildos, and were known
under the distinctive name of the tribe, Cabildo de Arara, Cabildo
de Congo, Cabildo de Lucumi.^ The laws gave the slaves certain
hours and parts of certain days for amusement and recreation, and
they gathered in these halls to enjoy themselves in their own way
and to practice their customs. One custom followed upon another,
and when a large body was gathered together some system of con-
trol was necessary and they inevitably fell back on their own devices.
" In the houses which face the rampart, to the right and left of the
main gate of Havana, the negroes assemble to dance Sundays and
feast days. Each different nation has its Cabildo or chapter ; the meet-
ing is attended by a frightful uproar. Old and young, man and woman,
even the spectators follow the movements of the dance. Without,
the sounds of the tamtam, of the bamboula, the noise of the kettles,
animate those who have been unable to find a place in the dance
hall. The mirth of these poor slaves is very open ; there are few dis-
putes among them. A master readily gives permission to his ne-
groes to gather at the cabildo, unless they are inclined to be wild." ^

Frederika Bremer spent some time in Cuba in 1851. She was
curious to learn about the negroes, and she wrote of them and the
island in a sympathetic way. She visited several of their cabildos at
Havana. She learned that many of the slaves had been princes
and chiefs, and that their fellow tribesmen on the plantations showed
them great respect and obedience.* The cabildo of the Lucumis was

1 Beauvallet, Rachel in the New World, p. 363 ff. ; Marmier, Cartas sobre Amer-
ica, vol. ii. pp. 39-56. "EI gefe adornado con el gran penacho de plumas hace mil
contorsiones." This person performed the so-called devil's dance : " El diablito,
el negro vestido ridiculamente a modo de marmarracho 6 arlequin, que el dia de
Reyes anda por las calles con su cabildo, dando brincos y haciendo piruetas, algunas
vezes con un muneco de la misma figura y nombre." — Dico. de Vozes Cubanas.

2 Maddon, Poems by a Slave; word " Cabildo " in Glossary.

3 Masse, Otba et la Havane, p. 369. Cabildo. — " Reunion de negros y negras
bozales en casas destinadas al efecto los dias festivos, en que tocan sus atabales
6 tambores y demas instrumentos nacionales, cantan y bailan en confusion y
desdrden con un ruido infernal y eterno, sin intermision. Reunen fondos yfor-
man una especie de sociedad de pura diversion y socorro, con su caja, Capataz,
Mayordomo, Rey, Reinas (sin jurisdiction). Cada Nacion tiene su Cabildo.'^ —
Dice, de Vozes Cubanas.

* Homes of the New World, vol. iii. p. 142.

2 2 Journal of American Folk- Lore.

held in a room large enough for one hundred people. At one end
there was a throne with a canopy over it, and on the wall above a
laro-e crown was painted. The throne contained seats for the king
and queen, and in front the customary dancing went on, to the sound
of drums, gourds filled with stones, and beating of sticks, — all of
which made a very great din. The cabildo was governed by one or
two queens, but the cabildo elected its king, who managed the finan-
cial affairs of the tribe and had a secretary and master of ceremo-
nies for assistants. Here too there was a very conspicuous figure in
fantastic dress, before whom all made way, who with many contor-
tions danced up to welcome such visitors as were allowed to enter.
The Cabildo de Congo had two very fine-looking queens. ^

In Matanzas, on Sunday afternoons, flags on high staffs pointed
out the places about town where the negroes gathered to indulge
in their national dances. The meetings were under the protection
of the civil authorities. Good order generally prevailed ; they were
governed by a king and queen, who had great influence and could
stop the vicious habits of their subjects. " Complaints made to him
of the idle or vicious habits of any particular individual, not infre-
quently through his remonstrances, correct the evil." ^

In Cuba the practice of African customs undoubtedly began early
in the eighteenth century at least ; so that with the great increase of
African negroes due to the removal of restrictions on the slave trade
at the end of the century, it became necessary to regulate the cabildos.
The number of the negroes had grown to such an extent that it
seemed dangerous to allow them to gather in large masses without
any restraint, and they used these meetings, too, for practising some
forms of fetishism and mourning for dead which were at variance
with the attempts being made to Christianize them. The use of
drink at the cabildos was another evil that had to be forbidden, as it
seemed beyond the power of the chiefs.

These regulations first appeared in the Bando de buen gobierno
of Captain-General Luis de las Casas, in 1792. The frequency of
elaborate street parades was very much restricted, and also visits
to the houses of the chiefs. The Spanish local police officers and
magistrates were ordered to communicate the prohibitions of the law
to the chiefs, with strict orders to execute them, and heavy fines were
placed upon offenders. Dances after the fashion of Africa were al-
lowed on feast days only, from ten to twelve, and from three in the
afternoon to eight at night.^

1 Homes of the New World,\o\. iii. pp. 183-185 ; Davey, Cuba, pp. 140-142.

2 Wurdiman, Notes on Cuba, p. 1 14.

3 Bando de buen gobierno, 1792. Articulos, 8, 9, 10, 36, 37, 38. Art. 8. —
"Menos se permitird d los negros de Guinea que en las Casas de sus Cabildos,

African Institutioits in America. 23

The greatest danger connected with these gatherings was in the
presence of free negroes, and .heavier fines were placed on infractions
by them. These regulations sufficed for the period between 1792
and 1820, but in the stormy period which began at that time it became
customary to greatly restrict the freedom of the slaves in this re-
spect, although it is probable that the negroes in the cities always
enjoyed more latitude in this matter than their fellows in the coun-
try. However, in the legislation of 1842 and 1843, when it was the
purpose of the government to improve the condition of the slaves,
special attention was given to this point, and masters in the country
were required to allow their slaves to have " el baile conocido con
el nombre de tambor," on feast days at customary hours, under the
care of the Mayorales.^

In St. Lucia, as late as 1844, the negroes had "societies" for
dancing, which once had a political character ; each society had three
kings and three queens, who were elected by the suffrages of the
members. The first or senior king and queen appeared only on
solemn occasions. Any member guilty of improper conduct was

levanten altares de Nuestros Santos para los bailes que forman al uso de su •
tierra ; cuya prohibicion intimardn los Comisarios sin perdida de tiempo d los
capataces de cada Nacion ; . . . " Art. 9. — " los Comisarios intimar^n tambien
d los capataces de estos Cabildos, que en lo adelante con ninguno motivo, ni pre-
texto, conduzcan, 6 permitan conducir i. ellos los cadaveres de Negros, para hacer
bailes 6 llantos al uso de su tierra ; " . . .

Capataz ; " se aplica con frequencia y principalmente entre la gente de color
y vulgar de la parte occidental d cualquiera persona que tiene alguna empresa,
establicimiento, cuadrilla, &c., que necesita de subalternos." — Pichardo, Dice.
Prov. de Vozes Cubanas.

A noted Cuban lawyer and author writes as follows about these customs in
Cuba : —

" Las reinas y capataces de los cabildos con sus plumas y quitasoles, y aquel
aturdimiento de infelices esclavos que eran menos infelices por la proteccidn de los
leyes y la presencia de otros de sus semejantes ya libres, y la esperanza de serlo
algun dia, ofrecia un cuadro interesante en consideraciones. La mayor parte de
las casas de la Habana se quedaban sin servidumbre y sus habitantes se resig-
naban, como en los tiempos de Roma antiqua, k ser sus propios servidores un
dia del ano.

" Cudl bx€ el origen de esa costumbre que ha llegado hasta nuestros dias ? No
lo he podido averiguar como concesidn: todas las disposiciones que he visto se
han reducido d sancionarla como existente : deduzco por lo tanto que los negros
que vieron pedir aguinaldo d la tropa el dia de Reyes con pitos, tambores y
cornetos la incitaron. Las asociaciones 6 eabildos negros eran una concesidn d
los negros africanos que se establecian con conocimiento y autorizacidn del
gobierno." Antonio Bachiller y Morales, Los Negros, pp. 114-115. It is note-
worthy that the Creole negroes, or those born in the island, took no part in these
demonstrations of the raw African negroes; they looked upon these practices
with contempt, or had their own meetings and other functions.

1 Bando de buen gobierno, 1842, Art. 51. Reglamento de esclavos, 1843, Art. 23.

24 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

censured at the meetings by the king. The attendance of the women
was more regular than that of the men.^

In Brazil " the negroes brought their languages and usages, which
were found as original as on the coast of Africa." ^ The patriarchal
feeling remained very strong. The tribes seemed to be families,
considering the prince as the father ; the tie never died. " These
princes are frequently seen sitting on a stone in the street, surrounded
by a crowd who come to them for judgment. At the corner of the
Travessa de S. Antonio is a stone or post, for many years the throne
of an African prince from Angola. . . . The natives of Congo elect
a king among themselves, to whose decrees they submit in a similar
manner." ^

The coffee carriers are reported to have been extremely well organ-
ized. They were mostly Minas from the Benin region. They had
a system by clubbing together of buying the freedom of any one of
their number who was highly respected. "There is now a Mina
black in Rio remarkable for his height, who is called ' the Prince,'
being in fact of the blood royal of his native country. It is said his
subjects in Rio once freed him by their toil." *

The negroes of Jamaica had gatherings of tribes on the plantations,
each with its king and queen dressed in hideous attire, at which
dancing was the most noticeable feature. In the towns the proces-
sions were headed by a tall, athletic man with hideous headdress,
surmounted by a pair of ox horns and boar tusks. He was called
John Cornu, from a celebrated African character, carried a large
wooden sword, and executed many evolutions and freaks.^

III.

In most of the French West Indies the slave population was too
small to afford good opportunities for observation, and they ceased
to receive large numbers of Africans at an early date. The famous
P^re Labat visited many of the smaller islands and Haiti about the
year 1700, and has given us many examples of African customs sur-
viving in the islands.^ They kept up their idolatrous religious prac-

1 Breen, St. Lucia, p. 191 etseq.

2 Walsh, Notices of Brazil in 1828 and 1829, vol. ii. p. 185.

3 Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 187, 188.

* Kidder and Fletcher, Brazil and the Brazilians, 1857, p. 135 ; Ewbank, Brazil,

P- 439-

^ Phillippo, Jamaica ; its Past and Present, p. 242. There is also a good account
of an African funeral as practised in Jamaica. The person described above may
be the Mumbo Jumbo of the Mandingoes, whose duty was to execute public
authority in the hall of the tribe upon the female offenders. The punishment was
by whipping in public. Spencer, Af. Races, p. 11 ; from Park, vol. i. pp. 38, 39.

• Voyage aux Isles Francoises, vol. ii. chap. 7.

African Institutions in America. 25

tices, had obiism, sorcerers, pdisoners, funeral festivals, and showed
great reverence or fear for old men. Dancing was their favorite
exercise ; one of these dances, called the Calenda, the father states,
came from Guinea, and was accompanied with a furious racket of
tambours and bamboulas ; it was thought to be very indecent, and,
because the negroes were likely to become intoxicated and lead to
revolts, the authorities forbade it, without complete success, however.
The Congo dance was less objectionable. The men exacted a great
show of respect from their families. " I have often taken pleasure
in watching a negro carpenter at Guadaloupe when he eat his meals.
His wife and children gathered around him, and served him with as
much respect as the best drilled domestics serve their masters ; and
if it was a fete day or Sunday, his sons-in-law and daughters did not
fail to be present, and bring him some small gifts. They formed a
circle about him, and conversed with him while he was eating. When
he had finished, his pipe was brought to him, and then he bade them
eat. They paid him their reverences, and passed into another room,
where they all eat together with their mother. I reproached him
sometimes for his gravity, and cited to him the example of the gov-
ernor, who eat every day with his wife ; to which he replied that the
governor was not the wiser for it ; that he supposed the whites had
their reasons, but they also had theirs ; and that if one would observe
how proud and disobedient the white women were to their husbands,
it would be admitted that the negroes who kept them always in respect
and submission, are wiser and more experienced than the whites in
this matter." ^ The father says that the negroes were often very
eloquent, and that they all spent much time in ridiculing the whites
and their customs.

A letter of the governor of Martinique in 1753^ speaks of the
parades and processions of the negroes in the island, which afforded
means of amusement and disorder. The negroes were decked out
with a great deal of ostentation, many were armed with wooden
weapons, and they seemed to be under a remarkable discipline. " Sev-
eral others dressed in very rich garments represented the king, the
queen, and all the royal family, up to the grand officers of the
crown." The thought that there were 18,000 negroes in the island,
thus trained and disciplined and only needing a leader, made the
governor feel uneasy, and he took the first chance he had to forbid
the processions. But the slaves then gathered in secret, and it was
necessary to resort to severe punishment to enforce the law.^

The most remarkable instances of the survival of African political

^ Labat, Voy., vol. ii. p. 54.

* Peytraud, Vesclavage aux Antilles franqaises,^. 182.

" Ibid. p. 301.

2 6 journal of American Folk-Lore.

institutions are to be found in Haiti. The new inventions and pro-
cesses introduced into the making of sugar by Pere Labat in the
first two decades of the eighteenth century had made this industry
very profitable, and the French soon turned their attention to their
foothold in Haiti, ultimately getting a recognition of their claims
to the western part of the island of Santo Domingo from the king
of Spain. After the middle of the century the march of its prosper-
ity was very rapid, negroes were introduced very fast, and at the out-
break of the French Revolution it was one of the richest colonial
possessions on the globe.

Side by side with the development of the island had proceeded a
rapid increase in the number and wealth of the people of mixed blood,
who chiefly occupied the southern part of the colony. In 1789 the
population has been estimated at from 571,708^ to 614,429 ;2 there
were between 509,642 ^ and 434,529 ^ slaves, 27,000 to 40,000 people
of free color, and 35,000 to 40,000 whites. The great mass of the
mulatto people lived in the south and the adjacent parts of the west
department, that is, in the region about Port au Prince ; the moun-
tainous north, with the interlying department of the west, had the
greatest percentage of negro population. In 1805 the population was
reported to be 480,000 blacks, 20,000 colored or mulatto, and 1000
whites ;^ the republic of the south had 261,000, and the kingdom of
the north had 240,000 souls ; * of the two higher classes of popula-
tion, including the old freemen and administrative, judicial, and
military officers of government, and the soldiers, sailors, artisans,
domestics, and laborers in the town and ports, the south had 120,000,
but the north had only 50,000 ; ^ the remainder were cultivators of
the land held under a strict regime to till the soil.

The mulattoes occupied a decidedly inferior position in the colony
compared to that held by the whites, laboring under political and so-
cial disabilities, and, at the beginning of the revolution, when it be-
came apparent that the whites, who, for various reasons, were divided
among themselves, would not allow them to receive the benefits
granted by the National Assembly, they revolted. Two weeks later,
August 22, 1 791, the revolts amongst the blacks at the north began.
There was probably no concerted action between the two outbreaks ;^
the mulattoes struck for equality, the blacks for liberty.

For many years there had been bands of runaway negroes in the
mountains under their chiefs. The earliest known of these chiefs

^ St. Amand, Rev. (V Haiti, vol. i. p. 8.

- Lacroix, i^d^w. vol. ii. p. 273. Edwards, St. Domingo, p. 154, estimates 165,000
slaves in north, 193,000 in west, 77,000 in south, and 241,000 mulattoes in south.
^ Lacroix, vol. ii. p. 276. ■• Ibid. * Ibid.

« St. Amand, Rev. d' Haiti, vol. i. p. 317.

African Institutions in America. 27

was Polydor in 1724 ; he was succeeded by Macandal, of whom the
negroes seemed to stand in superstitious dread : ^ The great chief of
these maroons at the time of the revolts was Jean Fran^ais, and he
was followed by another black called Biassou. One of their agents
said to the French commissioner, " I am the subject of three kings :
of the king of Congo, master of all the blacks ; of the king of France,
who represents my father, and of the king of Spain, who represents
my mother. If I passed into the service of the republic, I would
perhaps be brought to make war against my brothers, the subjects of
these three kings to whom I have promised fidelity," ^

Toussaint when he fled from his plantation joined this band, where
he was known as " the doctor of the armies of the king," ^ and soon
became aid to Jean Fran^ais and Biassou. Upon the death or with-
drawal of the other chiefs, Toussaint rose to the chief command.
He soon acquired complete control over the blacks, not only in
military matters but an absolute dominance over politics and social
organization ; * " the soldiers regarded hira as a superior being, and
the cultivators prostrated themselves before him as before a divinity.
All his generals trembled before him (Dessalines did not dare to
look in his face), and all the world trembled before his generals.^' '^
Toussaint passed into the north, and in an astonishingly short time
the whole district was under his control, the negroes began to return
to work on the plantations, and security was in sight. The English
who held Mole St. Nicolas made some overtures to Toussaint, but
he quickly gave them to understand that he would be no dupe of
theirs. A reconciliation was brought about between Toussaint and
the French, recognizing the freedom of the blacks, but provisions
were made for confining the black population to the estates and
compelling them to till the soil.

The mulattoes of the south under Rigaud still refused to submit.
If the whites and negroes had settled their differences, it left the
mulattoes in the same relative situation as before the outbreak.
There was no bond of sincerity uniting the whites and mulattoes,
nor the mulattoes and the negroes.^ There was a universal preva-

1 Brown, Hist. St. Dom. vol. i. p. 1 19,

^ Lacroix, Mem. sur la Rev. vol. i. p. 253, This agent appears to have repre-
sented Pierrot, black, under whom Jean and Biassou acted, of, p. 303. Pierrot
died, 1794.

3 Ibid. p. 302.

* Ibid. pp. 310, 311 ; Brown, St. Dom. vol. ii. p. 108.

^ Quoted from Lacroix by Mackenzie, Notes on Haiti, vol. i. p. 45, and confirmed
by the latter ; Brown, St. Dom. vol. ii. p. 29 ; Lacroix, vol. i. p, 408.

® Castonnet des Fosses, St. Do?n. p. 199. Manifesto of Toussaint, 21 Feb., 1799 :
" ' Le gdndral Rigaud,' s'dcria-t-il, ' refuse de m'obdir parce que je suis noir,
Mulatres, je vois au fond de vos ames ; vous dtiez prets k vous soulever contre moi.

28 Journal of A merican Folk- Lore.

lence of distrust. Toussaint was now a general of the French army.
Whether Napoleon really intended to violate this agreement has not
been shown, but his colonial scheme required the presence of a large
force in the island. Upon the arrival of these forces, Toussaint told
his officers that the French were coming to reenslave them, and that
resistance to the last must be made.^ Shortly afterwards Toussaint
was seized and sent to France and imprisoned, where he soon died from
old age, melancholy (which is singularly characteristic of the proud
spirits of African chieftains when placed in captivity), and the change
to a severer climate.

Toussaint was succeeded by the black, Dessalines, in 1802, who
declared himself emperor. Dessalines, like Toussaint and his lieu-
tenant Christophe, was noted in his days of slavery for his severity
toward his fellow slaves and for the discipline which he exercised
over them. He had other characteristics of African chieftains.
"There were seasons when he broke through his natural sullenness,
and showed himself open, affable, and even generous. His vanity
was excessive, and manifested itself in singular perversities. He was
delighted with embroidery and ornaments. At times he appeared
to his subjects clothed in magnificent decorations, and upon other
occasions his costume was plain even to meanness. A ridiculous
propensity of the black emperor was displayed in his desire to mani-
fest himself to his subjects as an accomplished dancer. . . . His
courage in the field was that of the headlong fury of the tiger. The
events which conducted him to his high elevation all had their origin
in the terror, and perhaps confidence, inspired by his determined
fierceness. , . . For the slightest causes both blacks and mulattoes
were put to death without mercy and without the forms of trial." ^
The population prostrated themselves before him.^

On the I St of January, 1804, the blacks and mulattoes united to
issue the declaration of independence of Haiti ; the act was signed
by Dessalines, the black general-in-chief, by Christophe, his black
lieutenant, by Pction, the leader of the mulattoes, and by many others.*
The mulattoes and negroes seem to have agreed that the expulsion
of the white man was necessary to the peace of the island.

In 1805 a constitution was drawn up and accepted by both mulat-
toes and negroes, placing all power in the hands of the emperor.
The severity with which Dessalines enforced the laws soon began to
turn many against him. The mulattoes did not wish at any price to

Mais en quittant le Port-R^publicain pour me rendre au Cap, j'y laisse mon ceil et
mon bras ; mon oeil pour vous surveiller et mon bras pour vous atteindre.' " Cf.
p. 166.

1 Lacroix, vol. ii. p. 63. * Brown, vol. ii. pp. 158, 159.

' Lacroix, vol. ii. p. 192. * Printed in Mackenzie, vol. ii. p. 263.

African Institutions in America. 29

submit to the domination of the negroes, part of whom, being natives
of Africa, had preserved their savage mores} Dessalines started to
suppress this revolt of the mulattoes led by Potion, but was killed in
ambush in October, 1806.

A new constitution was drawn up in 1806, providing for the election
of a president for life ; the presidency was offered to Christophe,^
the next of the great black chiefs after Dessalines, but the office
was too much burdened with limitation of power to suit him, and he
withdrew into the north, leaving Petion to set up his republic. In
the north a new constitution was drafted, establishing the kingdom
of Haiti, and Christophe was declared the first king, with the title of
Henry I., 181 1. A former constitution drawn up in 1807 had made
the president hold for life, with right to appoint his successor. It
was now declared advisable to erect an hereditary throne and provide
for the reestablishment of customs, morals, and religion. The con-
stitution provided for hereditary succession to the crown in the family
of Christophe, through the direct male line, in failure of which it
was to pass into the family of the prince next related to the king's
family, or the oldest in dignity. It provided for a royal family, a re-
gency, a grand council, and a privy council, officers, ministers, oaths,
etc. All power was centred in the hands of the king. In the south
the separation of powers was the basis of the government.^

Some writers have thought that this was purely an act of gran-
diloquence and mimicry on the part of Christophe, but it is truer
to say that in it he was actuated by a clear insight into the needs
and peculiarities of the people with whom he had to deal. There
is nothing in the constitution which did not have its companion in
Africa, where the organization of society was truly despotic, with
elective-hereditary chiefs, royal families, polygamic marriages, coun-
cils, and regencies. But, undoubtedly, the form in which these
things were put into writing was influenced very much by the lan-
guage and systems which were known in Europe. Toussaint, Des-
salines, and Christophe had ministers and others in their employ
who were men educated in France.

But we have now to consider that which was the foundation of this

1 Castonnet des Fosses, Rev. St. Dom. vol. i. p. 201.

2 Christophe was the son of a mulatto and a negress, thus preserving the heredi-
tary line of black descent. Christophe exercised the same rigid control over the
blacks as Toussaint and Dessalines, yet in spite of his ferocity, the old chiefs
retained a yearning toward him for years after his death ; he was spoken of in
awe, and called " I'homme " and "le roi." Mackenzie, Haiti, vol. i. p. 178 ; vol.
ii. p. 71 ; Brown, vol. ii. p. 210.

' Many documents relating to the government of Haiti are collected \xvBrit. and
For. State Pap. vol. xvi. pp. 661 ff. They are also given in Mackenzie, Notes on
Haiti.

3 o Journal of American Folk-Lore.

system, which at once marks the insight of Toussaint and Christophe,
and the African origin of their government. This is the system of
agriculture. This system was adopted at the time of the reconciU-
ation between the French and the blacks, under the advice of Tous-
saint. Some writers have called it an attempt to establish feudalism
in the island, and the system does have a resemblance to it, but it
also has many points of similarity with the organization of society in
many African tribes. There was a division of the population into
military and civil or laboring classes, the latter including both free
and slave laborers. The territory was parcelled out to chiefs or
lords, and the laborers were bound to the soil, which they were com-
pelled to work under a rigorous system of inspection ; for their sup-
port a part of the produce was set aside, the rest going to the chiefs,
and for the support of the king or general government and the army.
The army was kept under stern discipline, which made it possible
to arm the free men and laborers ; the women did a large part of
the agricultural labor. Under Toussaint the administration of this
labor system was committed to Dessalines, who carried it out with
the utmost rigor, and it was afterward followed by Christophe in the
same manner. The latter went so far as to import 4000 negroes
from Africa, which he took means to bind to his person and form
into a national guard, for patrolling the country.^ These regulations
brought back for a time a large part of the prosperity which the
island had enjoyed.

The comparison of their lot with the easier and more indolent life
of the south brought dissatisfaction into the ranks of Christophe's
people, so that at his death Boyer, the president of the south, was
able to assert his sway over the whole island. The following quo-
tation is taken from the book of Dr. Brown, who spent the year
1833-34 in the island, and whose work shows many marks of care
and accuracy : —

" A distinction is recognized by law between the class of laborers
and that of proprietors ; and the regulations established by Toussaint
and Dessalines for the prosperity of agriculture, and to make a just
division of its avails, are still preserved in the laws of the country
under the denomination of the code rurale. But the aristocratical
principle which makes such invidious distinctions, and enables the
proprietors to compel the laborer attached to the soil of his planta-
tion to perform a daily task and receive one fourth of the harvest as
the reward of his season's toil, has been discovered to be uncongenial
with the institution of a republic based upon the maxim that all men
are equal. Thus ' the toe of the peasant comes near the heel of the
courtier,' and it is found impossible to enforce regulations against
' Brown, vol. ii. p. 204. They were called the " Dahomet."

African Institutions in America. 31

it without a restoration of such arbitrary despotism as that experi-
enced under the sway of Christophe. The negroes are thus permit-
ted to roam at large, legally independent of each other, and invested
with the full enjoyment of their beloved indolence. An exception
to this is said to exist within two districts in the north of the island,
those namely of Grande Riviere and Port de Pai. The commanding
generals of these arrondissements are black chieftains once attached
to the service of Christophe, and convinced by the results which
they saw acquired by his rigid severity toward the lower classes of
the population, that no means are so effectual as absolute compulsion
to induce the negroes to labor, they still continue the policy of their
royal master, and make coercion the basis of their measures for the
prosperity of the districts under their command. Delinquent labor-
ers, vagrants, and petty offenders are in these two arrondissements
seized and punished by scourging instead of imprisonment ; and this
severer punishment is found to produce much greater effects than
incarceration, which has in it no terrors to the black. In consequence
of this more summary government, the condition of things in these
two districts is deemed to a great extent better than that which
exists in other parts of the country. . . . Upon these working days
the negroes are prohibited from assembling to amuse themselves by
dancing or any mode of festivity, — such seasons of merriment being
exclusively confined to the religious feasts or national anniversaries
established by the rules of the church or the laws of the republic.
The dances introduced from Africa are still in vogue, and upon
Sundays and fete days the monotonous, thumping sound of the bam-
boula is heard in all directions. . . . With this characteristic orchestra
a ring is formed in the open air, and the voluptuous African dances
commence with shrill, drawling outcries, the sound of which is more
plaintive than exhilarating or lively. . . .

" In no other country perhaps is there such entire absence of all
enormous crimes among the population. . . . The unexampled security
of a traveller among the population of the interior is almost incredible,
for he may journey from one end of the island to the other . . . with-
out the least danger of violence or of any interruption whatever. . . .
Almost the only prevalent crime is petty theft. ... As is the case
with all barbarous nations, the females are compelled to perform
most of the labor. Those of the country employ themselves in
cultivating the soil, while the men spend their time in traversing
the country on horseback, in drinking, smoking, and other habits
equally unprofitable. The females of the towns perform all the retail
traf^c of the country," ^

1 Brown, vol. ii. pp. 278-280. Cf. Mackenzie, vol. i. pp. 38, 79; vol. ii. pp. 146-
154. In the south, the decline in agriculture followed the excessive relaxation of

32 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

One great difficulty in dealing with this question lies in the fact
that observers did not know just what they were describing. A chief
is called indiscriminately, governor, king, marshal, or fetishman.
But what their material does make certain is that the negroes did
keep their mores and practised them whenever they were allowed
to do so, and that such practice was usually attended with beneficial
results. Of course, the incompleteness of our data does not permit
us to affirm that Toussaint, Dessalines, and Christophe were princes
of royal blood, but it is very probable that they were. A striking
instance of the effect of an election upon the conduct of a negro
chief is seen in the example of Soulouque, president and emperor of
Haiti.i

Soulouque was a negro born in Haiti, of the Mandingo tribe. He
became a general under several mulatto presidents. In the anarchy
which followed the fall of Boyer, he was elected president by the
mulattoes because he was old, could not read or write, and it was
thought he would be a weak president and an easy tool. Upon be-
coming president he developed an exceedingly strong will and began
to attach the negroes to himself. This did not suit the mulattoes,
and a series of conspiracies was begun. Soulouque, although his
antecedents were all with the mulatto party, retaliated by executions
and massacres in true African style. In spite of his failure to con-
quer the Dominican Republic, he was allowed to proclaim himself
emperor in 1849, with the will of the people apparently in his favor
and by unanimous consent of the legislature. He proceeded at once
to form a numerous court, a military and a civilian class, and to pro-
claim his right to rule as he pleased at any time he saw fit. The
marvellous extent of the power of these kings and emperors leaves
no room for doubt that it was based upon something more than
mere personal excellence. According to African customs it might
not always happen that the successor of a chief was chosen from
among his kin. A chief might be selected, on account of his ability
or prowess, from outside the royal line, but he of course succeeded to
all the prerogatives of the office.

In Cuba, Brazil, and the United States the absence of opportunity

to engage in war and the comparatively confined life that the negroes

led left them small latitude for the exercise of their customs, which

was confined to the regulation of the morals of the people.

Hubert H. S. Aimes.
West Haven, Conn.

the law in regard to idleness. In the north, 1826. the people in the mountains were
still "excessively addicted to Obeah." Mackenzie, vol. i. p. 96. Christophe is
said to have had jjreat faith in Obi. Ibid. vol. ii. p. 167.
^ Diet. Am. Biog.

The Passover Song of the Kid. 33

THE PASSOVER SONG OF THE KID AND AN
EQUIVALENT FROM NEW ENGLAND.

We are told that Jesus and his disciples, while gathered for the
Passover celebration, sang a hymn. (Matt. xxvi. 30.) The reference,
doubtless, is to the Hallelox psalm of praise (Psalms cxiii.-cxvii.). In
later centuries were added chanted benedictions, such as : " Praised
art thou, O Lord, King of the Universe, who hast redeemed us, and
hast redeemed our fathers from Egypt." Mediasval manuscripts con-
taining the Haggadah (Passover eve) rite include other pieces of a
poetical character. At the end of the service were added two folk-
songs, included in the Prague edition of 1590 (but not in that of
1526), namely, E had mi j odea (One, who knows.'') and Had gadya
(One kid).^ These are still sung, with devotional feeling, not only by
orthodox German Jews, but also by those of other countries. The
rhymes have numerous equivalents in European folk-lore ; the first,
a number-song, I have already examined in this Journal ;2 of the
Song of the Kid I shall now give an unpublished English variant,
and add brief comparative remarks.

The Jewish chant proceeds as follows (previous terms being re-
peated with each new agent) : —

One kid, one kid, that my father bought for two pieces ; one kid, one kid.

Then came the cat and ate the kid that my father bought, etc.

Then came the dog and ate the cat, etc.

Then came the stick and beat the dog, etc.

Then came the fire and burned the stick, etc.

Then came the water and quenched the fire, etc.

Then came the ox and drank the water, etc.

Then came the butcher and slew the ox, etc.

Then came the Death-angel and slew the butcher, etc.

Then came the Holy One, blessed be he ! and slew the Death-angel, etc.

As the song was sung with devout feeling, it came to be felt that it
must be something more than a nursery rhyme. In 1723, Probst von
der Hardt gave a mystical explanation, and interpreted the two pieces
as significant of Moses and Aaron, the cat as indicating Assyria, the
stick Persia, the fire Alexander, the water Romans, the ox Saracens,
the butcher Franks, the angel Turks, and the Holy One God, who
would send the still expected Messiah. The principle of the rhyme
was found in Jeremiah xxx. 16: "All they that devour thee shall be
devoured." This fanciful interpretation found some favor with sub-
sequent writers.^

^ Jewish Encyclopcedia, " Haggadah."

'^ Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. iv. 1891, pp. 215-220.
8 G. Paris, Romania, vol. i. 1872, p. 222; J. C. Ulrichs, Sammlung jUdische
VOL. xviii. — NO. 68. 3

34 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

From the communication of Halliwell-Phillips in 1842, an English
parallel, in the form of a tale, has become very familiar in nursery
literature.^

An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked
sixpence.^ " What," said she, " shall I do with this little sixpence ? I will
go to market, and buy a little pig." As she was coming home, she came to
a stile ; but piggy would not go over the stile.

She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog,
" Dog ! dog ! bite pig ; piggy won't go over the stile ; and I shan't get
home to-night." But the dog would not.

She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said, "Stick!
stick ! beat dog ; dog won't bite pig," etc.

The story continues in the same accumulative fashion, with "fire ! burn
stick," " water ! quench fire," ** ox ! drink water,'" " butcher ! kill ox," " rope !
hang butcher," " rat ! gnaw rope," and " cat ! kill rat."

[At this point of the story, the cat demands milk, which must be sought
from the cow, who in turn asks hay, which is obtained from haymakers.] '

As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the rat ;
the rat began to gnaw the rope ; the rope began to hang the butcher ; the
butcher began to kill the ox ; the ox began to drink the water ; the water
began to quench the fire ; the fire began to burn the stick ; the stick began
to beat the dog ; the dog began to bite the pig ; the little pig in a fright
jumped over the stile ; and so the old woman got home that night.

Scottish variants make the tale one of the kid.

There was a wife that lived in a wee house by hersel', and as she was
soopin' the house one day, she fand twall pennies. So she thought to her-
sel', what she could do wi' her twall pennies, and at last she thought she

Geschichte, Basle, 1768, p. 133. Hardt's explanation was repeated by P. N. Lebrecht,
1 73 1, to whom Halliwell ascribes it. For authors who have favored such view, see
the Jewish Encyclopcedia, " Had gadya."

1 Nursery Rhymes of England. Obtained principally from oral recitation.
Edited by J. O. Halliwell. London, 1842, p. 159.

^ Or, a silver penny.

' This bracketed material does not belong to the song now in question, but has
been introduced by way of " contamination " from another accumulative rhyme, that
of the mouse whose tail has been bitten off, and who goes to the cat to reclaim it.
The mouse is referred to the cow for milk, thence to the barn for hay, thence
to the blacksmith for a key to the barn, to the sea for coal to forge the key. etc.
Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. xiii. 1900, p. 229. Halliwell (-Phillips), Popu-
lar Tales and Nursery Rhymes, London, 1849, P- 33- This rhyme, The Cat and
the Mouse, has a separate comparative history in several languages. French,
Revue des Traditions Populaires, vo\. ii. p. 131; E. F. Carey, Guernsey Folk-
Lore, London, 1903, p. 493 ; see Cosquin, <?/. cit. below, vol. i. p. 281, No. 29;
Provengal, adulterated with the tale (originally Hindu) of the Hermit and the
Mouse Csee note, below). African (Berber), R. Basset, Contes pop. berbtres, Paris,
1887, No. 45 ; Nouveaux contes berblres, Paris, 1897, p. 168. This randontide is
almost as variable as that of the Kid, with which the series is often adulterated.

The Passover Song of the Kid. 35

couldna do better than gang wi' it to the market and buy a kid. Sae she
gaed to the market and coffed [/. e. bought] a fine kid. And as she was
gaun hame, she spied a bonny buss o' berries growin' beside a brig. And
she says to the kid : " Kid, kid, keep my house till I pu' my bonny, bonny,
buss o' berries."

" Deed no," says the kid, " I '11 no keep your house till ye pu' your bonny
buss o' berries."

Then the wife gaed to the dog, and said, " Dog, dog, bite kid ; kid winna
keep my house," etc.

The series proceeds with staff, fire, water, ox, axe, smith, rope, mouse, cat,
and, on the latter's refusal, makes the wife say, " Do 't and I '11 gie ye milk
and bread." " Wi' that the cat to the mouse, and the mouse to the rope, etc.,
and the kid keepit the wife's house till she pu'd her bonny buss o' berries." ^

A variant represents the wife as anxious to gather sticks.^

*' Kid, kid, rin hame, leuk the hoose, an' come again, till I gedder a
puckle o' sticks to my fair firie."

" Niver a lenth," said the kid, " will I rin hame, leuk the hoose, an come
again ; ye can dee 't yersel'."

The series here is dog, stick, fire, water, ox, smith, mouse, cat.

I now print for the first time a version obtained by myself, many
years ago, from the recitation of Miss Lydia R. Nichols of Salem,
Mass., at the time aged 88 years, who retained the words as a remi-
niscence of her earliest infancy ; the date of the rhyme therefore goes
back to about 1800.

KID DO GO.

As I was going over London Bridge,

I found a penny ha'penny, and bought me a kid.

Kid do go.
Know by the moonlight it 's almost midnight.
Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.

Went a little further, and found a stick.

Stick do beat kid,

Kid won't go.
Know by the moonlight it 's almost midnight,
Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.

Went a little further, and found fire.

Fire do burn stick,

Stick won't beat kid.

Kid won't go.
Know by the moonlight it 's almost midnight.
Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.

' R. Chambers, Popular Rhymes of Scotland, p. 57.

^ W. Gregor, Folk-Lore yournal (London), vol. ii. p. 277.

36 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

Went a little further, and found water.

Water do quench fire,

Fire won't burn stick,

Stick won't beat kid.

Kid won't go.
Know by the moonlight it 's almost midnight,
Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.

Went a little further, and found ox.

Ox do drink water,

Water won't quench fire,

Fire won't burn stick.

Stick won't beat kid.

Kid won't go.
Know by the moonlight it 's almost midnight,
Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.

Went a little further, and found butcher.

Butcher do kill ox,

Ox won't drink water,

Water won't quench fire,

Fire won't burn stick.

Stick won't beat kid.

Kid won't go.
Know by the moonlight it 's almost midnight,
Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.

Went a little further, and found rope.

Rope do hang butcher,

Butcher won't kill ox.

Ox won't drink water,

Water won't quench fire,

Fire won't burn stick,

Stick won't beat kid.

Kid won't go.
Know by the moonlight it 's almost midnight,
Time kid and I were home an hour and a half ago.

Rope began to hang butcher, butcher began to kill ox.
Ox began to drink water.
Water began to quench fire,
Fire began to burn stick.
Stick began to beat kid,
Kid began to go.
Know by the moonlight it 's almost midnight.
So kid and I got home an hour and a half ago.

The Passover Song of the Kid. 3 7

There is a class of rhymes of this sort which increase and then
reverse, and which in English are called accumulative. The French
have a better word, randortn^e (dialectically rengaine). An anony-
mous writer from Tarn and Garonne remarks, in connection with a
tale of this class : " This old rengaine was a favorite in all the coun-
try-side ; every peasant wife used it, as soon as she had children to
suckle or nurse. The child remained serious and attentive as long
as lasted the part called the ascent {vtountado, i. e. crescendo), and
burst into explosive laughter during the descent {dabalado, diminu-
endo). The ascent was merely spoken, every phrase on the same
monotone, and the descent chanted on one elevated note." ^

To the kid song belongs an extensive literature. An excellent
bibliography is furnished by J. Bolte, in addition to an article of R.
Kohler.2 Since new versions continually appear, while the number
of unpublished variants must be innumerable, a writer cannot be per-
fectly informed. As Bolte has not discussed the forms he notes,
I shall briefly set forth the results of a comparative examination.

The very numerous German versions exhibit several types, A
common form is that in which a farmer sends his servant Jack to
perform some agricultural labor, and Jack refuses,

Der Bauer schickt den Jackel naus,
Er solt den Haber schneiden ;
Jackel wolt nicht Haber schneiden,
Wolt lieber zu Hause bleiben.^

The farmer sends Jack to mow oats. Jack will not mow oats, would
rather stay at home.

The farmer sends his man to fetch Jack, The man will not fetch Jack,
Jack will not mow oats, would rather stay at home.

The song proceeds in the usual cumulative form. The farmer
sends the dog to bite the man, the stick to beat the dog, the fire to
burn the stick, the water to quench the fire, the ox to drink the
water, the butcher to kill the ox, the vulture to carry off the butcher,
the witch to enchant the vulture, the hangman to burn the witch,
the doctor to kill the hangman, and the verse concludes : —

Rather than be killed, I will burn witch,
Rather than be burned, I will enchant vulture,

^ Revue des Traditions Populaires, vol. ii. 1887, p. 131. The rhyme given is a
version of that in English called the " Cat and the Mouse," though in the French
the cat does not appear. " I am going to find Madame that she may give me
bread." " Madame will not, unless I bring her the keys of Monsieur."

2 R. Kohler, Kleinere schriften ztint neueren LiieraiJtrgeschichte volkskiinde
und wortforschung, ed. by J, Bolte, Berlin, 1900, No, 45 : Der Bauer schickt
den Jackel aus, vol. iii. p. 355.

3 Kohler, loc. cit.

38 journal of American Folk-Lore.

Rather than be enchanted, I will carry off butcher,
Rather than be carried off, I will kill ox,
Rather than be killed, I will drink water.
Rather than be drunk, I will quench fire.
Rather than be quenched, I will burn stick,
Rather than be burned, I will beat dog,
Rather than be beat, I will fetch Jack,
Rather than be fetched, I will mow oats.

Equally common is a variation, in which the duty required is to
gather pears.

The master sends his huntsman

To knock down pears j

Huntsman will not knock down pears.

Pears will not fall,

Huntsman will not pick.

The rhyme proceeds with dog, stick, fire, water, ox, and the devil,
who will fetch all. This form of the song has had a sort of sacred
use, being chanted on the eve of St. Lambert, September 17, in the
public place of Munich, about greenery with lighted candles ; the
great circle of dancers, who performed this and other chants, was
headed by monks of various orders. "Number-stories" {Zdhlge-
schichten) of this sort were also employed in gatherings of spinners,
to accompany movements of the hands. A clever spinner would
spin off a skein and recite the long stanzas, while an awkward
worker could hardly get through the shorter ones.^

Other German forms, in which Jack figures as the first actor, give
a series accordant with the English, in that the cat is made to catch
the mouse, the mouse to gnaw the rope, the rope to hang the
butcher, etc.^

Some versions that have this series (ending with the cat) dis-
pense with Jack, and make the history recite the adventures of
Chanticleer and Partlet. Thus, in a Low German rhyme, the cock
and hen proceed to the wood, where the latter finds a grain of malt.
Beer is brewed, which the cock begs to partake, but falls into the
tub. The hen then appeals for help to the man, who refuses, and
the series proceeds with the dog, stick, etc.^

A Flemish variant makes Pouledinnetje and Pouledannetje go to
pick up sticks (after the manner of the wife in the Scottish variant).
After they have proceeded a long way, the latter refuses to return
without being carried, and the dog is appealed to. The series ends
(as in English) with rope, mouse, and cat.*

1 L. Erk and F. M. Bohme, Deutscher Ltederhort, Leipsic, 1894, vol. iii. p. 530.
^ E.g. J. M. Firmenich, Cermaniens Volkersiitnmen, Berlin, 1854, vol. iii. p. 22.
8 K. Miillenhoff, Schleswige Sagen, Kiel, 1845, p. 470.
* L. de Baecker, De la Religion dtt N^ord de la France avant le Chris Hants fne,

The Passover Song of the Kid. 39

A version from Alsace, instead of a kid, treats of a pig.^

There was a wife who had a pig. Once on a time the pig ran into the
wood to eat acorns. After it had eaten enough, the wife said : " Pig, you
must go home." But the pig would not.

Then the wife went to the dog, and said : " Dog, bite pig, pig won't go
home." Then said dog: "The pig would n't, and neither will I."

Stick, fire, water, cow, butcher, and hangman are appealed to ; rather
than be hanged, the butcher consents, and the impulse is propagated.

A German parody introduces the finding of a coin, as in the Eng-
lish.2

Yesterday I swept,

I found a kreutzer ;

The kreutzer I gave to my mother,

My mother gave me corn,

The corn I gave to the miller,

The miller gave me meal.

The meal I gave to the brook.

The brook gave me water.

The water I gave to my father,

My father gave me a stick,

The stick I gave to my teacher,

My teacher gave me a beating. . . .

Some Dutch versions closely answer to the English.^

There was once a little man who swept his little stable. What did he
find ? A little golden penny. What did he buy with it? A fat pig. But
the pig would not go, unless it were carried on a litter. Then he went to
the dog : " Dog, will you bite pig," etc.

Or, still more nearly correspondent : —

An old woman had bought in the market a suckling pig, and was driving
it home. On the way, she came to a hedge and said : " Pig, will you jump
over the hedge ? "

Scandinavian forms offer little that is especially characteristic. In
a Danish variant, a boy who is set to keep a recalcitrant goat appeals
to a dog :* —

Lille, 1854, p. 122. (The last term of this series is a little old man, who is asked to
seize the cat ; according to a method of interpretation fashionable in a preceding
generation, Baecker took this personage to be Odin.)

1 A. Stober, Elsdssische Volksbiichlem, Strassburg, 1842, No. 236.

2 E. Meier, Deutsche Kindereime und Kinderspiele aus Schivaben, Tubingen,
l85i,p. 65.

3 In French translation, Revue des Traditions Populaires, vol. vi. 1891, pp. 103,
104.

* J. Kamp, Danske Volkeminder, Odensee, 1877, p. 241. Asbjorsen, translated
by G. W. Dasent, Tales from the Fjeld, London, 1894, p. 238, has an elaborated tale
of a goat who is in the habit of coming home late.

40 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

" Dog, won't you bile kid ?

Kid won't go home,

And I can't get any supper."
" No," said the dog.

The confused series ends with the cat.

So far, the variants have not thrown much light on the evolution
of the tale. But the case is different with French versions.

The earliest printed (in 1853) made the story one of a wolf who
was to be driven from a wood : —

J'y a un loup dedans un bois,
Le loup n' veut pas sortir du bois.
Ha ! j' te promets, coniper Brocard,
Tu sortiras de ce lieu-Ik.^

The series continues with dog, stick, fire, water, calf, butcher. Devil.
However, other forms show that in this rhyme a verse has fallen
out ; it is properly the kid who must be driven from the wood.^

Ya t'un bicquet dans notre bois,
Qui ne veut pas sortir du bois.
Par la sambler, monsieur I' bicquet,
Vous sortirez de notre bois.

II faut aller chercher un loup,

Ce sera pour manger 1' bicquet, etc.

The terms are, stick, fire, water, calf, butcher, hangman {bourreau).

With more, propriety, it is from the cabbage-patch rather than
from the wood that the kid should be expelled.^

Biquette ne veut pas sortir du chou ;
Ah ! tu sortiras, Biquette, Biquette,
Ah ! tu sortiras de ce chou-lk.

The title Biquette (kid) seems not always to have been understood,
and to have given rise to the proper name Brocard, as above, and in
a Provengal rhyme to Bricou, who, by confusion, is required to plant
cabbages : " Tell Bricou to come and plant cabbages ; Bricou will not
come. Ah ! coquin of a Bricou, in spite of this, you shall plant cab-
bages ! " *

The series ends with butcher. Moor.

^ E. L. Rockholz, Alemannisches KinderliedundKinderspiel,mis der Schweiz,
Leipsic, 1857, p. 152.

^ C. Beauquier, Chansons populaires recueilUes en Franche-Covit^, Paris, 1894,
p. 117.

* Du Mersan, Chansons et Rondes enfantines, Paris, 1891, p. 35.

•• Revue des Langues Romanes, vol. vi. 1874, p. 314.

The Passover Song of the Kid. 41

In a variant, Jean (a farm-hand) is required to drive the pig from
the garden where it is eating the grapes.^

Ha! Jean, dit le niaitre,
Va m' chasser la biquette
Qui mang' tout' not' raisin,
Lk has, dans 1' grand jardin.

The next step is to dispense with the kid, and begin the rhyme
with Jean, who is represented as declining to perform agricultural
labors. 2

Jean is clearly identical with the Jackel, etc., of the German
rhymes, which therefore are perceived to be only variations of the
Kid song.

A further alteration was effected by turning the kid and its owner
into companions with alliterative names.^

It was Poutin and Poutot who lived together. One said : " We will go
for strawberries ; " so they went. Poutin ate faster than Poutot. When he
had had enough, he said : " Now, will you go back ? " " No, not till I have
had as much as you." "Well, I '11 tell the wolf to come and eat you," etc.

This form of the narrative is widely spread through Europe, and
is often referred to animal actors, as in the story of the cock and
hen, above given.

We perceive, therefore, that the German and English rhymes
derive from a single source, namely, the story of the kid who enters
the cabbage-patch, and cannot be driven out without help.

Since the terms of the series of actors differ, and the variants go
back to a common origin, we may inquire which are the earlier.

In many versions the wolf first appears, and is asked to devour the
kid ; however, he is evidently interpolated, since no householder
would think of employing a wolf to drive his kid home ; and con-
formably, in the best versions he is absent. From this point the
series is uniform, dog, stick, fire, water, ox, butcher ; then arises a
divergence ; one set of variants, to which belong the English rhymes,
have rope, mouse, cat ; another set, as well as the Hebrew, introduce
animate actors. The better versions favor the last form, and in fact,
the change can be explained : the butcher is to be controlled by an
officer of the law, the hangman ; * instead of the latter could be put
the rope he uses ; the rope required the mouse, and the mouse again
the cat.

^ C. Marelle, Affenschwanz, Brunswick, 1888, p. 63.

2 Romania, vol. i. p. 218.

^ E. Cosquin, Cotites populaires de Lorraine, Paris, 1886, vol. ii. p. 32.

* Bourreau, R. d. T. P., vol. x. p. 662. Du Mersan, loc. cil., has judge ; Marelle,
sword. The term, which is wanting in the Latin and Hebrew, may be an interpo-
lation.

42 Journal of American Folk- Lore.

In the preferable forms, after bringing in human justice, the origi-
nal series seems to have called first on demonic and then on celestial
power.

Many versions end with Death or the Devil, agents who in medi-
aeval folk-lore often exchange. ^

A mediaeval series, however, could hardly have ended in this man-
ner ; the usual procedure would have been to recognize the supremacy
of divine authority. Accordingly, the Donimus of the Latin form
must have meant Doniinus Dens?" This conclusion is corroborated
by the Hebrew chant.

As the song, ending in this manner, described an effect produced
by a chain of forces, acting mediately after the will of the Supreme,
it had, according to Middle Age ideas, a character sufficiently serious
to allow of its employment as a sacred chant. We find it, therefore,
in use at the festivals of saints, as well as for a spinning-song, a
game-rhyme,^ and an exercise of memory, while the prevailing use,
as it had been the original purpose, was for the amusement and con-
solation of the nursery.

The Jewish Passover song, as now clearly appears, was only a
translation of the randonn^e. The version is very imperfect, seeing
that the essential feature of the whole, the enforcement of a rejected
task, is wanting. This deficiency probably resulted from the defects
of the version used by the renderer.^ After the translation had been
made, the sacred use acted as a conservative principle, and in the
Hebrew version maintained the serious idea involved in the intro-
duction of Death and of the Almighty, which had once character-
ized the mediaeval French, but which dropped out as the rhyme
reverted to mere nonsense.

Inasmuch as Germans of the sixteenth century were familiar with
other and later forms of the rhyme,^ the rendering must have been
effected long before the publication, and may have proceeded from
Romance-speaking Jews, seeing that these still sing the piece. In

^ Death, Rockholz, loc. cit., R. d. T. P., vol. vi. p. 502. In European versions
generally the terms vary. Modern Greek has the plague, Passow, he. cit.

* Many versions have for a final term master, which is understood to be the
master of the recalcitrant servant, but may originally have had this meaning,
Marelle, loc. cit.

^ Several rhymes used in different games are made up from the series of the
Kid song. So with the English game " Club-fist," Newell, Games and Songs of
American Children, No. "JS. French game of queue leu-leu, Rev. d. Langues
Romanes, vol. iii. p. 313.

* Compare version of A. Montel and L. Lambert, Chants populaires du Lan-
guedoc, Paris, 1880, p. 536, and the Modern Greek of Passow.

' The song is mentioned among the games of Gargantua by the German
Johannes Fischart, in 1575 : " Der Baur schickt sein Jockel aus," so that the words
must have been nearly the same as those now current.

The Passover Song of the Kid. 43

applying the randomise to a holy use, these only followed the exam-
ple of their Christian neighbors. The Had gadya contains nothing
essentially Jewish.

The impression made by comparison is, that the source was
probably Old French, say of the twelfth or thirteenth century ; had
the beginning of the evolution been much older, the process could
hardly have been traced so much in detail, and the derived forms
would have presented more variation.

This view is consistent with the character of other European
versions.

In Italy, the recorded variants all belong to secondary forms ; the
kid has fallen out of the story.^

Spanish variants either agree with the Italian, or belong, not to
this particular rhyme, but to other randonnees which also have had
international diffusion.^

In Northern Europe, the tale is understood to be very familiar in
Russia, and doubtless in all Slavic lands ; but the examples known
to me seem to indicate that the Russians have borrowed the story
from neighbors to the south.^

Modern Greek rhymes present a confusion and deficiency which
seems to require a similar explanation.*

A Breton variety, as might be expected, is nothing more than a
rendering from an inferior French form.^

Indications, therefore, point to a single Old French root for the
European song.

As to other continents, the collection is still too limited to formu-
late any definite opinion. What may be said, accordingly, should be
given merely as an opinion open to future change, in case additional
inquiry should point out new facts.

The manner in which European nursery rhymes do easily pass
into the folk-lore of simple races with whom Europeans are brought

^ See texts mentioned by Bolte. In a version of Imbriani, Conti pomiglia-
nesi, Naples, 1876, No. 9, the son, offended by his mother's failure to keep his
supper, refuses to eat. In other cases, like Jean, the boy refuses to pick cab-
bages.

^ E. G. Coelho, Jogos e rimas infantiles, Porto, 1883, No. 109, resembles the
English " House that Jack Built : " " This is the key which opens the gate of the
castle of Chuchurumel," etc.

' The version of Afanasief, Skazki, vol. iv. No. 16, is one in which a couple
(here the he-goat and she-goat) quarrel, as in the French Poutin and Poutot,
above.

* Passow, Carmina popularia GrecicE receniioris, Nos. 274-276. An old man
has a cock that keeps him awake ; the fox eats it, etc. The original idea of the
enforcement of an action is lost (as in the Hebrew song).

^ F. M. Luzel and A. Le Bras, Chatiso7ts populaires de la Basse-Bretagne, 1890,
vol. i. p. 61.

44 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

in contact, is illustrated in Algeria, where the Kabyls have adopted,
not only this randomise, but others of a kindred spirit.^

In India, the tale is said to be universally familiar in the Panjab.^
A crow carries off a grain of corn belonging to the wife of 5
farmer, who seizes the bird and demands restoration. The corn,
however, has rolled into a cleft in a tree, whence the thief cannot
extricate it ; accordingly, he appeals to a forester : —

Man ! man ! cut tree,

I can't get the grain of corn,

To save my life from the farmer's wife !

As the forester will not interfere, appeal is made, in the accumu-
lative form, to queen, king, snake, stick, fire, water, ox, rope, mouse,
cat. " So the cat began to catch the mouse," etc.

In this case, the European rhyme, of which the influence is suffi-
ciently shown by the concluding terms, appears to have amalgamated
with some native nursery tale.

In Siam, a boy set by an aged couple to watch the plantation
refuses, and the crow carries off the seeds. The boy appeals to crow,
hunter, mouse (to bite bowstring), dog, earwig, fire, water, river-
bank, elephant (to break the bank), and gnat (to sting elephant).
The chain of causes is set in motion, and the crow makes abundant
restoration.^

In a Hottentot story, the mouse has spoiled the garments of a
tailor, and when accused before the peacock, casts the blame on cat,
dog, tree, fire, water, and elephant, in the usual accumulative form.
The cat is finally bidden to bite the mouse and does so. Since that
time the animals have had nothing to do with each other.^

If there were for every European and African country a list of
variants as complete as that in France and Germany, it might be
possible to trace the manner in which each member of the history is
altered and adulterated, and to determine just what originals have
combined for such result. Under present conditions, this cannot be
done.

In a tale from Zanzibar, Goso the teacher is killed by a calabash
shaken from a tree by a gazelle. His scholars, who wish to avenge
him, cast the blame on the south wind. The latter replies, that if

1 One Kabyl version is of a child who refuses to eat (as in the Italian). J. Riviere,
Rectieil de Contes populaires de la Kabylie du DJurdJura, Paris, 1882, p. 137.

2 F. A. Steel, Wide-awake Stories, Bombay, 1884, p. 209.
' Notes atid Queries, 7th ser., vol. ix. p. 461.

* W. H. Bleek, Reineke Fiichs in Afrika, 1870. p. 26. The idea of throwing
blame of stolen property from one to the other belongs to genuine African tales,
whence it is doubtless borrowed. Bleek, African Folk-Lore, papers printed in
the Cape Monthly Magazine, December 15, 1877.

The Passover Song of the Kid. 45

he were the chief (and so able to act independently and responsibly),
he would not be stopped by a mud wall. The wall is inferior to the
rat (which digs through), and so on with cat, rope, knife, fire, water,
ox, tick, gazelle. The latter, being guilty, is silent, and is killed.^

This story is of interest because it derives in part from a really
ancient fiction. The Panchatantra, and other works, informs us
of the manner in which a hermit changed a mouse into a maiden.
When the girl came to be of marriageable age, the hermit wished to
select the most powerful husband. The Sun, first chosen, declares
his inferiority to the cloud that obscures him, the cloud to the wind,
the latter to the mountain, and the mountain to the mouse. The
maiden, who has found serious objections to other proposed bride-
grooms, is delighted with the prospect of a congenial marriage, and
the hermit is obliged to re-transform her, in order that she may be
able to enter the mouse-hole. Thus every creature returns to its
own essential nature.^

The Sanscrit tale, which is an apologue with an obvious moral, has
had a distinguished literary career, and is responsible for a fable of
La Fontaine. In folk-lore, also, it has retained currency to the pre-
sent day. What is sufficiently curious is, that in Provence as well as
in Zanzibar it has been turned into a popular randomise, being ** con-
taminated " from the Kid song. The fly and the ant go on pilgrim-
age to Jerusalem. They come to a river, which the ant undertakes
to cross on the ice, and breaks his leg. He sues for the recovery of
this member, but the ice sends him to his superior the sun, the sun
to the cloud, the cloud to the wind, the wind to the wall, the wall to
the rat ; we then fall back on the termiS of the Kid series, — cat, dog,
ox, fire, water, man, death.^

The conclusion seems to me to be that, according to present evi-
dence, it is likely that the Old French narrator, whose song of the
Kid became popular, in a hundred variations, all through Europe, is
likewise responsible for its repute in other continents. Doubtless,
his (or her) rhyme required no great effort of invention, being only
one of a class of similar histories. When and how the type itself,
the randonnh with its crescendo and diminuendo, came into exist-
ence, may be left for future decision with better light ; it is enough
to say that it is not shown in ancient literature.

^ E, Steere, Swahili Tales, London, 1870, p. 288. Also, G. W. Bateman, Zan-
zibar Tales, Chicago, 1901, p. dy. Mr. Bateman alleges that he has himself trans-
lated tales which were recited to him in Zanzibar; the stories, however, exhibit
no new features other than an alteration of the titles by which they are designated.
The writer does not mention the name of Steere.

"^ Benfey, Fantschatantra, vol. ii. p. 262 ; Cosquin, op, cit., vol. ii. p. 40.

' Romania, vol. i. p. 108.

46 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

To these brief comparisons I may be allowed to add some general
observations.

The territory traversed, that of nursery tradition, may seem too
humble to deserve scientific survey ; yet it is precisely in these lower
regions that the abundance of material may enable the inquirer to
test wide-reaching theories.

It is not every species of nursery lore for which it is reasonable to
expect foreign parallels. Many of the little but witty rhymes which,
by a name borrowed from Perrault, we designate as belonging to
"Mother Goose," owe their acceptance to a raciness which depends
on the accident of rhyme or alliteration ; they could not recommend
themselves to a stranger, and a nurse in France would employ verses
quite different. Even though the English sayings may often prove
an ancestry of three hundred years, they are nevertheless essentially
local and modern.

On the other hand, other kinds of nursery tradition may claim wide
diffusion. Such, speaking generally, is the case with the formulas
belonging to games, whether those used by children or by nurses.
So, also, with the accumulative stories to which belongs the par-
ticular rhyme which has been considered. In such cases the agree-
ment is so close that even the minor varieties have become interna-
tional. The collector who recorded the English randonnie thought
that the Hebrew song might explain other series, such as "The Cat
and the Mouse" and "The House that Jack Built." We see that
this is not the case, but that each of these pieces of nonsense has its
separate comparative history in several tongues.

The seriousness of the Passover chant made it natural to presume
that it had in some way a serious origin. It seems to represent acts
of vengeance inflicted by actor after actor, until the final term is
reached in deity. Comparison has been made with the Athenian
ceremony of the Diapolia. In this singular rite, an ox (or bull) who
ventured to partake of the sacred meal was sacrificed by means of a
knife thrown at him by a priest. The animal was then stuffed, put
in the plough, and made to be present at a judicial inquiry. The
maidens who brought the water were first accused of the murder ;
they cast the blame on the knife-grinder, he in turn on the executor
of the act, the latter on the knife itself ; as the knife could not plead,
it was adjudged guilty, and cast into the sea. Obviously, the rite
was intended to appease the spirit of the sacrifice, whose ghost or
kindred might be expected to avenge the deed. Now, as we have a
series of agents on whom reproach is thrown, it was thought that
such ritual usage might be at the bottom of the nursery rhyme, just
as the "counting-out" rhymes of children have been supposed to be
relics of formulas employed in sacrificial rites.

The Passover Song of the Kid. 47

In this example, comparative examination seems to establish that
the randonnh did not so descend from religious custom, but was at
first simply a piece of nonsense, which obtained currency through its
sprightly character. Whatever sacred significance it obtained, alike
as a Christian carol and Jewish hymn, was conferred by process of
interpreting sanctity into what is secular, which is responsible for no
small part of mythology.

The wide circulation of the piece is a gratifying example of the
ease with which even the minor elements of European folk-lore have
found their way to simple neighbors. So with folk-tales ; I have
elsewhere argued that the history of Cinderella, popular though it
be, is probably no world-old myth, but a sophisticated story of medi-
aeval romance origin. ^ Civilization, which is light, shines into the
darkness, by which it is little affected. For communication of cul-
tivated narratives to savages the door is wide open ; in the other
direction the valve swings to. The obscurity and mysticism of sav-
age chants renders them incomprehensible ; one cannot imagine a
European mother using a Hottentot or Berber song. In the same
manner Bretons get many of their folk-tales from France, Basques
from Provence or Spain, and even modern Irishmen from modern
Englishmen. As I have written respecting the tale of the " Bird-
wife : " —

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
represented by the illustration of a species of vegetable, which has origi-
nated in an early civilization at a time so remote, that from the first mo-
ment of its discernible history it possesses a cultivated character. This
vegetable, again, under the influence of civilization, is differentiated into
new varieties, arising in different localities, each one of which, on account
of advantages which it appears to offer, may in its turn be introduced into
different regions, and even supersede the original out of which it was de-
veloped, this dissemination following the routes of commerce and ordinarily
proceeding from the more highly organized countries to those inferior in
the scale of culture.^

These remarks need to be modified by the recognition that in some
cases, the process indicated, far from beginning in a remote period,
may be comparatively modern. The winged seeds of tradition may
suddenly take root, multiply with speed, and soon become abundant.
Once firmly established, the new-comers may persist, as in the pre-
sent example has for three centuries been true of the German rhyme ;
such obstinacy does not show that the plant is autochthonous, nor

1 Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. vii. 1894, p. 70.

2 The International Folk-Lore Congress, 1891. Papers and Transactions.
London, 1892, p. 40.

48 yournal of American Fo Ik-Lore.

that it had indefinite antiquity prior to the date of record. The
immigrant is often variable, and freely amalgamates with the native
flora ; such " contamination " seems to proceed more easily in un-
lettered communities, where fancy easily takes oral channels ; we
then usually find combination with aboriginal histories, introduction
of savage motives, and recast into barbaric form. On the other
hand, the tradition of civilized lands, as less free, may be more con-
servative. Thus English lore sometimes maintains characteristics
of a history which has perished in its original habitat ; so in the Kid
rhyme has been preserved the humorous preface which once was a
necessary' feature of all randonnees.

The series under consideration also illustrates the difference of
literature and folk-lore as regards method of composition. In some
variants we have illustrated a process entirely corresponding to that
of written letters ; the brief nursery rhyme was expanded into a
long story, just as a modern author enlarges a nursery tale into a
novelette. The majority of reciters repeated the rhyme with an
intention of adherence to their original ; but lapse of memory on one
hand, influence of association on the other, introduced unconscious
changes, which sometimes accumulated in such manner as to alter the
form. In general, the tendency was toward confusion ; the formula
degenerated, so as to forfeit such measure of consistency as it had
once possessed. Here, however, appears a certain degree of free-
dom ; reciters appropriated and reproduced the fun of the piece,
using their own words, as may be seen in the Scottish variants. On
the whole, so far as regards the history now in question, the meth-
ods of folk-lore, beyond the difference arising from the oral medium,
offer no salient distinction to those of literature.

Since this article has been put into type, I find that the Rhyme
of the Kid, in the form above given, has been generally known in
New England. Readers of the proof, respectively from White River
Valley, Vt., and from Norway, Maine, find the history familiar.
The first informant learned the rhyme from a grandmother who
originally came from Norwich, Conn. The only difference observed
in the words is that the first line of the refrain went : —
See by the moonlight it 's almost midnight.

William Wells Newell.

Some Traditio7ial Songs.

SOME TRADITIONAL SONGS.

In the present brief article, I shall give an account of four songs
or ballads, with presentation of variants for comparison, included in
the interesting collection of family songs recently printed by the
Aliens, of Medfield, Mass., in whose family they have been traditional
for many generations. Not alone because of the uniqueness of one
or two of them are they objects of interest to the student of folk-
lore, but also because of the authenticity of the tradition that has
kept them alive.

I. THE ELFIN KNIGHT.

In the printed collection referred to above, this ballad is given
under the title, "Blow, ye Winds, Blow."

m^^^^^^^m.

stitch of nee - die work, Blow, ye winds that a - rise, blow, blow.

1 You must make me a fine Holland shirt, —

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow, —
And not have in it a stitch of needlework, —
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow.

2 You must wash it in yonder spring,

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow,
Where there 's never a drop of water in.
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow.

3 You must dry it on yonder thorn.

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow,
Where the sun never yet shone on.
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow.

4 My father 's got an acre of land,

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow,
You must dig it with a goose quill,
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow.

VOL. XVIII. — NO. (i%. 4

yournal of American Folk-Lore.

5 You must sow it with one seed,

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow.
You must reap it with your thumb nail.
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow.

6 You must thrash it on yonder sea.

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow.
And not get it wet, or let a kernel be.
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow .

7 You must grind it on yonder hill,

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow,
Where there yet has ne'er stood a mill.
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow.

8 When you 've done, and finished your work,

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow,
Bring it unto pie and you shall have your shirt,
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow.

Comparison of this version with the several others taken down of
late years in various parts of this country brings out the fact that it
comes from a distinct and separate line of tradition. This appears
from the refrain, " Blow, blow, blow, ye winds, blow." In the other
versions referred to, — which appear to spring from a line of tradi-
tions rather English than Scotch, — the refrain was originally a list of
names of flowers, in course of time perhaps becoming much altered.

For purposes of comparison, as showing well the specific points
of difference in the two lines of tradition, the following set of the
words of this ballad, recently recovered by me,^ may be of interest.

^^■

::]:

-* n»

I want you to make me

a cam - brie shirt, Pars - ley and

i^^

j=j=i-h— j^

s — • — — « — *

--^

sage, rose - ma - ry and thyme, With - out a - ny nee - die or

J m

a - ny fine work, And then you shall be a true lov - er of mine.

I I want you to make me a cambric shirt.
Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme.
Without any needle, or any fine work.

And then you shall be a true lover of mine.

1 The Elfin Knight. Recorded about 1875 by a lady of Providence, R. I., from
the singing of an aged man.

Some Traditio7ial Songs,

2 Go wash it out in yonder well,

Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme.
Where there 's never no water nor drop of rain fell,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.

3 Go hang it out on yonder thorn,

Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme.
Where there 's never no blossom, since Adam was born.
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.

4 Now, since you have asked me questions three,

Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme,
I pray you would grant me the same liberty,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.

5 I want you to buy me an acre of land,

Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme,
Between the salt water and the sea sand,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.

6 Go plough it all up with one cuckold's horn,

Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme,
Go sow it all down with one peppercorn,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.

7 Go reap it all up with a sickle of leather,

Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme,
And bind it all up with one cock's feather,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.

II. THE RAM OF DARBY.

This amusing ballad or song is said to have been originally the
composition of a malefactor, under sentence of death, in an effort to
write a song in which there should not be a single word of truth.

Among the Allen Family songs is a version of this ballad, sung to
an air which seems to be a set of the same air to which it is usually
sung in England, — an air having some resemblance to the " Hobby
Horse Dance."

fi:

iE=fe

I was going to Der - by, Up - on a mar - ket

■^

day,

the big - gest ram, sir, That

ifclM

ev - er was fed with hay, That ev - er was fed with hay.

5 2 Journal of American Folk-Lore .

1 As I was going to Derby,

Upon a market day,
I saw the biggest ram, sir,
That ever was fed with hay,
That ever was fed with hay.

2 The ram was fat behind, sir,

The ram was fat before.
He measured ten yards round, sir,
I think it was no more.

3 The wool grew on his back, sir.

It reached to the sky,
And there the eagles built their nests,
I heard the young ones cry.

4 The wool grew on his belly, sir,

And reached to the ground,

'T was sold in Derby town, sir.

For forty thousand pound.

5 The wool upon his tail, sir,

Filled more than fifty bags.
You had better keep away, sir,
When that tail shakes and wags.

6 The horns upon his head, sir.

Were as high as a man could reach,
And there they built a pulpit, sir.
The Quakers for to preach.

7 And he who knocked this ram down,

Was drowned in the blood,
And he that held the dish, sir,
Was carried away by the flood.

8 And all the boys in Derby, sir.

Came begging for his eyes,
To kick about the streets, sir.
As any good football flies.

9 The mutton that the ram made

Gave the whole army meat,

And what was left, I 'm told, sir,

Was served out to the fleet.

Absurd as it is, this song has a special interest for us Americans^
owing to the recorded tradition that General Washington sang it on

Some Traditional Songs. 53

one occasion to the children of Chief Justice Ellsworth. This tradi-
tion is recorded by the late Senator Hoar, in his autobiography.
The following version comes from Glover, Vermont : —

1 As I was going to Derby,

Upon a market day,
I spied the biggest ram, sir,

That ever was fed on hay.
That ever was fed on hay, sir,

That ever was fed on hay,
I spied the biggest ram, sir.

That ever was fed on hay.

Tow de row de dow, dow.

Tow de row de da.
Tow de row de dow, dow.

Tow de row de da.

2 He had four feet to walk on,

He had four feet to stand,
And every foot he had, sir.

Covered an acre of land.
Covered an acre of land, sir, etc.

3 The wool upon his back, sir.

It reached up to the sky,
The eagles built their nests there,

For I heard the young ones cry.
For I heard the young ones cry, sir, etc.

4 The wool upon his tail, sir,

I heard the weaver say,
Made three hundred yards of cloth.

For he wove it in a day.
For he wove it in a day, sir, etc.

5 The horns upon this ram, sir,

They reached up to the moon,
A nigger climbed up in January,

And never came down till June.
And never came down till June, sir, etc.

6 The butcher that cut his throat, sir,

Was drownded in the blood.
And the little boy that held the pail

Was carried away in the flood.
Was carried away in the flood, sir, etc.^

' In the American Monthly Magazine for October, 1897, the above-mentioned
anecdote of General Washington is told. A similar version of the ballad is given.

5 4 Journal of A merican Folk-L ore.

In Derby, England, the ballad of the Ram has continued to be
popular, and is sung in much the same manner. There are a number
of additional verses. For the sake of comparison, the following
stanzas may be cited : —

The space between his horns, sir,
Was as far as a man could reach,

And there they built a pulpit
For the parson there to preach.

This ram jumped over a wall, sir.

His tail caught on a briar,
It reached from Darby town, sir,

All into Leicestershire.

And of this tail so long, sir,

'T was ten miles and an ell.
They made a goodly rope, sir,

To toll the market bell.

The little boys of Darby, sir,

They came to beg his eyes,
To kick about the streets, sir,

For they were football size.

The jaws that were in his head, sir,

They were so fine and thin,
They were sold to a Methodist parson,

For a pulpit to preach in.

Indeed, sir, this is true, sir,

I never was taught to lie,
And had you been to Darby, sir,

You 'd have seen it as well as I.*

The song belongs to the class of " lying tales," or extravaganzas.

^ L. Jewitt, The Ballads afid Songs of Derbyshire, London, 1867, p. 115. Con-
cerning football, the editor explains that this was essentially a Derby game, and
was played every year, frequently with highly disastrous consequences, until put
down by the authorities a few years back. On Shrove Tuesday business was
entirely suspended, and the townspeople being divided into two parties, — All
Saints and St. Peter's, — the ball was, at noon, thrown from the Town Hall to the
densely packed masses in the market-place, the two parties each trying to " goal
it " at their respective places. The fight — for it was nothing less — continued for
many hours, and sewers, brook-courses, and even rivers were invaded, and scores
of people who were fortunate enough not to get killed or lamed were stripped of
their clothing in the fray.

Some Traditional Songs.

III. THE QUAKER S WOOING.

The most complete version of this quaint little comic song, for
such it evidently is, may be found, with the air to which it was sung,
in Mr. Newell's "Games and Songs of American Children." In the
Allen songs is a shorter version, as follows: —

^nM^

-2=)-

'Mad

am, I have come to woo thee, Oh, hum,

ohl

fe;

:*:

Mad

am.

I have come

court thee, Oh I

hum.

r U 1

1 1 ff P

J r

. N ■

1 n^ J

_,>

• •

^ I

■\^ j' • J -^

1 R * '

d __■—

m ' a

-'i

• -1^

1 ^

«-.

Oh,

dear me I '

" Get you gone, you sau - cy Qua - ker.

- t^f^ = ^

dink

da - dy oh ! I'll have none of your

Quaker -ish ac - tions ! Kut - ty - ka dink a da - dy, ohl"

1 " Madam, I have come to woo thee,

O, hum, oh !
Madam, I have come to court thee,

Oh, hum, oh dear me ! "
" Get you gone, you saucy Quaker,

Hi a dink a dady oh !
I '11 have none of your Quakerish actions,

Kutty ka dink a dady oh ! "

2 " I Ve a ring cost forty shilling,

Oh, hum, oh.
Thou shalt have it if thee art willing.

Oh, hum, oh dear me ! "
'* I '11 have none of your rings or money,

Hi a dink a dady oh !
I 'II have a man that calls me ' Honey,'

Kutty ka dink a dady oh ! "

3 " Must I then change my religion,

Oh, hum, oh !
And become a Presbyterian ?
Oh, hum, oh dear me ! "

56 jfournal of American Folk-Lore.

" You must learn to lie and flatter,
Hi a dink a dady oh,
Else you never can come at her,
Kutty ka dink a dady, oh ! "

From Fall River, Mass., I have the following version, which I
take occasion to print here for purposes of comparison : —

1 " Madam, I have come a-courting.

You for to see,
To marry you I have a notion.

Oh, deary me ! "

2 " To marry you I 've no desire.

Fal-lal, fal-lal, fal-lal-la,
I '11 sit down and poke the fire,
Fal-lal, fal-lal, fal-lal-la."

3 " Here 's a ring cost forty shillings,

Oh, deary me.
Thou may'st have it if thou art willing.
Oh, deary me ! "

4 " I want none of your rings or money.

Fal-lal, fal-lal, fal-lal-Ia,
Give me the man that calls me * Honey,'
Fal-lal, fal-lal, fal-lal-la."

5 " Fare you well, for we must part.

Oh, deary me,
I don't care if I 've broke your heart,
Oh, deary me ! "

6 " I '11 go home, and tell my mammy,

Fal-lal, fal-lal, fal-lal-la,
You may go to the Old Harry,
Fal-lal, fal-lal, fal-lal-la ! "

IV. THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.

Mentioned among the Allen Songs as a Christmas carol, it is,
however, neither a Christmas song nor a carol. Mrs. Gomme (Tra-
ditional Games, vol. ii. p. 319) gives the best account of it, showing
that it is originally a game, bearing some resemblance to the game
of " Forfeits," and connected with the festivities of the Epiphany.

" The company were all seated round the room. The leader of
the game commenced by saying the first line. The lines for the first

Some Traditional Songs.

day of Christmas were said by each of the company in turn, — then
the first day was repeated, with the addition of the second by the
leader, and then this was said all around the circle in turn. This was
continued, until all the lines were said all round the circle in turn.
For every mistake, a forfeit had to be given up."
The version in the Allen Songs is as follows : —

3=^^=^Ei

V-

:S^

-=!—•-

The first day of Christ - mas, my true love sent to me

part of a Ju - ni - per tree.

Ffit

J—

-N—

-f-

-i-

-IV—

f-^

1 1

\^A^

-:•-

" i

— • —

—^

--I — -
-i-fc/—

—V —

r-T^;^

The twelfth day of Christ - mas my true love sent to me

=fe

tS'-t-

'^=^ =1=1

Twelve lords a reap-ing,Five gold rings, Four col-lege birds.Three French hens,
etc. ( Gifts 12 or 6.)

=(E

"^if— 1/—

Two tur - tie doves and a part of

Ju - ni - per tree.

1 The first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A part of a juniper tree.

2 The second day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves, and a part of a juniper tree.

And so on, a different gift being added for each of the twelve days.
The last stanza reads as follows : —

12 The twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Twelve lords a-reaping,
Eleven golden pippins,
Ten fiddlers playing,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight hounds a-running,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-flying,
Vive gold rings,
Four college birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves, and a part of a juniper tree.

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

This song became popular in America at an early date, — as the
following melody, copied from a manuscript of 1790, testifies : —

First Day.

ii=i

Twelfth Day.

•— .!•-

t=r-

(1 2th to 6th Gifts.)

(5th Gift.)

(4th Gift.)

(3d Gift.)

iE^

(2d Gift.)

(1st Gift.)

From the same source as the version of " The Elfin Knight," cited
on a previous page, I have the following set of the words and air of
this game-song.

The first day of Christ -mas my true love sent to me

- Mn

^^^1

part of a Ju - iii - per tree.

Twelfth Day.

*=|5:

The twelfth day of Christ - mas my true love sent to me

A- A A A A

■^~

-Xr-

Twelve ships a- sail - ing, Five gold rings, Four col - ly birds.Three French horns,
etc. (Gifts 12 to 6.)

:^^

g= B^^

r^-

Two tur - tie doves, And a part of

Ju - ni - per tree.

Some Traditional Songs, 59

I The first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
A part of a juniper tree.

And so on, a different gift being added for each of the twelve days.
The twelfth stanza is as follows, —

12 The twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Twelve ships a-sailing,
Eleven bells a-ringing,
Ten girls a-dancing,
Nine fiddles playing,
Eight horses running,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-flying,
Five gold rings,
Four colly birds,
Three French horns,
Two turtle doves, and a part of a juniper tree.

Phillips Barry.
Boston, Mass.

Editorial note. The pamphlet from which are taken the four songs above
given is entitled " Family Songs, compiled by Rosa S. Allen, Music arranged
by Joseph A. Allen. As sung by the Aliens at the Homestead, Castle Hill, Med-
field, Massachusetts, 1899." Pp. 14.

The songs included are as follows : —

1. Katy Cruel.

2. Johnny, the Miller.

3. Blow, ye Winds, Blow.

4. Polly Van.

5. Bingo.

6. The Ram of Derby.

7. Song of a Hunter.

8. A Frog he would A-Wooing go.

9. The Dumb Wife.

ID. When Adam was First Created.

11. The Twelve Days of Christmas.

12. The Quaker's Wooing.

This little collection, which includes examples of some ancient ballads, may
serve as illustration of the considerable body of folk-song still existing in all parts
of the country, and awaiting collection.

6o Journal of A merican Folk-Lore,

RECORD OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

NORTH AMERICA.

Algonkian. PowJiatan. In the "American Anthropologist"
(vol. vi. n. s. pp. 670-694) for October-December, 1904, Mr. W.
W. Tooker discusses at length " Some Powhatan Names," largely
with reference to etymologies recently proposed by Mr. W. R.
Gerard in the same periodical for January-June, 1904. Among the
words treated are : Appa^matuck ("the resting tree "), Quiyoughquo-
hanock (" place where the lesser priests were initiated "), Rapahanock
(" country of exceeding plenty "), Warraskoyac (" the top or point of
the land "), Onawmanient ("a path where they were led astray or
betrayed "), Orapikes ("a solitary water-place or swamp "), Werowo-
comoco ("sachem's house"), Wynauk ("winding about place"),
Massawomek (" those who travel by boat "), Chickahominy (" hominy
people"), aitowh ("plaything"), attaangwassiiwk ("shining star"),
attemous (from radical "to hunt ''), cattapeuk ("sowing time"), qiian-
nacut (" long mantle "), tapaantaminais (" satisfied or contented with
corn "), iittapaantain (" food that contented them "), aitssencpo (" mid-
dle-aged person "), aittoundg (an onomatopoetic term), kekatangh
("one remains"), matcJicores ("great mantle of deer-skin "), /^w/^^-
hiccora (" made from broken or pounded shells "), tnatatsno (typo-
graphical error for menatano), nimatewh ("he is my brother"),
nahapiie (" he that abides "), aspamu ("our abode "), ottawam ("our
possession "), Uttasantasough (" he speaks a strange language "),
paqwantewim ("clean apron"), bagwanchybassen ("it bindeth about"),
piitteivas ("he is covered"), otitacan, wintuc ("head-heavy"), etc.
Incidentally, Algonkian words for "stream," "dog," "rainbow,"
"season, time," "man," "dish," etc., are discussed. To the study
of the Virginian dialects of Algonkian Mr. Tooker has devoted some
sixteen years, and his Jlair Algonquin, no less than his sprach-
gcfiihly appears to advantage here, for he seems to have decidedly
the best of the argument. — New yersey. In his " Personal Names
of Indians of New Jersey " (Paterson, 1904, pp. 83), Mr. William
Nelson, whose monograph on "The Indians of New Jersey " (pp. 168)
appeared in 1894, publishes "a list of 650 such names, gleaned
mostly from Indian deeds of the seventeenth century," thereby
earning the lasting gratitude of the onomatologist, and at the same
time adding to the rather scanty linguistic records of the New Jer-
sey Lenap6 (the author estimates that the dictionaries and vocabu-
laries of the Lenap6 tongue extant " furnish perhaps 3,000 different
words"). Names prior to 1664 were written by the Dutch (except
a few on the Delaware by Swedes), after 1664 mostly by English-

Record of A merican Folk- Lore. 6 1

men, though deeds for lands north of Newark were usually drawn
up by Dutch scriveners, — also many in Monmouth and Somerset
counties. Women's and children's names often appear, but " be-
cause an Indian squaw or child joins in a deed, it does not neces-
sarily follow that the aborigines recognized the woman's right of
dower or the child's inheritance in lands." In comparatively few
cases is the etymology of these names known or given. — New
Brunswick. In the "Bulletin of the Natural History Society of
New Brunswick" (no. xxii. 1904, pp. 175-178, i pi.) Professor W. F.
Ganong writes briefly " Upon Aboriginal Pictographs reported from
New Brunswick." Hitherto but four aboriginal pictographs have
been reported from New Brunswick, — Gesner's wood picture, the
St. George stone medallion, the Passamaquoddy marked boulder now
in the University of New Brunswick Museum, and the Oromocto
carved sandstone boulder. Of these the third and fourth are most
likely not of human but glacial origin, the second is probably not of
Indian workmanship, and the first has long ago crumbled to dust.
At French Lake Professor Ganong's party discovered, in July, 1903,
what may be a real aboriginal pictograph. — Mascoiiten. In a brief
paper in the "American Antiquarian" (vol. xxvi. 1904, pp. 84-88)
entitled " Site of Mascouten Rediscovered," Rev. Thomas Clifford
writes of the "Indian city," described by Dablon in 1675 as located
" in the midst of a terrestrial paradise," but which, after the French
and Indian wars, vanished utterly. Its location became one of the
problems of Wisconsin archaeology. According to the author, Mas-
couten was " exactly in Seymour's Valley, at the head of Mud Lake,
on the banks of the Hihorokera, or Running Swan." The much-
sought fortification mounds are at Port Hope. A natural fortress
is this valley. — Arapaho. Mr. C. S. Wake's article on " Nihancan,
the White Man," in the "American Antiquarian" (vol. xxvi. 1904,
pp. 225-231), discusses the character of Nihancan (who corresponds
to the Ojibwa Manabozho, the Blackfoot Napi, etc.) as he appears in
the "Traditions of the Arapaho" recently published by Dr. A. L.
Kroeber. In Arapaho Nihancan is now "the ordinary word for
wJiite men,'' as ViJmk (a mythological figure) has given his name
to them in Cheyenne. To Nihancan the spider corresponds, as in
Ojibwa the rabbit does to Manabozho. Nihancan figures in Arapaho
mythology and tradition as creator (or rather changer, perhaps),
giver of death, a sensual being, an evil-disposed person, a deceiver,
a trickster, an ungrateful individual, etc. The complexion of the
whites, resembhng the sacred white of certain animals, etc., is sug-
gested as having led to the transference of the name.

Athapascan. Nah-ane. In the "Transactions of the Canadian
Institute" (vol. vii. 1904, pp. 517-534, 2 pi.) Rev. A. G. Morice has

62 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

an article on "The Nah-aneand their Language." The topics treated
are the name (" people of the west "), tribal divisions and numbers
(now ca. looo souls), physical characters, etc. (Nah'ane are pure Dene
"neither in blood, customs, nor language "), institutions and customs,
language (pp. 526-534). Some evil influences of white contact are
very noticeable (syphilis, drunkenness, etc.), and the Tlinkit of Ft.
Wrangell have not improved them by intermixture. The eastern
Nah'ane differ from the western in physique, culture (the former have
not been so adaptive-minded as the latter), etc. The author informs
us that in the house of his hosts (western Nah'ane) "were to be seen,
besides gilt bronze bedsteads, and laces of all kinds, two sewing-
machines, two large accordeons, and, will the reader believe it ?
— a phonograph ! All this in the forests of British Columbia, north
of the 58th degree of latitude ! " The "new order" of things is also
exemplified "in the small travelling-trunks bought from the whites,
which are to be seen planted on two posts, in several places along
the trails, and which contain some of the bones of the dead picked
up from among the ashes of the funeral pile." The language of the
western Nah'ane possesses a regular accent, " something quite
unknown in all the northern Dene dialects ; " this feature. Father
Morice thinks, is due to Tlinkit influence. There is also a marked
song-like intonation of speech. Nah'ane is an eclectic language, and
its vocabulary contains fully 40 nouns borrowed from Tlinkit, besides
several terms from the Kutchin, Hare, and Chippewyan dialects, and
even one word from Tsimshian, the name for snake, that reptile not
being found in the Nah'ane territory. Several English words also'
have been adopted, and a few others from the Chinook jargon. On
page 531 are given the Nah'ane names for the months. Another
peculiarity of the language is the possession of the numbers one,
two, three, as "perfectly regular verbs, conjugated with persons and
tenses." The Nah'ane language is " much less complicated and
verbally poorer than the Carrier," — also "less pure in its lexicon,
more embarrassed in its phraseology, and, owing to its accent, even
more delicate in its phonetics." — Navaho. Mr. C. S. Wake's "The
Navaho Origin Legend" (American Antiquarian, vol. xxvi. 1904,
pp. 265-270) r6sum6s the origin-legend of the Navahos as given by
Dr. Washington Matthews in his "Navaho Legends," published by
the American Folk-Lore Society in 1897. This legend Mr. Wake
considers "typically American in its contents, not only containing
many incidents as parts of a connected whole, but giving a detailed
account of the emergence from underground of the Dend (Navaho),
which is the usual explanation of the appearance of men on the earth
current among the Indian tribes." — H^tpa. Mr. P. E. Goddard's two
monographs, " Life and Culture of the Hupa " (Univ. of Calif.

Record of American Folk-Lore. 63

Publ Amer. Arch. & Ethnol. vol. ii. 1903, pp. 1-88, 30 pi.) and
" Hupa Texts " {ibid. pp. 89-368) are valuable additions to our
knowledge of the folk-lore of the Californian Athapascan. In the
first, the author treats environment, history, villages, houses, dress,
food, occupations of men (bow and arrow making, net making, hide-
dressing, pipe making, etc.), occupations of women (basket making),
measures, social customs (sex and motherhood, care of children,
dawn of womanhood, courtship and marriage, restrictions for women,
daily routine), social organization, amusements, war, diseases and
their cures, burial customs, religion (deities, feasts, dances, religious
attitude). The Hupa "have no migration myth nor legends relating
to a time before their coming to the region " (p. 7), and according to
their ideas " their first ancestors came spontaneously into existence
in the valley itself." Their seclusion has been so great that " 60
years ago the news of the coming of white men had not reached
them," and " they knew nothing of the Spaniards to the south nor
of the English-speaking people to the east and north of them."
They number at present some 450. The dwelling of the Hupa was
the xonta, besides which they had the taikyuw, " sweat-house," and
the mintCy or menstrual lodge of the women. Chin-tattooing was
practised by all mature women, and " delicate marks were placed
on the chins of quite young girls, the number and size of which
increased with later life." The common measure of value was the
decorated dentalium shell, — " money " was strung on strings reach-
ing from the thumb-nail to the point of the shoulder. And, " since
all hands and arms are not of the same length, it was necessary for
the man, when he reached maturity, to establish the value of the
creases [used to determine length of shells] on his (left) hand by
comparison with money of known length as measured by some one
else." Besides this he had also "a set of lines tattooed on the inside
of his left forearm," these lines indicating the "length of five shells
of the different standards." This shell-money was carried in boxes
of elk-horn. The women slept in the xonta, the men in the taikyuw.
Small children are seldom punished or handled roughly, — " they are
thought to be above the natural and likely to disappear, going to the
world of immortals if they are ill-used." The dances of young girls
are very curious. Courtship " often extended through a summer and
a winter," and a man's standing in the world "depended on the
amount of money which had been paid for his mother at the time
of her marriage." The typical family "consisted of the man and
his sons, the wife or wives of the man, the unmarried and half-mar-
ried daughters, the wives of the sons, and the grandchildren ; and in
addition to these, sometimes, " unmarried or widowed brothers and
sisters of the man and his wife." The next unit above the family

64 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

was the village. Personal insult or injury is followed by " absolute
non-intercourse," and matters are ultimately settled. by a go-between.
The chief games of the Hupa are four, and "the contestants are not
individuals but social or ethnic units (village against village, tribe
against tribe)." In war " medicine-making " had an important role.
Disease was due to an invisible foe, and pain was a substance to be
removed from the body, wherein it had come to be lodged. There
were two kinds of "medicine men," the "dancing doctor" and the
" sucking doctor," the diagnoser and the curer. The Hupa had a
great wailing ceremony for the dead. The chief divinity is Ylman-
tuwinyai ("the one who is lost across the ocean "), a sort of "trans-
former." Among the festivals are "salmon feast" and "acorn
feasts;" also three great dances, "winter," "summer," and "fall."
On these dance occasions the Hupa " maintains a pious frame of
mind." These people have also "a reverence for language," and for
them also " the trails were sacred." An undercurrent of deep reli-
gious feeling belonged to them in many respects. In " Hupa Texts,"
Mr. Goddard publishes native version, interlinear translation, and
free English rendering of 14 myths and tales, and 37 texts relating
to dances and feasts, " medicine " formulae, etc. These texts, which
are "offered primarily as a basis for the study of the Hupa language,"
were collected chiefly in 1901, a few in 1902. Of the "creator and
culture hero " myth we learn that but one Hupa, a woman, knows
it in its collective form. Yimantuwinyai, though the first person to
exist, had a grandmother, to whom he returned after his labors. In
the " dug-from-the-ground " myth appears the boy-hero. " Rough-
nose " is a story of the " world above." In some of the other legends
figure owl and coyote, three sisters, etc. Fire was discovered by Old-
man-across-the-ocean, who twirled a stick on a piece of willow. In
some of the other legends the origins of various dances are told. The
collection of "medicine formula" is particularly valuable for com-
parative study. The folk-lore data have their value enhanced by the
fact that they are given in the native language.

Pueblos. In his article on the " Archaeology of Pajarito Park, New
Mexico" (American Anthropologist, vol. vi. n. s. 1904, pp. 629-
659) Professor Edgar L. Hewett devotes some space to pictographs
(pp. 651-653, with figs.) and mortuary customs (pp. 655-656). Petro-
glyphs are found all over the Park, but are particularly mumerous
and well preserved at Puye. One of the glyphs "pictures an ancient
Tewa legend, which, in modern times, has been developed into
the ' Montezuma ' legend of Pecos, Taos, and other pueblos." On Teh-
rega cliff is a fine petroglyph of the plumed serpent. Some of the
pictographs are pecked, others incised with a sharp tool. At Teh-
rega and Tsankawi four modes of burial occur, — communal mounds,

Record of American Folk-Lore. 65

caves or crypts, intra-mural chambers, under fireplaces in living-
rooms.

Salishan. Sl'ciatl. To the " Journal of the Anthropological Insti-
tute" (vol. xxxiv. pp. 20-91) for January-June, 1904, Mr. Charles
Hill Tout contributes a " Report on the Ethnology of the Sl'ciatl of
British Columbia, a Coast Division of the Salish Stock," containing,
" with the exception of a few folk-tales, all that may now be gathered
of the past concerning this tribe." They are now, ** outwardly, at least,
a civilized people, and their lives and condition compare favorably with
those of the better class of peasants of western Europe." They num-
ber some 325 souls and are Catholics, having been converted by the
Oblate Fathers (to whose efforts their present welfare is due) more
than forty years ago. The ethnographic and sociological section of
the Report treats of tribal names, genealogy and septs, castes and
classes, shamanism and sidaisni, dress, dwellings, food, household
utensils, puberty customs, mortuary customs, beliefs, times and sea-
sons, etc.; the archaeology of middens, cairns, and fishing works. In
the section on traditions, the native text, interlinear translation, and
free English versions are given of tales and legends concerning :
The Beaver, the Wolf and the Wren, The Sun Myth, The Salmon
Myth, The Eagle and the Owl, The Seal and the Raven, A Sl'ciatl
Prophecy. Of the following the English text alone is given : The
Thresher Myth, The Eagle People, The Mink and the Wolf. Lin-
guistics occupy the rest of the paper, a sketch of phonology and
grammar and an extensive vocabulary (pp. 78-90, two columns to the
page).

SoNORAN. Cora. In the " Arnerican Anthropologist " (vol. vi.
n. s. 1904, pp. 744-745) Dr. A. Tirdlieka has a note on "Cora
Dances." The Cora or Nayarit Indians of the territory of Tepic
(western Mexico), who number some 3000, and belong to the more
primitive tribes of the country, have characteristic dances, " held on
special occasions, such as feasts, or, as in the instance witnessed by
the writer, during a visit by strangers," in the evening by the light
of a bright fire. The dancing is done on a box (hollowed from a
single log) called a tarima, in a way suggestive of an Irish jig. The
dances known as charaves and sones were witnessed by the author
at Guainamota in October, 1902. The music is " semi-Indian " and
the dances have Spanish elements, " but enough of the aboriginal
remains to make them worthy of ethnologic interest."

Uto-Aztecan. Mexican. In " Globus " (vol. Ixxxv. 1904, pp.
345-348, 5 figs.) H. Fischer writes about " Eine altmexikanische
Steinfigur," describing a nephritoid figure of Quetztalcoatl, the an-
cient Mexican wind-god, now in the Stuttgart Museum. Its exacter
origin is unknown. The god is represented in part as a skeleton.

VOL. xvin. — NO. 68. 5

66 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

The workmanship is excellent. — In the same periodical (vol. Ixxxvi.
pp. 108-119) Dr. K. Th. Preuss has an article on "Der Ursprung
der Menschenopfer in Mexico." The topics considered are the
renewing of the sun and fire gods, the death of the deities of rain
and vegetation, the origin of the sacrifice of deities, etc. In Mexico
human sacrifice had the same sense as animal sacrifice. The sun-
renewal ceremonies with their god-killings are dramatic acts of
" magic." When gods are "opened," as in sacrifice, their efificacy is
great, — so, too, with men and other victims, — and gods can charm
with blood as well as other beings. The real object of the death of
the god, the increase of his divine gifts to men, was later complicated
with other ideas. — In his "El monolito de Coatlinchan " (Mexico,
1904, pp. 27), presented to the International Congress of American-
ists at Stuttgart (August, 1904), Dr. Alfredo Chavero discusses the
question whether this " idol " represents the god Tlaloc, as has been
supposed, reaching a negative conclusion on this point. The divinity
figured in the monolith is female, not male, and represents Chal-
chiuhtlicue, the goddess of waters. — In the " Mitteilungen der
Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien " (vol. xxxiv. 1904, pp. 222-
274, 71 figs.) Dr. Edward Seler pubhshes a detailed study of "Die
holzgeschnitzte Pauke von Malinalco und das Zeichen atl-tlachinolli"
in which he criticises Preuss' recently expressed ideas concerning
the gods of fire as fundamental in ancient Mexican religion. The
usual translation of the sign in question as " water and fire " is not
exact, tlachinolli signifying not "fire," but "the burned." The
whole expression ^//-//ar/«'«(?/// probably means "prisoners have been
taken ; (the town) is burnt," which could readily enough take on the
signification of "war," which the term had in the dictionaries, etc.
A noteworthy example of this sign occurs on the wooden drum from
Malinalco, in the Tenancingo District (State of Mexico). This drum
is described in detail. — As vol. i. no. vii. of the " Papers of the
Peabody Museum " (Cambridge, December, 1904, pp. 26, 5 pi. and
8 figs.) is published Mrs. Zelia Nuttall's "A Penitential Rite of the
Ancient Mexicans," in which is presented valuable material col-
lected from Sahagun, Motolina, Duran, Mendieta, the Chronicles of
Tezozomoc, etc., concerning the rites of tongue and ear-piercing
among the ancient Mexicans, a painful rite practised by young and
old in every-day life and not confined to priests.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

Mayan. In "Globus" (vol. Ixxxv. 1904, pp. 361-363) E. Forste-
mann discusses "Die Stela I von Copan," which he assigns to a date
1496-15 10 A. D., and interprets the inscription as relating to the
appearance on the coast of unknown foreigners. This inscription

Record of American Folk-Lore. 67

resembles that of Piedras Negras, which dates from almost the same
period. — In the "Journal de la Soci^te des Am^ricanistes de Paris "
(vol. i. n. s. 1904, pp. 289-308) M. Desire Charnay discusses " Les
Explorations de Teobert Maler," — his researches in the Usumasintla
Valley, etc. Charnay objects to the displacement of the name of
Lorillard for the ruined city, also to what he calls a " Washington
mania for changing or modifying names consecrated by use." The
term acropolis, used by Maler, is also objected to, since the structures
in question were "not at all fortresses." He agrees with Maler in
thinking Palenque in existence at the time of the Conquest, but holds
that " Lorillard city " was not the scene of the visit of Cortes. Pa-
laneque, formerly called Tula or Tollan, was, he thinks, " the capital
of Tulapan. Tikal also is " Toltec," but Tayasal Maya. Copan is
for Charnay the most modern of these " cities," and " Toltec." The
most ancient civilization of this region (Comalcalco) dates from the
eleventh century of our era, the latest (Tayasal) from the seventeenth,
— the whole civilization being relatively quite modern. — As vol, iv.
no. i. (Cambridge, Mass., December 1904, pp. 47, i pi. 65 figs.) of
the " Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and
Ethnology, Harvard University," appears Dr. Paul Schellhas's
" Representation of Deities of the Maya Manuscripts " (second
edition, revised), translated by Miss Selma Wesselhoeft and Miss
A. M. Parker, and revised by the author. The deities considered
are the death-god (with whom are associated the war-god, the
nioan-\>\xdi, the dog, a blindfolded human figure, two isolated
figures, and the owl), the god with the large nose and lolling tongue,
the god with the ornamented face, the moon and night god, the
maize-god, the god of war and of human sacrifices, the sun-god,
the chicchan god, the water-goddess, the god with the ornamented
nose, the old, black god, the black god with the red lips, the god of
the end of the year, the old-woman goddess, the frog god, — these
various gods are numbered A to N. Of mythological animals the
following are discussed, the wz^^«-bird, serpent, dog, vulture, jaguar,
tortoise, snail, owl, ape, scorpion, bee, bat (only on pottery). The
god B appears twice as frequently in the MSS. as any other. Next
in order come D and E. — To the " Transactions of the Department
of Archaeology, Free Museum of Science and Art" (vol. i. 1904, pp.
61-66), of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. George B. Gordon con-
tributes a brief article on "Chronological Sequence in the Maya
Ruins of Central America." The later migrations of the Mayas
were from south to north, and at Copan is the earliest date known.
From Copan to Chichen Itza measures about three centuries. While
such a movement was going on, however, the older cities con-
tinued to flourish. Geometrical ornament is later than the highly

68 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

decorative if distinctly conventional style. The strongest evidence
of the greater antiquity of Copan is to be found, according to Dr.
Gordon, in "the conditions underlying the foundations of the ruined
buildings that occupy the surface." Maya culture was developed in
loco. The author is confident that dates earlier and later than any
now known will be discovered in the future.

Costa-Rica. In the "Journal de la Societe des Americanistes de
Paris" (n. s. vol. i. 1904, pp. 153-187), M. Raoul de la Grasserie
discusses at some length " Les langues de Costa Rica et les idi-
omes apparent^s." The grammatical peculiarities of Bribri, Terraba,
Brunca, Guatuso, Chibcha, Cuna, Koggaba (Arvak type), are briefly
set forth, and on pages 175-182 lexical and other resemblances are
considered, while pages 183-187 are occupied with comparative
vocabularies of Bribri, Cabecar, Terraba, Brunca, Guatuso, Chibcha,
Dorasque, Guaymi, and Cuna. Uhle, Thiel, and Pittier's compari-
sons are repeated, and the table of tribes on pages 156-158 is from
Brinton.

WEST INDIES.

Cuba. Dr. J. Walter Fewkes's article on " Prehistoric Culture of
Cuba," in the "American Anthropologist" (vol. vi. n. s. pp. 585-
598, 4 pi.) for October-December, 1904, is based on studies and col-
lections made by the author during a visit to the island in 1904.
After a brief introduction and a historical sketch of Cuban archaeology
the author discusses various archaeological objects (stone idols, cere-
monial celts, clay heads, etc.). Dr. Fewkes recognizes three phases
of aboriginal life in the original colonization and prehistoric culture
of Cuba: (i) the primitive cave-dwellers of the central region and
western extremity of the island, (2) the fishermen living in pile-dwell-
ings in some places, (3) the Tainans, having the true Antillean stone
age culture, derived from Hayti and Porto Rico. While " the con-
nection of the coast fishermen of Cuba with the shell-heap and the
key population of Florida was intimate," the question still remains
open as to which was derived from the other. Concerning the cave-
dwellers and " the rude savage race of Cuba," little can be said, but
" it is probable that these people were lineal descendants of those
whose semi-fossil skeletons found in caves have excited so much
interest, and no evidence has yet been presented to prove that this
race had vanished when Cuba was discovered by Columbus." The
Tainan or Antillean culture, which reached its highest development
in Porto Rico and Hayti, " came to both these islands from South
America, but had grown into a highly specialized form in its insular
home." The resemblances of the coast peoples of Florida and Cuba
were probably due to contact and interchange of culture.

Record of American Folk-Lore. 69

SOUTH AMERICA.

Andean Chaco. In his article, " Einiges iiber das Gebiet, wo
sich Chaco und Anden begegnen " (Globus, vol. Ixxxvi. pp. 197-201),
E. Nordenskiold describes flint implements from the Puna de Jujuy,
the stone-heaps of the Puna Indians where sacrifices to Pachamama
are made, the pottery-making of the Chiriguanos, the fire-making of
the Chorotes, etc. In this region there are many evidences of the
former existence of a culture higher than that of the makers of the
flint implements, — the fine pottery, etc., indicate this. In one of
the graves the author found a skeleton with a pipe-like object in his
mouth, " made of the arm-bone of a man."

Aymaran. In his article on " The Cross of Carabuco in Bolivia,"
in the " American Anthropologist " (vol. vi. n. s. pp. 599-628) for
October-December, 1904, Mr. A. F. Bandelier endeavors to "place
on record all known information on this topic as an incentive to more
complete investigation." The wooden cross of the Aymaran village
of Carabuco, on the eastern shore of Lake Titicaca, north of La Paz,
is first mentioned in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Since
then the facts indicate that " the origin of the cross is connected with
Indian lore purporting to be primitive, in the sense that it antedates
Spanish colonization." Mr. Bandelier discusses also " a series of tales
(mostly told ca. 20 years, or less, after the coming of Pizarro) related
by the aborigines of Peru and Bolivia to the Spaniards at an early
day, and which are connected with the cross of Carabuco and the
story of Juan Rubio," — the last was told to the author by a Peruvian
Quichua. These tales embrace " the traditions about Tonapa," etc.
The Tojiapa of Salcamayhua and Ramos is probably the Viracocha
of Betanzos and Creza. Viracocha seems to be a Quichua word, the
interpretation of the first syllable of which as "froth ^r foam " the
author considers "entirely gratuitous, the whole word signifying
really something that will not sink, but floats on the surface of
water " (cf. the tale of Tonapa floating on the waters of Lake Titi-
caca). Tonapa, apparently, is neither Quichuan nor Aymaran. This
valuable and interesting paper adds to our knowledge of South
American folk-lore, and will help to solve the problem of the aborigi-
nal origin of the lore of Viracocha and Tonapa, the question of the
influence of the first Europeans upoi; the minds and legends of the
Indians.

Cariban. Bakairi. In "Globus" (vol. Ixxxvi. pp. 1 19-125, 16
figs.) Dr. Max Schmidt has an article, " Ausden Ergebnissen meiner
Expedition in das Schinguquellgebiet," giving an account of his
observations among the Indians of the head-waters of the river
Xingu in Brazil. Ornamentation and lead-pencil drawings are dis-

yo Journal of America^i Folk-Lore.

cussed, with some detail. The latter include a "picture" of the
author, who is also given a necklace like the Bakairf men, and also
another of him on horseback, and a third as archer. Interesting is
the use of maize straw and cobs to make forms of animals, birds, etc.
The geometric patterns of the wall-friezes of the Bakairi, like the
patterns on the fire-fans, have their origin in the technique of manu-
facture.

Guiana. In the "Journal de la Societe des Americanistes de
Paris (n. s. vol. i. 1904, pp. 1 33-1 51) M. Gabriel Marcel publishes
"un texte ethnographique inedit du xviii« siecle," being an account
of the Indians of Guiana in the end of the eighteenth century from
a MS. of La Croix, a surgeon at Approuage, 1 785-1 787. Physical
characters, clothing, religious ideas, marriage, man child-bed (now
called couvade), festivals and dances, chiefs and captains, Indians as
laborers, are briefly considered. Besides their own tongue these In-
dians had a sort of French-Indian jargon, and they also understood
Galibi, "the general language of the Indians of Guiana." Round
dances in imitation of animals were in use among them.

Tupi-GuARANi. In the first section of his article on " Die Indianer
des Obern Parana," in the " Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen
Gesellschaft in Wien " (vol. xxxiv. 1904, pp. 200-221), Father Fr.
Vogt discusses the Kaingua (name, dwellings, activities, hunting and
fishing, mental characteristics, religious ideas, " magic " and sha-
manism, language, — vocabulary, pp. 208-214), the Guayaki, the
Guayana on the river Pira pyta, — on pages 218-220 the Lord's
Prayer and the Credo in old and modern Guaranf are given, — and
the so-called Chirripa. The Kaingua have more marked religious
ideas than the other tribes of the Upper Parana, — their highest
being is called Tupa, in whose honor they have festivals, particularly
dances, in front of the dwellings of their caciques. The shaman, who
is also healer, is greatly venerated among them.

GENERAL.

American Origins. To the " American Antiquarian " (vol. xxvi.
1904, pp. 105-115) Mr. C. Staniland Wake discusses "American
Origins." Among the topics considered in relation to Old World
culture are the Mexican merchants' staff, the god of trade, the swas-
tika, astronomic ideas, stone monuments and sculpture, bronze
objects, copper "money," the Votan and Quetzalcoatl legend, the
winged globe, etc. The conclusion is reached that " early American
culture was derived from the Asiatic stock to which the early Baby-
lonians, who probably originated in Central Asia, belonged, or from
the Phoenicians, who appear to have been intermediaries between
Asia and the western world." Arcades anibo !

Record of American Folk- Lore. 71

Art. Rev. S. Peet's illustrated article in the "American Anti-
quarian" (vol. xxvi. 1904, pp. 201-224), on "The Ethnography of
Art in America," deals in a general way with the totem-figures of
the Northwest coast, the animal fetiches of the Pueblos, the human
effigies of the " mound-builders," the Iroquoian human-image pipes of
Canada and New York, the pottery human-images of the Gulf Coast,
the stone zemes of the Antilles, the figures of human beings, gods,
etc., of Mexico and Central America, etc. Pictographs, graphic art,
hieroglyphs, personal decorations, dress, textile arts, pottery, orna-
ments, basketry, musical instruments, are also discussed. The author
endeavors to picture aboriginal American art "as it was before the
discovery."

Codices and Pictographs. In the " American Antiquarian "
(vol. xxvi. 1904, pp. 137-152) Rev. S. D. Peet has an article on
" Comparison of the Codices with the ordinary Pictographs." Be-
tween the "codices" of the Mayas and the pictographs of the more
northern tribes, " a very close connection exists," and the religious
rites and ceremonies suggested or portrayed in both were not so dis-
similar as has often been supposed. The author discusses calendar,
cardinal points, number 13, altars and costumery, day and month
symbols, etc., representations of industries and occupations, symbols
of particular divinities, astronomic ideas, etc.

Fire-Worship. Rev. S. D. Peet's article (American Antiqua-
rian, vol. xxvi. 1904, pp. 185-192) on "The Suastika and Fire- Wor-
ship in America," discusses in a general way the fire-brand race of
the Navahos and their sand-painting with its hooked cross, the Aztec
ceremony of " new fire," etc.

International Congress of Americanists. In "Globus" (vol.
Ixxxvi. pp. 199-202) Dr. K. H. Preuss writes of " Der xiv. Interna-
tionale Amerikanistenkongress in Stuttgart, 18. bis 23. August,
1904," resumeing briefly the chief papers (there were 45 read).
Among the topics treated were : The Share of the Swabians in the
Colonization of America (P. Kapff), Discoveries of the Northmen (Y.
Neilsen), Prehuman Period in the Equatorial Andes (H. Meyer, —
"no traces as yet of 'diluvial man ' "), The Age of the Megalithic
Structures of Peru (C. R. Markham), Contributions of American
Archaeology to the Science of Man (W. H. Holmes, — " five stages
of world-culture, pre-savage, savage, barbarian, civilized, enlightened "),
The American Origin of Syphilis (I. Bloch), The Ancient Settlement
of Castillo de Teayo in Northern Vera Cruz (E. Seler), Paintings of
Chichenitza (Miss Breton), Excavations in Tiahuanaco (Count G, de
Creque-Montfort), Archaeological Investigations on the Argentine
Bolivian Frontier (E. von Rosen), Finds in Northeast Greenland
(H. Stolpe), The Influence of the Social Divisions of the Kwakiutl

72 journal of American Folk-Lore.

Indians upon their Culture (F. Boas), The Customs and Usages of
the Pokonchi Indians of Guatemala (K. Sapper and V. A. Narciso),
Peruvian Mummies (A. Baessler), The Chorote Indians of the Boliv-
ian Chaco (E. von Rosen), Myths of the Koryaks and those of the
Indians of the Northwest Pacific Coast and of the Eskimo (W.
Jochelson), Ideas in the Myths of South American Indians com-
pared with those of the North American Indians, the Japanese,
etc. (P. Ehrenreich), The Occurrence of European Tale-Elements
among the Argentine Indians (R. Lehmann-Nitsche), The Reli-
gious Ideas of Primitive Man (W. Bogoras), Hopi Prayer-Sticks (O.
Solberg), Sun-Festivals of the Hopi compared with those of the An-
cient Mexicans (K. Th. Preuss), An Ancient Mexican Green-Stone
Idol (E. Seler), The Art of the Xingu Indians (H. Meyer), Eskimo
Dialects and Migrations (W. Thalbitzer), Indian Linguistic Stocks
in the United States (W. Currier), etc. The next Congress will be
held in Quebec in 1906.

" Ireland the Great." With the title " La Grande-Irlande, ou
pays des blancs pre-colombiens du Nouveau-Monde," M. Eugene
Beauvois publishes in the " Journal de la Societe des Americanistes
de Paris" (vol. i. n. s. 1904, pp. 189-229) an article resumeing the
accounts and references extant concerning the Hvitramaimalajid, or
"Ireland the Great," of the old Norse records, — said to have been
situated near"Vinland the good." The evidence of Ard Marsson,
Bjoern Bredvikingapp6 and Gudleif, etc., is cited and the probable
situation of the country discussed at some length. The author, who
accepts the story of the Gaelic colony, places " Great Ireland " in the
neighborhood of the present city of Quebec, rejecting the opinion of
Storm, who looks on the " Great Ireland " tale as made up on the
basis of monkish relations (the passage of Dicuil).

Legends. In the " American Antiquarian " (vol. xxvi. 1904, pp.
23-28) Mr. C. Staniland Wake treats, in general fashion, the " Legends
of the American Indians." The author holds that " although some
Indian stories furnish evidence of contact with the white race, yet
they may be regarded, on the whole, as embodying the early ideas
of the native race and, therefore, as throwing valuable light on its
past." Topics of domestic and social life, food, clothing, social rela-
tions, activities and amusements, government, etc., constitute one
set of ideas embodied in these legends ; character-depicting another ;
nature-beliefs a third.

Numbers. In the " American Antiquarian " (vol. xxvi. 1904, pp.
153-164) H. L. Stoddard has a rather curious article on "The
Abstruse Significance of the Numbers Thirty-six and Twelve,"
intended as a summary of "some data which has a bearing upon the
Discoidal Stone and Statues, uncovered near Menard's Mound, Ar-

Record of A merica n Folk- Lore. 73

kansas" (in the spring of 1901). The discoidal "is wrought out of
jasper beautifully engraved, showing symmetry and perfection of de-
sign." The statue of the man, in the attitude of prayer, is of jasper,
that of the woman, in the sitting posture, is of marble. The man
" has a Mongolian cast of features," the woman " an Egyptian style
of head-dress." The discoidal " has 36 principles of half circles com-
posing one full circle," and on its under side " is a Phallic symbol
showing \.\iQ.yoni conventionalized." The author's final conclusion is
that "the synthetic hypothesis of the concomitant analogies indi-
cate that there was an exchange of culture between Asia and Amer-
ica, and that the discoidal and images are an example of Asiatic
culture."

Superstition, In the "American Antiquarian " (vol. xxvi. 1904,
pp. 48-56) Rev. S. D. Peet writes of " Superstition a Means of De-
fence." The author considers that among the American Indians
"the most interesting method of defence was that which came from
the combination of religious symbols and mechanical contrivances,"
and holds that a good example of this may be seen at Ft. Ancient,
Ohio. The totem-poles of the Northwest coast are other illustrations ;
also the peculiar figures carved on house-front posts in Polynesia, etc.
Religious influence, rather than a physical or material barrier, served
here as a protection.

Urn-Burial. To the "American Anthropologist" (vol. vi. n. s.
pp. 660-669) for October-December, 1904, Mr. Clarence B. Moore
contributes a brief article on " Aboriginal Urn-Burial in the United
States." Urn-Burials are reported from Sta. Barbara (vessels of
stone), Arizona, New Mexico (.?), Mississippi, Tennessee, Michigan,
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina. The facts indicate that
" urn-burial occasionally was practised in the southern part of the
United States, from ocean to ocean, though as yet a continuous line
of occurrence has not been traced. It seems to have been " almost
unknown in the north." This may have been due to the "much
greater use of pottery in the south." In part of the southwest and
in the extreme southeast cremated remains were placed in urns.
Burial in urns occurs in conjunction with other forms of burial.

A.F.C. and I. C. C.

74 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN
FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

The Society met in Philadelphia, Pa., conjointly with Section H,
Anthropology, A. A. A. S., and the American Anthropological Asso-
ciation, during Convocation week, from December 2j, 1904, to Jan-
uary I, 1905. On Thursday, December 29, the societies met in
joint session with the American Anthropological Society, and on
Friday, December 30, with the American Folk-Lore Society. During
the same week met the American Association for the Advancement
of Science and affiliated societies.

The Council of the Society met at 12 m., December 30, in the
rooms of the Museum of Science and Art.

At 2 p. ,M. the Society met for business, in the Museum.

The Secretary presented the Report of the Council, including
reports made to the Council by the Secretary and Treasurer.

During the year 1904, publication of the series of Memoirs of the
American Folk-Lore Society has been continued with Vol. VIII.,
being " Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee," collected and annotated
by George A. Dorsey.

The number of members remains about the same ; it is hoped
that in the near future an increase may be effected, especially by the
formation of local branches.

. Herewith is presented, in substance, the Report of the Treasurer,
from December 26, 1903, to December 27, 1904.

RECEIPTS.

Balance from last statement $2,313.85

Receipts from payment of annual dues 705.00

Subscriptions to the Publication Fund 147.00

Sales of Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society, through

Houghton, Mifflin & Co., to January 30, 1904 . . . 51.80

Interest on bonds 51-38

Postage from members .24

$3,269.27

DISBURSEMENTS.

Houghton, Mifflin & Co., for manufacturing Journal of Ameri-
can Folk-Lore, Nos. 63 to 66 $831.03

Houghton, Mifflin & Co., for manufacturing Vol. VHI. of

Memoirs (400 copies) 1,073.97

E. W. Wheeler, Cambridge, Mass., printing of circulars, etc. . 37.50

W. W. Newell, Secretary, clerk hire, stamps, etc. . . . 31.00

Sixteenth Annual Meeting. 75

To secretaries of local societies, rebates of fees : —

E. W. Remick, Boston, Mass. ..... 36.00

M. L. Fernald, Cambridge, Mass. .... 16.00

Second National Bank, New York, N. Y,, collection . . 3.20

Treasurer, extra postage 10

$2,028.80
Balance to new account, December 27, 1904 .... 1,240.47

$3,269.27

No nomination for officers having been offered through the Secre-
tary as provided for in the rules, the Council presented their nomi-
nations, and the Secretary was instructed to cast a single ballot for
officers of the Society during the year 1905, as follows : —

President, Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Washington, D. C.

First Vice-President, Dr. Roland B. Dixon, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass,

Second Vice-President, Professor William A. Neilson, Columbia
University, New York, N. Y.

Councillors (for three years) : Professor Franz Boas, American
Museum of Natural History, New York, N. Y. ; Dr. J. Walter
Fewkes, National Museum, Washington, D. C. ; Mr. James Mooney,
Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C. ; Mr. A. N. Tozzer, Pea-
body Museum of American Archaeology, Cambridge, Mass.

The Permanent Secretary and Treasurer hold over.

The Secretary was empowered to select the time and place of the
next annual meeting, in conjunction with Section H and with the
American Anthropological Association

No other business coming up, the Society proceeded to listen to
an address of the retiring President, Professor George Lyman Kit-
tredge of Harvard University, on " Disenchantment by Decapita-
tion."

Papers on folk-lore were read, as follows : —

"The Kiowa Supernatural," James Mooney, Washington, D. C.

"The Tale of the Three Wishes," William W. Newell, Cam-
bridge, Mass.

" Superstitions of School Children," Will S. Monroe.

76 jfournal of American Folk-Lore.

LOCAL MEETINGS AND OTHER NOTICES.

Treasurer of the American Folk-Lore Society. From the year 1892,
John H. Hinton, M. D., has acted as Treasurer. At first accepting the
position only for a single year, Dr. Hinton finally consented to accept an
election for a term of five years, and again a reelection to the position.
In this office his exactness and repute for sagacity have been of great
and continued service to the Society, of which he has, by election of the
Council, been made an honorary Life Member. Since the Annual Meet-
ing in December, Dr. Hinton has felt that the state of his health made it
advisable for him to retrench his duties, and has requested that he be
relieved of further responsibility. Accordingly, Mr. Eliot Remick, the
Treasurer of the Boston Branch, has been asked by the Council to serve
in the same capacity, and has consented to do so. Mr. Remick will
therefore act as Treasurer during the current year. His address is 300
Marlboro Street, Boston, Mass.

The following are regular monthly meetings of the American Folk-Lore
Society, Boston and Cambridge Branches, held since the last report : —

Boston, Friday, December 9, 8 p. m. The Branch met at the house of
Mrs. H. E. Raymond, 16 Exeter Street. Professor Putnam introduced
Miss Emily Hallowell, who gave a brief account of certain folk-songs col-
lected by herself from negroes of Alabama in the neighborhood of Calhoun.
Miss Hallowell, assisted by Mrs. McAdoo, sang a number of these songs,
which were interesting as folk-lore and pleasing as music.

Tuesday, January 17, 8 p. m. The Branch met at the house of Mrs. J. A.
Remick, 300 Marlboro Street. In the absence of the President, Mr. W. W.
Newell introduced the speaker, Mr. V. Ste'fansson of Iceland, now Hemen-
way Fellow in Anthropology at Harvard, who spoke on " The Animal Folk-
Lore of Iceland." Mr. Stdfansson began with an exceedingly clear account
of the history and present condition of Iceland and its people. In the
realm of folk-lore account was given of the part played by the bear, the
bull, snipe, plover, the raven, the kite, the eagle, and many dwellers in
the water, including the silver mullet and whale. Mr. Ste'fansson related
a number of entertaining myths, and at the close of his address showed
several ancient articles of dress and household adornment, and photographs
of Iceland scenery.

Tuesday, February 28, 8 p. m. The Branch met at the house of Mr. and
Mrs. William G. Preston, 1063 Beacon Street. In the absence of Professor
Putnam, Mr. Newell introduced Dr. Arthur W. Ryder of Harvard Univer-
sity, whose subject was " Sanscrit Fables and Epigrams." Dr. Ryder's
paper consisted largely of original renderings, in verse, from several works.

In many of these ancient fables the view-point is notably like that of the
moderns, and the wit of the fables has a caustic quality applicable to the
present time. A discussion followed the paper.

Helen Leah Reed, Secretary.

Bibliographical Notes. 77

Cambridge, November 22, 1904. The Branch met at the house of Miss
Batchelder, 28 Quincy Street. Dr. George N. Chase of Harvard Univer-
sity treated " Greek Religion in the Light of Recent Discoveries in Crete."
Since igoo, under Prince George, the Greek government has made explo-
rations possible on the same terms as in Greece itself. Crete, accordingly,
has been the ground of archaeological exploration, which has been fruitful
of discoveries. The customs, costumes, houses, and even diet of the Myce-
naean age, a period prior to the Hellenic, have been brought to light.
Among Americans occupied in this manner, the speaker mentioned an
expedition from the University of Pennsylvania, and Miss Boyd and Mr.
Evans. Mention was made of the recently discovered palaces and palace-
shrines, dating between 2000 and 1000 b. c, which show the king evi-
dently as father of his people and legate of the gods ; of doll-like images
representing different cults, and exhibiting the gods in human form ; of a
cult of the dead shown by tombs and rings, etc.

December 13, 1904. The Branch met with Miss Bumstead, 12 Berkeley
Street. Dr. A. W, Ryder was the speaker of the evening, his subject being
" Sanscrit Fables and Epigrams." His translations elicited discussion
from guests, who found in the early Hindu lore much which reminded
them of European equivalents.

Constance G. Alexander, Secretary.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

BOOKS.

The Old Farmer and his Almanac. Being some observations of life
and manners in New England a hundred years ago suggested by read-
ing the earlier numbers of Mr. Robert B. Thomas's Farmer's Almanac.
Together with extracts curious, instructive, and entertaining, as well as
a variety of miscellaneous matter. By George Lyman Kittredge.
Boston, Mass. : William Ware & Co. 1904. Pp. xiv, 403.

It opportunely happened that in the year of publication, the distin-
guished writer of this volume served as President of the American Folk-
Lore Society. The book, which only in a small proportion is concerned
with folk-lore proper, contains an infinity of information in regard to the
changes of New England life and manners illustrated in the Almanac,
whrch from the date of its first appearance for 1793 has continued its
annual issue. Thomas (i 766-1846) was brought up in the North Parish
of Shrewsbury, Mass. ; it illustrates the frequent changes in New England
local topography, that the district he lived in was successively transferred
to four different towns. He began life as a schoolmaster, and set up in
his native place as a bookbinder, obtaining work from publishers in Bos-
ton, whither he migrated in 1792 ; having already the ambition to prepare
an almanac of his own, he entered a mathematical school taught by Osgood
Carleton, himself the author of an almanac. At this point may be noted

yS yournal of A Tnerica7i Folk-Lore.

one of the amusing anecdotes abundantly furnished by Professor Kittredge.
Carleton spoke English so correctly as to make his birthplace the subject
of wagers, and subject him to some inconvenience ; he thought it worth
while publicly to explain in print that he was born at Nottingham-west in
the State of New Hampshire, and had lived in that locality for sixteen
years ; but in the course of subsequent travel, " being (while young) mostly
conversant with the English, he lost some of the country dialect." The
astronomical studies of Thomas resulted in the publication of his almanac,
"calculated on a new and improved plan, for the year of Our Lord 1793 ;
being the first after Leap Year, and seventeenth of the Independence
of America. Fitted to the town of Boston, but will serve for any of the
adjoining states." The one hundred and thirteen issues of this publica-
tion, as Professor Kittredge observes, almost exactly cover the period of
United States history under the Constitution, so that the change and de-
velopment of a century may be followed in its pages ; to extract such
notices, compare them, and comment on them, is the task which he has
undertaken. As a result, the contents of his book are very varied ; what-
ever may be the field in which the reader is interested, he will be sure to
find something that bears on his own particular theme, whether manners
or beliefs, teaching or law, food and festivals, jests and witticisms, travel
and agriculture.

The artistic embellishment of the Almanac shows the permanence of
tradition. In 1800, cuts were introduced to illustrate verses which had
previously been made to stand at the head of each month ; these at first
represented scenes and occupations suited to the month in question. In
1804 were substituted illustrations depending on the zodiacal signs, which,
however, were realistically treated, as figures having an environment of
landscape. Both these methods of designation, whether by the animal
signs or by the labors of the year, have an ancient and curious history,
going back to southern Europe and to Roman times ; on this subject Pro-
fessor Kittredge briefly touches, with reproduction of certain designs.

Some of the chapters are directly connected with folk-lore. Under the
heading "Murder will out," Professor Kittredge shows that the ancient or-
deal by touch, in which an accused person is made to come in contact
with the corpse, under the belief that contact with the murderer would
cause a flow of blood from the wound, was in force and apparently legalized
in New England as late as 1769. In that year, Mrs. Jonathan Ames of
Boxford died suddenly, and suspicion was directed against her mother-in-
law and the son of the latter ; these were invited to touch the body, but
refused ; they were committed, but in the end acquitted for want of evi-
dence. In 1646, a mother was forced to touch the face of the dead child
she was suspected of having destroyed \ the blood came freshly into the
face, and she confessed ; no doubt to produce such avowal on the part of
the guilty had been one effect of the superstition.

An ancient folk-anecdote recites the warfare of the toad and the spider ;
a narration of this sort is given in the Almanac of 1798. We are told
how the toad, after being bitten by its antagonist, sought out and devoured

Bibliographical Noles. 79

a piece of a plantain ; a spectator, out of curiosity, pulled up the plant ; the
toad, once more wounded, vainly sought for its remedy, and immediately ex-
pired. This duel had been already put into verse by Richard Lovelace,
whose poetry was printed in 1659. Sir Thomas Browne also knew the his-
tory. In this connection. Professor Kittredge cites from Winthrop a tale
concerning a combat between a mouse and a snake. Mr. Wilson, pastor of
Boston, gave it as his opinion that the struggle was significant : the snake
represented the devil, and the mouse the Puritan immigrants, an humble
folk, but destined to deprive the Evil One of his kingdom. That American
Indians, like other pagans, were worshippers of the Devil was a common
tenet of New England divines, in which they did but reflect the usual atti-
tude of the Church, which some missionaries retain even to the present
day. It is odd to encounter among unimaginative Puritans the mystical
tendency of the Middle Ages, in which actual and external events might
be interpreted as only symbols of spiritual forces.

As to the treatment of witches. New Englanders only shared the uni-
versal belief and practice. This is better understood than of old, although
ignorant persons continue to make the executions of Salem a reproach
against Massachusetts. As Professor Kittredge remarks, the wonder is, not
that such an outbreak should have taken place, but that it should so sud-
denly have come to an end ; the real fact being that, as compared with the
mother country, or any European land, the colonists exhibited a remark-
able moderation and good sense, for which they deserve credit.

The maker of the " Farmer's Almanac" was not a superstitious person.
The custom of almanac-makers required him to insert something regarding
lunar influences, as related to the labors of the house and the farm ; but
this he does perfunctorily, with a suspicion of irony ; and in course of
time the whole matter came to be passed over in the pages of his work.
Thus we read in 1800 : —

August 19. Mow bushes, mow bushes now/ If you have any faith in the in-
fluence of the moon on them.

In 1803, we find him saying : —

January i8. Old Experience says (and she generally speaks the truth) that
pork, killed about this time, will generally come out of the pot as large as when it
was put in.

However, in such attitude Thomas was in advance of his day. At the
close of the eighteenth century, even scientific farmers, who thought they
had the attestation of experiment, considered that the state of the moon
ought to receive attention. In 1790, Dr. Deane, author of an octavo vol-
ume called " The New England Farmer," a work of real merit, having put
the matter to a practical test, decided that it was most effectual to cut
bushes during the old moon, when the " sign is in the heart." He con-
sidered that even though zodiacal signs may be a mere convention, yet
these might be of service in pointing out the proper time for the undertak-
ing. Professor Kittredge remarks that the attitude of these sober experi-

8o Journal of American Fo Ik-Lore.

menters is not to be confused with the superstitious theories of earlier
centuries.

In regard to astrology, he shows how important a part this had in the
daily life of the eighteenth century, more especially in navigation. It was
still the usual practice to employ an astrologer, who should cast a horo-
scope, in order to determine the exact day and hour on which a vessel
ought to weigh anchor. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, a
publication which received the title of the Book of Knowledge circulated
freely among New England people ; this included popular astrology, prog-
nostications, palmistry, etc. Indeed, as is observed, almanacs existed
largely for the purpose of designating the days and hours when the particu-
lar influence of one or another planet would be operative.

Only the title need be mentioned of a chapter on " Indian Talk," in
which is discussed the character of the English familiarly spoken by Indi-
ans in New England. In dealing with this question, as all other topics.
Professor Kittredge has employed abundant learning, with the result of
producing an exceedingly entertaining book.

W. W. N.

Geographische Namenkunde. Methodische Anwendung der namenkund-
lichen Grundsatze auf das allgemeine zugangliche topographische
Namenmaterial. Von J. W. Nagl. Leipzig und Wien : Franz Deuticke,
1903. Pp. vii, 122.

The three sections of this monograph treat : Geographic names of peo-
ples remote from us (Germans), those not related culturally (Chinese, Jap-
anese, American Indians, Turks, East Aryans), and those culturally so
related (Hebrews, Phoenicians and Punic peoples, Semites in Spain, Mag-
yars, etc.), geographic names of peoples racially and culturally related to
the Germans (Portuguese and Spaniards, Italians, British and Irish, peo-
ples of Balkan peninsula, Russians, Austro-Hungarian Slavs), geographic
names of Germans and Scandinavians. A brief bibliography and an alpha-
betical list of all geographical names discussed are appended. The only
aboriginal American names considered are : Mexico, Popocatepetl, Tehuan-
tepec, Zacatecas, Chicago, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Chimborazo, Chu-
quisaca, Chocachacra, Andes, Hayti, for which more or less exact etymolo-
gies are given. Our yapan and cognates in the modern languages of
Europe go back with the older Zipangu to the Chinese Ji-ptn-koue, " Land
of the Rising Sun," — so too Nippon, by dialectic variation. The names of
the continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa, are all probably of Semitic origin,
but their exact etymologies are not at all clear. The author rightly accepts
the derivation of America from Amerigo, probably = Gothic Amalrich. As
a place-name Bismarck (p. 78) signifies " a mark on the Biese (a little
river)," Of words which, in English, have achieved more than a lodging
as place-names or ethnic terms, the following are discussed by Nagl : Alp,
Arras, Atlas, Brussels, Cologne, Croat, Nanking, Slav, etc. On the whole,
this little volume seems to be much above the average in accuracy, and
contains a good deal of valuable matter. The sections (pages 68-91) on

Bibliographical Noie& 8 1

the metamorphoses and transferences of geographical names will interest
the student of folk-etymology.

Bibliotheque des £coles et des Families. Une France Oubliee : L'Acadie,
par Gaston du Boscq de Beaumont. Paris: Hachette, 1902. Pp. 191.
Besides historical data and travel notes this work contains a brief section
on the language and customs of the Acadians, and some items concerning
the Micmacs of Cape Breton, the Hurons of Loretto, the Montagnais of
Pointe-Bleue, and the Iroquois of Caughnawaga. The author's derivation
(p. 64) of Lac Bras d'Or from Labrador needs elucidation. On page 72
is recalled the marriage of the Chevalier de La Nouee in 1754 to a Micmac
metisse. At Pointe-Bleue there is abundant evidence of the intermixture of
the Hudson Bay men and the Montagnais women. The old conical birch-
bark wigwams of these Indians have given way to cloth tents in imita-
tion of the whites. The younger generation of the Iroquois at Caughna-
waga are letting their beards grow. Here, too, " the blond metis " are
in evidence.

U. S. Department of Agriculture (Bulletin No. ^^. — W. B. No. 294).
Weather Bureau. Weather Folk-Lore and Local Weather Signs.
Prepared under the direction of Willis L. Moore, Chief U. S. Weather
Bureau. By Edward B. Garnott, Professor of Meteorology, Washing-
ton : Government Printing Office, 1903. Pp. 153. With 21 charts.

Pages 5-47 of this interesting little volume are devoted to " Weather
Folk-Lore," /. e. proverbs and sayings of the folk concerning wind and
storm, clouds, atmospheric changes, temperature, humidity, animals, birds,
fish, insects, plants, sun, moon, stars, moon and weather, stars and weather,
animals, birds, etc., and weather, days, months, seasons, and years. Along-
side the folk-thoughts are given the words of poets and philosophers. Few
proverbs of American Indians have ever been published, for which reason
the following may be reproduced here : —

1. When the clouds rise in terraces of white, soon will the country of the
corn-priests be pierced with the arrows of rain (Zuni).

2. When oxen or sheep collect together, as if they were seeking shelter,
a storm may be expected (Apache).

3. When chimney-swallows circle and call, they speak of rain (Zuni).

4. When grouse drum at night, Indians predict a deep fall of snow.

5. When the sun sets unhappily (with a hazy, veiled face), then will the
morning be angry with wind-storm and sand (Zuni).

6. The moon, her face if red be,
Of water speaks she (Zuni).

Das Asylrecht der Naturvolker, von A. Hellwig. Mit einem Vor-
wort von J. Kohler. Berlin : R. von Decker's Verlag, 1903. Pp. viii,
122.

This little monograph endeavors to describe the nature and purpose of
the ''right of asylum" among savage and barbarous peoples all over the
vol. xviii. — no. 68. 6

8 2 Journal of A merican Folk-L ore.

globe. This " right of asylum " has also had an important role in the de-
velopment of higher human civilizations, — e. g. in the Greek and Roman
period, in the Middle Ages in Europe, and particularly among some of the
Semitic peoples, with whom the " city of refuge " (known also to the Creeks
and the Iroquois, etc., in primitive America) was an approved institution.
Hellwig recognizes three divisions of this "right of asylum," — those for
criminals, strangers, slaves, all very intimately related. The division into
local, personal, and temporal " right of asylum " is rejected by him.

Among people so low in the stage of culture as the Australian blacks the
"right of asylum" for strangers occurs. Strangers in limited numbers are
permitted by the tribe in whose land alone the red earth used for mourning
is found, to visit the place unmolested and take as much of it as they can
carry away. In Polynesia the " right of asylum " appears in many interesting
forms, rising often to the dignity of the sanctuary of the old Israelitish sort.
The African Bushmen are probably without this idea, but the author at-
tributes it in some form to the Hottentots. In various parts of Negro and
Negroid Africa all varieties of the " right of asylum " appear, based some-
times on religious and sometimes on selfish and material grounds. East-
ern Africa has had a relatively high development of this institution for
strangers for more than 600 years. The right of the slave to asylum has
had an ethical influence upon his master in the way of inducing better
treatment. Often wives have right of asylum against their husbands who
have abused them. " Right of asylum " naturally leads often to arbitra-
tion, etc. The atiaya of the Kabyles is *' the safe-guard of fugitives, those
threatened by vengeance, those in imminent or present danger." The re-
sponsibilities the right imposes upon those who avail themselves of it are
very great ; violation often causes every privilege to cease. The mass of
Hellwig's data relates to Africa, which continent takes up pages 25-105 of
the book. America is treated at pages 105-122 under the rubrics: gen-
eral, criminal, stranger, slave. The Cherokee and the Creeks are chiefly
referred to, — in the next edition Mooney's work on the former ought to be
used ; also Gatschet for the latter. In the " peace towns " of some of these
Indians of the southeastern United States, as also in the corresponding
"city" of the Iroquois, we meet with rather high conceptions of the idea of
asylum. In some form or other, the " right of asylum " was well-known
among many American Indian tribes. This section of Hellwig's work can
easily be enlarged and improved. His forthcoming work on the " right of
asylum " among the " higher races " will be awaited with interest.

Kartographie bei den Naturvolkern. Inaugural-Dissertation zur Er-
langung der Doktorwiirde der hohen philosophischen Fakultat der Fried-
rich-Alexanders-Universitat, Erlangen vorgelegt von Wolfgang Drober.
Erlangen : Junge & Sohn, 1903. Pp. 80.

The five chapters of this discussion of map-drawing among primitive peo-
ples (the author's thesis for Ph. D., at the University of Erlangen) treat the
following topics : Qualities capacitating primitive peoples for map-drawing,
the first traces of cartographic attempts (rock-drawings and their signifi-

Bibliographical Notes. 83

cance for cartography, primitive way-marks), cartographic figures on the
ground ("sand maps," relief maps, etc.), "sea-maps" ("sailing-charts,"
"stick maps," etc.), map-drawing with European means (birch-bark, chalk-
drawings, drawings with lead-pencil on paper, primitive conception of
modern maps). Dr. Drober agrees with Dr. K. E. Ranke in attributing
the keen sense of sight of primitive peoples, where it exists, not to peculiar
anatomical constitution, etc., of the eye, but to exercise and individual
"education," — though this develops in the savage a marked gift of obser-
vation. Of like origin is also the much-discussed " sense of orientation "
of primitive peoples. Add to these qualities the art of drawing, and the
capacity for cartographic representations of a rude and crude order is pre-
sent. And many primitive peoples have more or less artistic instinct for
drawing. It may be said, indeed, that they often possess the three quali-
ties named in a rather highly developed form. Nor is the sense of exact-
ness and of distances lacking, and that they are not without geographical
knowledge appears from their tales and legends, particularly many of the
so-called " observation-myths." Some of the maps made by primitive
peoples compare much to their advantage with similar efforts of the igno-
rant European peasant. In petroglyphs might be seen the origin of car-
tography, marks on the rocks, etc., passing over to other more easily in-
scribed substances, way-marks on trees, in the sand, etc. " Sand maps "
are found among many primitive peoples, African Negroes, Australians,
Pacific Islanders, American Indians, etc. Stone relief '• maps " are re-
ported from Torres Straits, Loango, etc. Relief maps in sand are known
to the Eskimo, some North African peoples, some Pacific Islanders, and
others. " Sea maps " of several kinds were much in use with the Polyne-
sian navigators, particularly the mattang, the rebbelib, and the meddo, the
first of which is a general, the last a special " map," all characteristic of
the Marshall Islands, but not' entirely restricted to them. "Maps "on
birch-bark or skins are known to several Indian tribes {e. g. Montagnais
and Naskapi), to the Yukagirs, etc. Chalk-written " maps " are reported
from Laos, the Caroline Islands. Pencil "maps" have been brought by
travellers from many Indian tribes of North and South America, — the re-
viewer possesses such made by the Kootenay of British Columbia in 189 1.
Some of the Eskimo deserve almost the name of geographers, like the Poly-
nesian "map-maker."

The ability to " read " or " sense " maps made by white men is found
among the Eskimo, the Maori, Bechuana, etc., and, as the reviewer can say
from personal experience, the Kootenay and probably many other Ameri-
can Indian peoples. To the facts here recorded much might be added.

A. F. C.

Indian Folk-Lore. (Being a collection of tales illustrating the customs
and manners of the Indian people.) By Ganeshji Jethabhai. Limbdi,
Jaswatsinhji Printing Press, 1903. pp. xv, 236.

This little book, scarcely described by the rather pretentious title, is a
collection of folk-anecdotes, ninety-four in number, illustrating maxims and

84 " jfournal of American Folk- Lore,

proverbs, or satirizing the faults and extravagances of Hindu village society.
The narratives are translated by the collector from the vernacular in which
they originally appeared, making, as the writer says, the first Gujarati book
of its type rendered into English. The scope of the tales may be shown
by a few examples. Blindness to one's own faults is illustrated by the case
of a sluggard who lies under a fruit tree, but is too indolent to put out his
hand in order to grasp the fallen berries. He begs a hasty traveller to dis-
mount and supply him, and when the rider refuses, observes that he will
next apply to some one who is less lazy. The village of Gambhu was
formerly owned by tailors ; when the place was taken by an enemy, these
formed an army of rescue, each man armed with his scissors and measuring
wand. They form in line, with the intention of attacking the foe at day-
break. The head of the row, however, argues that the rear would be a
safer position for himself, and accordingly retires to the end of the line ; as
each foremost person follows his example, by morning the army has re-
treated ten miles. The minister of a native state, knowing well that his
term of office will be short, stipulates that when accused of peculation the
trial shall take place before peasants of the lowest class. When his greed
has borne its natural fruit in the clamors of the people whom he has
oppressed, the charge is brought before the arbitrators already selected.
These are honest folk, who know that the state has been cheated, and that
the minister has amassed a fortune ; not wishing to be too severe, they
impose what to them seems the large fine of twenty-five rupees, which, as
they think, may be the half of his gains. The master of ceremonies in a
Jain temple observes that the statues of the twenty-four saints or Tirthank-
ers are of gold and silver, with the exception of one, which is of marble.
He cannot resist the temptation of taking and melting some of the figures.
When called to account, he explains that he has had a dream, signifying
that the Tirthankers, tired of this present world, have determined to aban-
don it ; at his intercession, however, they have consented that the marble
figure may remain. The Jains tremble at the divine wrath, and regard the
thief as their saviour.

We are requested to add that orders for this book may be addressed to
the Harvard Cooperative Society, Cambridge, Mass.

W. W. N,

lUTEM PULE AT FORT RUPEK'l-, VICTOKIA, VANCOUVER ISLAND, l!. C

THE JOURNAL OF

AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

Vol. XVIIL — APRIL-JUNE, 1905.— No. LXIX.

WISHOSK MYTHS.

INTRODUCTION.

The Wishosk Indians of the coast of Humboldt County, in north-
western California, inhabited a very restricted territory. They held
the shores of Humboldt Bay, on which the city of Eureka is now-
situated, and the mouths of Mad and Eel rivers. Their frontage
on the ocean extended a few miles north and south of these rivers
with a total length of about thirty-five miles, all of it flat and sandy.
Inland their territory extended in general to the top of the first
range of hills, nowhere more than twelve or fifteen miles from the
ocean, and for the most part varying in distance between five and
ten. Their own name for themselves as a linguistic group is Su-
latlek. Wishosk they declare to be the name that some of their
Athabascan neighbors give them. Most of the tribes of the region
know them or their territory by some variation of the name Wiyot,
which is one of the few native geographical or tribal names in north-
ern California that is without apparent signification and known to a
number of linguistic groups. Roughly speaking, the territory of the
Wishosk surrounds Humboldt Bay, and popularly they are usually
known as Humboldt Bay Indians. Their territory was entirely cov-
ered, almost down to the beach, with redwood, and this fact, com-
bined with the circumstance that Humboldt Bay is the only sheltered
harbor on the coast of California north of San Francisco, has made
this bay the centre of population for Humboldt and the contiguous
parts of adjacent counties. Almost all the traffic between this
region and the outside world, including a large lumber export, passes
through the prosperous settlements on this harbor ; for the district
is as yet unconnected with the rest of the State by railroad, and
other than trails only three wagon-roads lead out from it. In con-
sequence, while the narrow valleys and canyons of the Klamath and
Trinity and other rivers of this region were early overrun by miners,
the white population along these streams being much greater forty
or fifty years ago than it is now, where in many parts the Indians are

86 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

still in the majority, conditions have been very different on Hum-
boldt Bay, where there have been permanent settlement and steady
development of the country. The greater half of the population
and of the productive agricultural land of Humboldt County is prob-
ably within the small territory that once belonged to the Wishosk.
Naturally these Indians have suffered from this overwhelming con-
tact with civilization. Their numbers have been reduced very much
more than on the Klamath and Trinity, and their old life has almost
entirely disappeared. They now live like their white neighbors, and
an occasional basket, usually made for sale, is about the only visible
evidence of their culture of fifty years ago that one is likely to find
among them. They number all told a few dozen, with hardly any
children. On the whole they present a greater aspect of physical
infirmity than the other tribes of this region. Most of what could
have once been learned about them ethnologically has perished, and
the broken and incomplete nature of their myths, as they remain,
is only too evident from the material here presented. It is possible
that individuals with better knowledge of the old beliefs are still
alive, but of the six or eight persons, all of them of middle age or
more, with whom work was attempted, some knew nothing, and not
one had any knowledge that went very far.

In general culture the Wishosk resembled the other tribes of the
region which constitutes the northwesternmost corner of Califor-
nia. It must be borne in mind that the culture of this compara-
tively small area is very different from that of the rest of the State,
showing certain affiliations with the culture of the coast to the north,
and being in many respects unique. These special characteristics
are not each confined to a single tribe or group, but for the most
part are common to all the tribes in the region. As compared with
this distinct northwestern culture, the Indians of at least the greater
part of the remainder of California, in spite of their numerous divi-
sions, must be considered a unit in their culture. On the material
and technological side of their life the Wishosk were certainly very
similar to the other tribes in the northwestern ethnographical pro-
vince. Their houses and boats, their tools and basketry, were prac-
tically identical with those found on the Klamath and Trinity. In
other respects, especially on the religious side, there were greater
differences. The northwestern culture finds its highest develop-
ment and greatest specialization among the Yurok living along the
Klamath from Weitchpec down, among the Karok on the same river
above Weitchpec, and among the Hupa on the confluent Trinity
from Weitchpec up for some twenty-five miles. For instance, it was
only these three tribes that held the elaborate deerskin dance ; and
the almost equally important jumping or woodpecker-head dance did

Wishosk Myths. 87

not extend far beyond their borders. The position of the Wishosk
is illustrated by the fact that they held the jumping dance only at
the mouth of Mad River at the northernmost end of their territory,
where they were in contact with the Yurok. In other places other
ceremonies were held. Whether these were similar to the ceremo-
nies of the tribes to the south and southeast, or whether they were
largely peculiar to the Wishosk, is not known. The food and daily
habits of the Wishosk, who lived along flat ocean shores backed by
heavy timber, must of necessity have been somewhat different from
those of the other tribes of the region, who lived along permanent
and rapid rivers, or rocky coasts, or grassy and oak-covered hillsides ;
but such differences due directly to locally varying environment
need hardly to be taken into consideration where the fundamental
characteristics of cultures are in question.

A considerable body of the myths of the Indians of northwestern
California have been collected, but as yet there is no published ma-
terial of any value available other than a number of stories in the
first part of Dr. P. E. Goddard's HupaTexts.^ The first five of these,
including a long creation and culture-hero story, may be regarded as
typical also of the mythology of the other more developed tribes of
the region, these five myths all being found, either in whole or in
part, among the Yurok or Karok or both. One of the most funda-
mental characteristics of the mythological beliefs of these three
tribes is the idea of a former distinct race, conceived of as very
human in nature although endowed with supernatural powers, who
inhabited the world before the coming of men, and then either left
the inhabited world to become spirits or turned into animals. This
race is the Kixunai of the Hupa. In a general way this previous race
is held responsible by the Indians for everything now existing in the
world, and it is often stated that all the characters in myths were
members of it. Actually this idea is carried out very inconsistently,
'and does not seem to have been used by any tribe to work the body
of its myths into a system ; and so, as a matter of fact, origins are
generally explained simply by growth or appearance in the time of
this previous race. The most prominent characters in the several
mythologies are one or more culture-heroes, of whom the Hupa
Yimantuwinyai, " Lost-across-the-ocean," by another name "Old-man-
over-across," is a typical illustration, except for the fact that he
approaches a little more closely to being a creator than do his ana-
logues among the Yurok or Karok. The Yurok and Karok charac-
ters that correspond to him are called "Widower-across-the-water."
The stories almost universally told about him include among their

^ University of California Publications in Atnerican ArchcEology andEthnologyy
i. 1934.

88 yournal of Americmt Folk-Lore.

chief incidents accounts of how he obtained by trickery salmon from
the woman who was keeping them shut up ; of how he first brought
about birth, women having been previously killed at the birth of
their children ; of how he tried to kill his son by causing him to climb
a tree, in order that he might obtain his wife ; of how his son there-
upon left the world for the one across the sea ; and how he himself
was finally carried off to the same place after having succumbed to
the temptation of a woman who was a flat fish. This character is
always represented as erotic and tricky, but does not show the other
despicable qualities, such as gluttony and cowardice, usually attrib-
uted to Coyote, and often to the trickster in the mythologies of other
tribes. A second culture-hero, who is more respected, is primarily
a destroyer of evil beings ; but in the common versions he has less
part in the shaping of the world. A third character, whose function
and importance vary considerably even in myths told by different in-
dividuals of the same tribe, is the dentalium-shell. Occasionally this
personage is raised to the rank of a creator. Coyote appears fairly
frequently, but, although he sometimes destroys monsters, is usually
of contemptible character. The myths in which the culture-heroes
do not appear are of course of very varied character, but the most
typical are mainly hero stories of a certain sort. In the great ma-
jority of these the hero is distinctly conceived of as human and is
not identified with an animal. This is evident in such Hupa stories
as " Dug-from-the-Ground " and " He-lives-South." Among the Yurok
there are exceedingly few animal characters ; among the Karok they
are more numerous. These heroes are very rarely destroyers of mon-
sters or enemies. In most cases their achievements are of such a
nature as rising from a state of oppression to great wealth and power,
or receiving and establishing a ceremony. The two Hupa stories just
mentioned are typical of this class of tales. The idea so prevalent
on the North Pacific coast, and at least in parts of California, of a
hero encountering and overcoming direct dangers, is very little devel-
oped in this region. It also appears from what has been said that the
hero myths sometimes grade insensibly into ceremonial origin myths.
The myths of the great central region of California contain some
incidents and ideas found also in the northwestern part of the State,
but on the whole are of a very different character ; and, as compared
with the northwestern myths, they show considerable uniformity
from all sections. Mythological material from the Wintun, Maidu,
and Yana, of the Sacramento valley, has been published by Curtin ^
and Dixon ; ^ and other material, not yet published, has been col-

1 Creation Myths of Primitive Amcj-ica, Boston, 1S98 (Northern Wintun and
Yana).

* Maidu Myths, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. xvii. pt. ii. 33-118, 1902.

Wishosk Myths. 89

lected from the Porno, the Yuki, and other stocks, mcluding in part
those of the south central portion of the State. Generally these
Indians have a well-developed idea of a creator, such as the Wintun
Olelbis and the Maidu Earth-Initiate or Earth-Namer. Both the
powers and deeds of this creator distinguish him quite markedly from
the culture-heroes of the northwestern region. The character next
in consequence, and usually more frequently mentioned in stories, is
Coyote. In certain cases, as among the Maidu, he is more or less
antithetical to the creator, bringing death and other evils into the
world, though through foolishness rather than from malicious intent.
In other cases, as among the Yuki, this relation between him and the
creator is replaced or added to by a division of their functions, by
which the creator is the author of the world and of mankind, while
Coyote originates what is characteristic of life and culture. In this
phase he is virtually equivalent to a culture-hero. Sometimes his
role in this capacity is so much developed as to reduce the actual
part of the creator in the myths to a very slight element. In all
cases, however, at least in northern central California, there seems
to be a conception of a single supreme or original creator, however
much or little he may appear in the myths, and this conception can
be said to be totally wanting among the northwestern tribes. In
addition to his other roles, Coyote invariably appears in the cen-
tral region as a trickster and a butt for ridicule. The myths of
central California that do not refer to the origin of things may be
characterized as danger stories. Sometimes the life of the hero is
attempted by his father-in-law, or by the enemies that have killed all
his family ; sometimes he is of supernatural birth and powers, and
his achievements consist in destroying numerous monsters and evil
beings and overcoming a hostile supernatural gambler. In very
many cases the characters in the myths are animals. A very favorite
and typical story found over the greater part of California is that of
the two deer children whose mother had been killed by a grizzly
bear and who in revenge killed the bear's two children, and then
fled and finally escaped from their pursuer. The idea of a previous
race occurs in central California, as pointed out by Curtin, but differs
from the conception of the northwestern tribes. The individuals of
this race generally turn to animals, and very frequently, as they appear
in the myths, have animal qualities even before the transformation
which marks the close of this earlier period. On the whole, the
idea of such a previous race is much more clearly defined among
the northwestern Indians, but does not affect their myths ; in cen-
tral California the idea is less clear, but is more frequently used to
systematize the myths of a tribe.

In summary, the mythologies of the two ethnographical regions

90 jfournal of American Folk-Lore,

can be contrastingly characterized as follows. In northern California
there prevail conceptions of an earlier race parallel to mankind and
of origin by growth or appearance, culture-heroes, human hero stories,
and the explanation of the origin chiefly of human institutions. In
central California the mythologies show a creator, accounts of the
creation of nature and of physical rather than of social man. Coyote
as a trickster and marplot to the creator or as a supplementary cul-
ture-hero-creator, numerous animal tales, and supernatural hero or
danger stories. In both regions historical or pseudo-historical tradi-
tions and migration legends are lacking.

The mythology of the tribes immediately adjacent to the Wishosk
is very little known. On the north the Wishosk are bordered by the
Coast Yurok, who hold a strip of shore line as narrow as the Wishosk.
The mythology of the Coast Yurok in great part lacks the culture-hero
stories of the Klamath River Yurok, and seems to be characterized
even more strongly by their peculiar type of human hero stories. On
all other sides, except the ocean, the Wishosk are surrounded by a
group of Athabascan tribes, which extend from immediately south
and west of the Hupa as far as to the Wailaki, who are in Mendocino
County in contact with the Yuki. Almost all the tribes in this group
inhabit the interior rather than the immediate coast, and are as much
reduced in numbers as the Wishosk themselves. They are very little
known. In their general material culture they undoubtedly resemble
to a considerable degree the more highly organized Yurok, Karok,
and Hupa, with allowance for such differences as are directly due to
a different natural environment. In their beliefs, however, so far as
known, they approximate the tribes of the central region. It is certain
that the ideas of a creator and of Coyote in his antithetical relation
to the creator, as they exist among the central tribes, are found at least
among the more southerly of these Indians, being known to occur as
far north as lower Eel River ; and in accord with this circumstance
there does not seem to exist among the Indians in this place any
strongly developed idea of a previous race.

The Wishosk myths here presented give but a broken idea of what
the beliefs of these people must have been fifty years ago. Even as
they are, however, they bring out several salient characteristics of this
mythology. The collection is too incomplete to allow of deductions
based on the absence of any mythical incidents or conceptions ; but
it suffices for certain comparisons with other tribes.

The stories were obtained from the following informants : Nos. i
to 6 from a man named Bob ; Nos. 7 to 8 and 10 to 19 from an old
man called Bill; No. 9 from an old woman ; Nos. 20, 21, 23, and 25
from Jennie ; and Nos. 22 and 24 from her husband, Aleck. The
first informant was utterly unable to give any connected accounts ;

Wiskosk Myths. 91

the material presented in the first creation myth has been collected
from incoherent statements which occupied him the greater part of a
day to make and in part were not to the point. This man had been
somewhat influenced by the religious ideas of the whites. For this
reason the information obtained from him has been separated from
that of the other informants, but on the whole it is undoubtedly good
Wishosk. This is evident from a comparison of his account of the
creation as given in No. i with that told by Bill in No. 7. Nos. 2
and 10 also show considerable similarity, with some differences.

Perhaps the most marked characteristic of these myths is the im-
portant role assigned to the creator and supreme deity, Gudatriga-
kwitl, " Above-old-man." Sometimes he is also called Guruguda-
trigakwitl, " That-above-old-man." It will be seen that he represents
a well-developed idea of true creation. He cannot be included in
the class of culture-heroes, but is distinctly a deity. The general
statements made by other informants confirm the conception of this
character as he appears in the two creation stories and leave no doubt
that the idea of him is purely aboriginal. In accord with this occur-
rence of a creator deity is the absence among the Wishosk, so far as
known, of the typical northwestern conception of the previous race.

The presence of a creator should naturally reduce the functions
of a culture-hero, and to a certain extent this is the case among the
Wishosk. Nevertheless, their culture-hero-trickster, Gatswokwire,
corresponds quite closely to the chief culture-hero of the Yurok,
Karok, and Hupa. Like these characters, he is responsible for the
origin of birth and of the distribution of fish, and is carried across
the ocean by a woman. The Wishosk myth material obtained is as a
whole so fragmentary that there is every reason to believe that the
tales dealing with this character are not exhausted, and it seems very
probable that if more myths are obtained further incidents told of
him by the other tribes will come to light. Coyote also appears in
the Wishosk myths, but only in his lower character.

The Wishosk myths not connected primarily with the origin of the
world and culture can best be characterized as animal stories. The
incidents in them are frequently trivial, but almost always show char-
acter. The number of animals appearing as personages in this small
collection of myths is rather remarkable, reaching thirty besides
Coyote, namely : the spider, otter, frog, mole, panther, fisher, fox,
raccoon, wildcat, civet cat, dog, blue jay, meadowlark, blackbird, robin,
sea lion, grizzly bear, crow, eagle, eel, sea otter, porpoise, raven, peli-
can, skunk, flies, elk, chicken-hawk, and abalone, besides the insect
spinagaralu. All the tales other than the creator, culture-hero, and
Coyote myths belong to this class of anim.al stories, except the last
two given, which are human hero stories. These two stories are very

92 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

similar in their ideas and tone to those most characteristic of the
Hupa, Yurok, and Coast Yurok. It will, however, be observed that
both of them also contain animals as characters.

Passing now to specific comparisons between myths of the Wishosk
and other tribes, tales i and 7 are without parallel among the
northwestern tribes, because these lack creation myths. Of the two
Wishosk versions of the origin of death. No. 2 resembles closely that
of the Yurok, while No. 10 is similar to that of the Yuki, Maidu, and
other tribes of central California. The Athabascan Sinkine of Eel
River also tell the story in similar form. No. 3, the flood, also finds
analogues to the south, rather than on the Klamath or Trinity. The
typical northwestern conception is that one survivor was saved from
the flood in a boat or box, with his dog. The Sinkine, however, say
that a couple was saved on a mountain-top, and, according to Ban-
croft,^ the Mattole, an Athabascan tribe still nearer the Wishosk, had
a similar belief. Nos. 4, 5, and 6, dealing with Gatswokwire, are all
told of the northwestern culture-heroes. No. 8 is without an exact
parallel, but the idea of the spider reaching the sky, or descending
from it, by the string which he makes, occurs among the Sinkine
and certain of the tribes of the northern Sacramento valley region.
The idea of No. 11, that the mole's forefeet are turned from having
held the sky, is again a central Californian conception not known to
occur in the northwestern region. The Yuki and other tribes tell
the incident No, 12, in which the culture-hero-trickster changes his
shape in order to be given food several times, is widespread in North
America. Nos. 13 and 14, telling of Coyote's attempts to marry,
show character rather than well-defined incidents. No. 15, in which
the Coyote breaks his leg in supposed imitation of the panther,
has partial parallel among some of the northwestern tribes, but simi-
lar ideas occur among Indians far east of California. No. 16, in which
Coyote is stuck in a stream of pitch, is without known specific parallel.
No. 15 is evidently a fragment of a longer myth. The Yurok and
Karok tell a form of the widespread story of the orArinfiof. fire by
theft. The Hupa deny this, and it is seen that the Wishosk agree
with them. The idea of the dog having fire and of his refusing it to
the panther is related to a Yurok and Karok conception, according to
which the dog surpassed both the deer and the panther in a contest
of powers, thereby obtaining for mankind the bow with which to kill
animals. The idea of something distinctly human as opposed to ani-
mal faculties having its origin from the one domestic animal in oppo-
sition to other animals, is what is common to this Yurok and Karok
myth and the present Wishosk fragment. Nos. 18, 19, and 20 are
as yet all without parallels, though their general character distinctly

^ Native Races, iii. 86.

Wishosk Myths, 93

resembles that of myths from central California. No. 21, in which
the raven catches a woman, is a distant approach to the swan-maiden
story. No, 22 is again an animal character tale. The idea of No. 23,
that the skunk pretends sickness and shoots the summoned medicine-
man, has parallels outside of California, As yet the conception is
not known to have been utilized by the northwestern tribes. No. 24,
telling of an oppressed boy who became powerful, is more similar in
general character than in specific incidents to Yurok tales. No. 25,
telling of a man who was carried across the ocean, is very similar to
a number of northwestern versions even in details. For instance, the
Yurok tell of ten men crossing the ocean nightly in a boat, and the
idea that the world across the ocean is one of unceasing dances is
deep-seated among them.

It will be seen that the mythology of the Wishosk occupies a
place between the mythologies of central and those of north-
western California, sharing with one a considerable development of
creation myth and animal tales, and with the other especially certain
episodes of a specific culture-hero cycle. The greater number of
actual parallels seem to be with the central tribes. The general
character of the mythology and the conception:; underlying it are
also more closely akin to those found in central California than
those among the distinctly northwestern tribes. The occurrence
of almost exact parallels between the Wishosk and the Yurok,
Karok, and Hupa culture-hero stories can be explained by the great
importance of these myths among the latter tribes and the close
geographical proximity, and in part contiguity, of these to the
Wishosk. Altogether it would seem that this tribe, although in its
material life and in its social structure clearly most nearly related
to the other northwestern tribes, is in its religious beliefs so far
different from them as to be closer, all in all, to the great central
group of stocks occupying the larger part of the State. The extreme
localization of the typical northwestern culture is thus apparent, and
it is evidert t^at unless, as does not seem probable, its culture has
close affiliations with the Athabascan tribes along the immediate coast
northward from the mouth of the Klamath, its most characteristic
development is confined to the Yurok, Karok, and Hupa.

I. GUDATRIGAKWITL AND THE CREATION.

At first there were no trees nor rivers and no people on the earth.
Nothing except ground was visible. There was no ocean. Then
Gudatrigakwitl was sorry that it was so. He thought, " How is it
that there are no animals .-'" He looked, but he saw nothing. Then
he deliberated. He thought, " I will try. Somebody will live on the
earth. But what will he use .-' " Then he decided to make a boat

94 yournal of A merica^i Folk-Lore.

for him. He made things by joining his hands and spreading them.
He used no tools. In this way he made people. The first man was
wat, the abalone. The first people were not right. They all died.
Gudatrigakwitl thought that they were bad. He wanted good people
who would have children. At first he wanted every man to have ten
lives.^ When he was an old man he was to become a boy again.
Afterwards Gudatrigakwitl found that he could not do this. He gave
the people all the game, the fish, and the trees. He said : "As long
as people live, if an old man will tell his boy about me it will be as if
I were there, for he will tell him, 'Do not do so and so.* "

In other places there are different people, but they were all made
by Gudatrigakwitl at one time, all over the world. That is why there
are different tribes with different languages. So the old men used
to say.

When Gudatrigakwitl wanted to make people, he said, " I want
fog." Then it began to be foggy. Gudatrigakwitl thought: "No
one will see it when the people are born." Then he thought : "Now
I wish people to be all over, broadcast. I want it to be full of people
and full of game." Then the fog went away. No one had seen
them before, but now they were there.

Gudatrigakwitl used no sand or earth or sticks to make the people ;
he merely thought and they existed. (In answer to a question.)

Gudatrigakwitl thought : " When something is alive, like a plant,
it will not die. It will come up again from the roots and grow again
and again. So it will be with men and animals and everything alive."

Gudatrigakwitl said to the people : " This kind of plant is m«dicine
for you. When something is wrong, or when a person is sick, call
to me." Whatever he made is good.

Gudatrigakwitl said : " I want it to be that there will be dances.
When they begin, people will call me. I want them to call me then.
At that time I will make them have a dance." That was the word
that he left to the people. That is why the people dance near the
mouth of Mad River.

Gudatrigakwitl said : " If it is warm and you are hot and the water
is cold, do not drink or you will die. Drink only a little of it."
Therefore the people say, " Do not drink too much." They say
the same about food. Gudatrigakwitl told them : " Do not forget
my instructions."

Gudatrigakwitl made string for people. String is a person.

Gudatrigakwitl thought: "How shall I make deer.? I think I
will make them like this." Then he made deer.

At first there were no acorns growing. Gudatrigakwitl made
them also.

» Cf. Nos, 2, 7, 10.

Wishosk Myths, 95

Gudatrigakwitl also made it that people pay when some one is
killed.

At first there was no fire. Gudatrigakwitl thought : "What shall
we do ? There is no fire." He took a stick, spat on it, and it began
to burn.^

Gudatrigakwitl left the people all kinds of dances. He said :
" When there is a festivity, call me. If some do not like what I say,
let them be. But those to whom I leave my instructions, who will
teach them to their children, will be well. Whenever you are badly
off, call me. I can save you in some way, no matter how great the
difificulty. If a man does not call me, I will let him go." So he left
dances and good times. That is why the people dance. They used
never to miss making a dance.

Gudatrigakwitl went all over the world looking. Then he made
everything. When he had finished everything he made people.

Gudatrigakwitl is not called on every day. He is called only
when a man is in difficulty.

Whatever things must not be said or done are forbidden because
Gudatrigakwitl so directed in the beginning.

Gudatrigakwitl is alive to-day. He does not die. He does not
become sick. He is the same as formerly. As long as the world
exists he will live. The reason some people (Indians) are still alive
is because some of them still follow his word a little. Therefore
they tell their children: "Do not do so and so." Gudatrigakwitl
has a good place to live in, where it is shining and light. There is
no darkness there. It is white there, but never black. He does not
like the dark. There are flowers there. He is alone. Whatever
he thinks exists.

Gudatrigakwitl said : " This sort of cloud will make rain ; this kind
will make snow ; when there is this kind it will be very warm." That
is how the people know the weather.

Gudatrigakwitl made everything by wanting it. He did not work
with his hands.

When a man wants to go on the ocean and it is rough, he takes
a stick and strikes the water several times and says : " Gudatrigakwitl,
you made people be born long ago. You made it that they go on
the water. I want it to be calm now." Then he launches his boat.
When he is going to land again, he says : " Stop the waves for a
little while."

2. GUDATRIGAKWITL AND SPINAGARALU.

Gudatrigakwitl said : " I want people to live so that an old man
will be a boy again over and over again, and everybody will live ten

1 Cf. No. 17.

96 y ournal of American Folk-Lore.

times." One who was evilly disposed said: "Ha! I do not want
them to live." Gudatrigakwitl said : " I do not want that, I want it
only as I say. I want them to have ten lives." The one who wanted
people to die is called Spinagaralu. He is one of the vakirashk, the
bad ones. He is an insect that lives in the ground. It is wingless
and dark and has long arms like a spider. People kill it when they
see it. It is bad and must not be played with.

3. GUDATRIGAKWITL AND THE FLOOD.

Gudatrigakwitl thought : " I do not know what people will do."
He made a great flood. He wanted to destroy the people, to sweep
them off, so that there would be new people, better ones. The first
people were bad. That is why he made the flood. Then he made
people again. Only three mountain peaks projected above the water.
One was Yerded'hi, Bald Mountain near Redwood Creek ; another
was Shelton Butte (a not very high but prominent peak on the Kla-
math River, between Orleans and Weitchpec) ; the third was Bear
River Mountain (or a peak in that vicinity). From this flood are the
lakes in the mountains and the plants in the lakes. From it also are
the shells in the mountains. Before the flood the earth was smooth
and flat without mountains.

4. GATSWOKWIRE.

After the world was made by Gudatrigakwitl and there were many
people, Gatswokwire, or Rakshuatlaketl, went about. He was foolish.
He made women pregnant by his supernatural power. Gudatriga-
kwitl made the world and Gatswokwire went about afterwards. He
was not bad ; he did not kill people, but sometimes he thought about
a woman : " I wish you were pregnant," and then she was pregnant.

Gatswokwire always wanted to see the people dance. He helped
them make their dance, then went on. He had many medicines.
Most medicines (probably formulas) belong to him. If he was drowned
he came to life again. People would tell him : " Do not go there."
He would say : " I can go there ; they cannot harm me." Then he
would go.

Gatswokwire was always following women. The first time he went
about he found no women. Later he found many women. As he
went about he would see people holding a small child, but there
never was a mother. He saw this often. Then he thought : "What
is the matter that the babies have no mothers } " He came to the
middle of the world. Then he saw a woman being held by the arms.
A man had a flint and was ready to cut her open to take out her
child. In this way people were born. Gatswokwire did not like
this. It was the first time that he saw it. He said: "Stop! Wait!"

Wiskosk Myths. 97

He thought : " I know why it is that the children have no mothers."
He went outside and sat down. He thought : " It is too bad that
they do like that to women. They kill too many." He looked
and saw a plant. He took it. He threw it into the house and at
once the baby cried.^ So now children are born and women are no
longer cut open. Therefore women in labor call Gatswokwire,

5. GATSWOKWIRE AND THE ORIGIN OF SALMON.

Gatswokwire took seeds of the madroila that look like salmon eggs.
There were no fish in the world. Gudatrigakwitl had not let them
out. He wanted to keep them a little longer, Gatswokwire, carry-
ing the dry seeds, came to where the fish were kept. There he took
them out. Then the one that was keeping the fish thought : " Oh,
they are already out. They are about the world." The fish were
kept in a hollow rock, all kinds of them. Gudatrigakwitl had made
them. Gatswokwire came there because he wanted the fish to be all
over the world. Gudatrigakwitl thought : " Well, let it be. Let him
make them be all over the world." Then it was foggy and no one
saw how the fish went out. Then the sun shone again. Gatswok-
wire went on and came to a place and saw fish. He came to another
place and saw many fish there too. Some of the people had spears,
some had set nets, some dip nets. Then he was glad. But Guda-
trigakwitl had done it. Some say that the person who kept the fish
was a woman, some say that it was a man.

6. GATSWOKWIRE CARRIED ACROSS THE OCEAN.

When Gatswokwire first went about he found no women. Then
later he found ralowitlikwi {a flat fish, probably the skate). She lay
on the beach with her legs spread. Gatswokwire thought he could
use her. He began to have intercourse with her, when she turned
over and carried him off across the sea. She took him to the other
side and left him there. Then Gatswokwire, regaining conscious-
ness, thought : " What place is this .? Where have I gone to } "
He started back, walking on the water. So he came to this world
again. Then he went about as before, looking for women. The
skate had lain there to carry him ofif, but did not succeed in keep-
ing him away from this world.

7. GUDATRIGAKWITL AND THE CREATION.

Everything was water. Gurugudatrigakwitl thought : " It is bad

that there is no land, but all water." That is why he made this earth.

He took a little dust and blew it. Then there was land all about. He

looked over it and nobody was there. Then he thought. He thought :

^ Having been born immediately through the power of the medicine.

98 yournal of A7nerican Folk-Lore.

"I will make some one to be about." He made a man. His name
was Chkekovvik. When he was finished he let him go. He gave
him bow and arrow. It did not look well to Gurugudatrigakwitl to
see the man going about alone. He thought again and said : " I will
make another one." Then he made a woman. When she was grown
he let her go and gave her to the man to go with him. Then they
went together, the man first, the woman behind. Therefore women
follow men. Then Gurugudatrigakwitl thought : " What will he kill
to eat } " Then he made elk for him. He made two female elk and a
bull elk. Then Chkekowik saw them. He thought : " There are elk ;
I will kill them." Gurugudatrigakwitl gave them to him to kill and
he thought : " I will kill them." Just as boys want to kill everything
they see, so Chkekowik was.

Gurugudatrigakwitl made all fishes, birds, and animals. He had
them covered up in a round basket, dalitlen. He took them out one
by one, set them down, and they ran off.

Gurugudatrigakwitl makes snowstorms in winter by shaking his
head. Snow comes out from his hair and there is snow over the
world.

He made old people young again by sneezing. He thought : " I
want them to be young," and sneezed, and they were young. He
sneezed and made old clothing and skins new.^

He can make all the deer come to him. He makes the white deer
by chewing deer tendon. It swells and grows in his mouth. He
spits it out and says: " Hello, white deer." Soon he raises it up on
the end of a stick. Then it goes off as a white deer. He keeps it in
the sky. Therefore a poor man does not kill it. If a man is rich,
Gurugudatrigakwitl may let him see the white deer and kill it.

8. GUDATRIGAKWITL AND THE SPIDER.

The spider was here on this earth without any way of catching
flies and other insects. He went up to Gurugudatrigakwitl. He
asked him to make him a means of catching them. Gurugudatrigak-
witl told him: "Sit here for a time and work for me." Then he
gave him a string to make. The spider put some into his mouth and
swallowed it. He continued to swallow string. He kept it in his
large belly until he had a great quantity. Gurugudatrigakwitl saw
him and knew what he was doing, but thought : " Let him keep it if
he wants it so much." Then the spider thought : " There is no way
to get down from here." So he drew the end of the string from his
mouth, tied it fast, and then let himself down, going farther and far-
ther. When he reached the earth here he made his webs and caught
flies and lived.

1 Cf. Nos. I, 2, 10.

Wishosk Myths. 99

9. GUDATRIGAKWITL AND THE OTTER.

The otter ate Gurugudatrigakwitl's fish. Gurugudatrigakwitl knew
it was he who had done it. He told him : " Now live in the water
and eat fish."

10. THE FROG AND SPINAGARALU.

The frog had a single child. Spinagaralu had one child. The
frog's child became sick. It died. The frog saw that it was dead.
He went to Spinagaralu and said : " What do you think t My child
is dead." Spinagaralu said : " Well, let it be dead." The frog was
sorry. He did not want to see his child dead. After a time the
child of Spinagaralu became sick too. Then he too saw his child
dead. Then he came to the frog's house. He said : " Well, what do
you think .!* " The frog said : " It is all right. Let it be dead," and
Spinagaralu went into the fire and burned himself dark ; then he
went into the ground.

If, when the frog's child died and he went to Spinagaralu, the
latter had said : " It is too bad that your child is dead ; let it live,"
then people would not die, but all would live. But Spinagaralu said :
" Let it die," and then when his own child died, the frog said the
same. That is why people die, die, die, and do not come back.

II. THE MOLE AND THE SKY.

The mole is ashamed to come out in the daytime. Once the sky
fell and it held it up with its hand. Under the weight of the sky its
hand turned bottom up. Hence its hand is twisted now.

12. GATSWOKWIRE EATS.

Gatswokwire as he was going met a woman carrying a basket full
of boderush roots. Gatswokwire asked for some of them, and she
gave them to him. They tasted good to him, so he made a circuit
and headed off the woman so as to meet her again. This time he
looked different. The old woman again gave him some roots. He
ate all she gave him and then went on fast so as to meet her again.
Again he had a different appearance and she thought him another
man and gave him some more. After a time all her roots were gone.
But it was he who had eaten them all. Then the old woman got
home. Gatswokwire came to her house and said : " I am sick. I ate
too many boderush." The woman said : " But I gave you only a few."
" You gave me all you had," he said. " Oh ! you were the same
man } " she said. " Yes, I was the one."

13. GATSWOKWIRE AND COYOTE.

Two girls were living on top of a high hill. The hill was as steep

lOO yournal of American Folk-Lore.

as a tree. The girls did not want anybody to come to them. They
did not like men. Gatswokvvire went to the hill. He failed to climb
to where they were, and returned. Coyote was going about, always
inquisitive. He came to where Gatswokwire lived and said to him :
" I hear you would like to get those girls." "Yes, I tried to, but I
cannot get up. I cannot get close to them," said Gatswokwire. "I
will go with you," said Coyote. Next day Gatswokwire said : " Let
us start. I want to see you climb up there," " Very well, I will go
with you," said Coyote. When they reached the mountain. Coyote
went ahead singing. He sang as he went on up. His song became
broken by gasps. At last he fell over. He rolled down like a stone,
and lay at the bottom. Gatswokwire started slowly. He reached
the top. He took one of the girls and came down. Coyote was ly-
ing there asleep, Gatswokwire prodded him with a stick. Coyote
awoke. " Well, did you get a girl ,? " " Yes, I got one." " Are
there any more .-' " "Yes, the prettiest one is still there." " I will
go to get her." "Yes, go on. You can reach the place easily."
Then Coyote started to go up. He was part way. Then he began
to dig in the ground; he saw mice. Gatswokwire called to him:
"What is there down there .^ Do you see any girls down there?"
Coyote said : " Yes, there are girls." The girl who was with Gats-
wokwire said to him : " I think he is no man." Gatswokwire said :
" Oh, he goes everywhere. He has no home. He is always travel-
ling looking for pleasure."

14. COYOTE MARRIES.

Coyote went north. He found a woman. He said : " I am very
anxious to have a woman." The girl said : " I want a man." Coyote
said : " You can have me. I am a fine man." The woman said :
" Yes, you look like a fine man." Coyote said to her : " I will take
you to my house." So they went. Coyote said : " Far off there,
where you can see, is my house." The woman thought : "We will
soon be there." They reached that place and Coyote said : " Oh,
my house is farther on." They were going along near the beach and
Coyote told her: "Sit down here." She sat and he went down to
the beach. When he came back he said : " Come, let us go on.
There is my house." When they came to that place Coyote said :
"Oh, my house is farther on." The woman became very tired.
Soon Coyote said to her again : " Sit down here and rest." Then
he went down to the beach. This time she watched him from hid-
ing, thinking : " What does he do when he goes off } " He was on
the beach snapping at sand fleas and digging in the sand, seizing
and eating what he found. She thought : " Oh, it is too bad ! I
thought he was a good man." Coyote came back and they went on.

Wishosk Myths. loi

He kept saying to her, " My house is farther on." It became night
and they made a fire in the open and lay down. The woman did not
sleep. Coyote snored. She got up and laid a rotten log on his arm
and went off. In the morning Coyote awoke and thought he had the
woman in his arm. He saw it was wood. Then he wanted to look
for her. He spoke to his foot. "Where did4:hat woman go ?" he
asked. He asked sticks : " Where is that woman .-• " The sticks did
not answer him. He asked everything. The woman came back to
her home. " What is wrong that you have come back .-* " asked her
parents. " I am ashamed to tell you," she said. " Well, I did not
think to have you come back," said her father. But Coyote sat on
a sandhill. He dug in the ground looking for food, and cried and
cried.

15. COYOTE BREAKS HIS LEG.

Coyote asked the panther : " Of what do you make your salmon
harpoon?" The panther said: "I make it of deer leg bones."
Coyote said : " Do not lie to me. I don't believe it." He kept ask-
ing the panther. At last the panther said : " Well, break your leg
and use the bone for your harpoon." Coyote went home to his
grandmother. He said : " I am going to break my leg to make a
salmon harpoon. The panther told me how to do it." His grand-
mother told him : " He did not tell you that. You cannot do that."
"Yes, he told me how to do it and I am going to," he said. Then
he broke his leg for a salmon harpoon. That is why Coyote's right
leg now is thin.

16. COYOTE STUCK IN THE PITCH.

Fisher, fox, panther, raccoon, civet-cat, and wildcat used to jump
across a small ravine. The stream in this was not of water but of
pitch. One after the other they would all jump across. Coyote
said : " I want to go with you. I want to jump also." They told
him : " You cannot do it." But he said : " I can." Fisher said :
"You cannot run up a tree as I can, going around and around it."
But Coyote said again that he could jump the stream. Wildcat
said : " You will not be able to do it. Let me see how far you can
jump." Then Coyote ran for him and jumped. "You will not be
able to do it," said Wildcat. But Coyote insisted. When they went
to jump again. Coyote said : " I will jump with you," and accompanied
them. When they came to the place Coyote said : " My family used
to do that." Then he jumped. He went well over the ravine. Then
he turned and immediately jumped back across it. At once he jumped
across it again, and just cleared it ; jumping again he landed in the
middle. He stuck fast and could not get out. Fisher said : " You

VOL. xvni. — NO. 69. 8

102 Journal of American Folk-Lore,

will not get off. I will not stay here waiting for you. It is no use.
You will stay there." Coyote said : " No, my friends, do not leave
me. I think I will get loose somehow." Fisher told him :" No, you
will not get free. You will be born again." Then they all went off.
Next day they came back. Coyote was gone ; only bones and fur were
in his place. Fisher said : " Where is Coyote } He is gone." Then
from a little distance Coyote said : " Wo, I have been lying here
sleeping." Then they asked him to jump again. But Coyote would
not do it. He said: "You got the best of me." Fisher said : **I
did not deceive you. I told you you would not do it. When one
jumps across he should rest. Then after a while he can jump back.
But you jumped back and forth and back. That is why you fell in."

17. THE dog's fire.

The panther asked the dog where he got fire. The dog said that
he had no fire. He denied until the panther became angry. Then
the dog became angry too, and, although he knew, would not tell the
panther. So when the panther killed deer he ate them raw. The
dog had two sticks. One of them had holes in it. In these he bored
with the other stick. Even though there might be wind and rain he
got fire.

18. THE BLUE JAY AND THE OTHER BIRDS.

The blue jay lived in the mountains on acorns. She gathered
many acorns, and in winter constantly pounded them. The meadow-
lark, robin, and blackbird also lived on acorns, but when spring came
they had nothing to eat. The blue jay put acorn meal on all her
feathers. When she wanted to eat she would shake out a feather
over a basket, and the basket filled with meal. When it was spring,
and the meadowlark, the robin, and the blackbird looked about and
could see nothing to cat, they went to the blue jay's house and each
asked her : " Where do you keep your acorns all winter } " Then the
blue jay said : " I will tell you where I keep my acorns. Look."
Then she lifted a feather. It was full of acorn meal. She lifted
another, and it was full of meal. Every feather on her body was
full. Then she shook some out, cooked it, and gave it to them to eat.
The three others went to their houses and pounded acorns. They
pounded a large quantity. Then they stood up and put the meal over
their body. The meadowlark's little daughter became hungry. The
meadowlark told her : "Heat the rocks." Then she took a basket,
put it to her body, lifted a feather, shook it, and nothing came. Then
she shook another and another but got nothing. The meal had all
fallen off. Then the three went to the blue jay and asked her :
" How do you make the acorn meal stick to your feathers t What

Wishosk Myths. 103

myth (medicine formula) makes it so? " Blue jay said : "You are not
able to do it. Even if I told you the myth you would not be able to
do it." Then she gave them food again.

The three women also asked the blue jay how she made her acorn
meal without leaching it. She said : " I take a handful of meal and
rub it against my elbow." The birds went home, took freshly
pounded meal, and cooked it without leaching it ; but when they
went to eat, it was still bitter.

19. THE SEA LION AND THE GRIZZLY BEAR.

The sea lion lay on the beach asleep. The grizzly bear came along
the beach looking for something to eat. He saw the sea lion lying
immovable and the flies going into his nostrils. He thought him
dead and went to bite a piece off him. The sea hon jumped up.
Seizing the grizzly bear by the back of the neck, he shook him to
death. Then he went off into the ocean. The bear lay on the beach.

20. THE CROW, THE EAGLE, AND THE PORPOISES.

The crow was married to the eagle. He went off across the ocean
to visit his niece, the eel, who was married there. He took his two
children, a boy and a girl, the porpoises, with him. Out in the ocean
he put them on a rock and left them. Then he came back. " What
did you do with the children .''" the eagle asked him. "They are in
their grandmother's house," the crow told her. At night the boy
came back. The crow ran off. The eagle asked her son how he
had come back, and the boy told his mother : " My father put us on
the rocks and left us. The sea-otter took me and brought me to land.
My sister is dead." The eagle pursued the crow. She caught him
and brought him back. She put him into the fire and burned him
until he died.

21. THE RAVEN CATCHES A WOMAN.

The raven went to get a woman for another man. She was bath-
ing and did not see him coming. While she swam he went on the
sand and took her dress. When she came out she asked for her
dress but he did not give it to her. She would go up to him to take
it as he held it, but he would pull it away and she would follow him
to get it. Thus they went until they came to where the people were.
The raven sat down in the middle and the woman sat down opposite
him. Then he said: "I do not want you." Then she went to an-
other house where the man was who married her. When she had
lived there some time her husband told her to go back. Her rela-
tives, thinking her dead, had mourned for her, but when they saw
her alive they were glad. " It is good. We are satisfied," they said.

1 04 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

22. THE PELICAN AND THE EAGLE.

The pelican used to catch fish where others caught them. He
would take away their catch. For one year he took it. Then the
eagle came. He thought : " It is not right to do that. I will look
for him." They were catching surf fish with dip nets : and when the
pelican took what they caught, the eagle came and said : " Why do
you do that .'* You shall not do it any longer." He went out into the
water to where the pelican was, seized him, and tore him to pieces.
Then the others caught fish without being afraid.

23. THE SKUNK AND THE ELK.

The skunk pretended he was sick. The flies went to get the elk
to doctor him. "The skunk is sick. The pain is in his anus," they
said. The elk came and danced for him. He sang : " Delekotin,
delekotinin." He began to suck him. Then the skunk shot and
killed him. The flies were glad and rubbed their hands. " I am glad.
I will eat elk," they said. They cut the elk up with their knives and
ate. The skunk had done it. Now he was well. When they had
eaten, the flies went home.

24. LAKUNOWOVITKATL.

Whenever a whale came ashore and there were many fires (of
people) on the beach, Lakunowovitkatl always came, hoping to get
food, but they always beat him away. All the time he asked for
meat and tried to get it but they would not let him have it. Thus
it always went. He came but they beat him and never fed him.
Then Lakunowovitkatl thought: " They have done it to me often.
What shall I do ? I will go off to train myself." Then he went off
to train. He went to a lake, where the spirits (yagalichirakw), who
had seen him maltreated, helped him. Then he came back. Again
a whale came ashore. He went to see if he could get food. He
began to cut off from the whale. He stood in the water. One of
them went up to him, but Lakunowovitkatl pushed him away. Again
he went up. Lakunowovitkatl pushed him so that he fell down at a
distance. Then he saw the dog coming to him, and pushed him so
that he broke in two. Another dog came and he pushed him too
and broke him. The chicken-hawk came, saying : " What is the mat-
ter with you } You are very strong. What have you been practising.? "
He broke him in two also. Another one came. "Where have you
trained .? " he asked. Him also he pushed and broke. Then they
had enough and were afraid. They maltreated him no more. Now
he would have a whale for himself. Whatever came ashore he owned.
They were afraid of Lakunowovitkatl (also called Lakunowovitkats)
and troubled him no more.

Wishosk Myths. 105

25. DIKWAGITERAI.

At Tvvutka dalagerili, on Eel river opposite Table Bluff, lived
Dikwagiterai, an old man. He was not really old. He was alone
and poor, and supported himself. Every night ten rich men went by
in a boat down the river. They were the Watsayigeritl. They went
in a large boat across the ocean, where they danced every night for
a girl. Every night they said in ridicule to Dikwagiterai : " Come
along. Come with us." He always thought to himself: "Why do
you do that .'' You should not say that." He sang : —

"Shoungin dawitl rematvin, do not tell me to come with you."

Every night as they went by they said the same thing. Then he
-sang: —

" Shoungin tlilevilewal."

Then at last he said : " Well, stop. I am going with you." He
shook his hair, and spread it out. It was combed fine. He was
naked on account of being poor. Only he took down a belt from
the corner of the house and put it on. Then they went across the
ocean to Shure. The name of the girl for whom they danced was
Hi-wat, abalone. She was also called Watswukerakwi. She was
smooth and shiny like shell all over her body. Her father's name
was Haleptlini. She was in a large house on a high rock, hidden
by tule mats. She sat inside them as on a shelf, and did not move.
All the rich men went into the house dressed up their finest with
woodpecl^er-heads and dentalia. The Watsayigeritl went in, and
after them Dikwagiterai, now the finest of all with woodpecker
heads and dentalia. Then they danced. The ten Watsayigeritl
danced like a party from one place competing against another,
namely, Dikwagiterai. While they danced, singing, the girl did not
stir. Then Dikwagiterai stood up and danced. He sang : "Hiloni
wengiwin," and the girl jumped down from her place. The Watsayi-
geritl, ashamed at being surpassed, hurried out and went off in their
boat. Dikwagiterai came after them and called to them : " Why do
you go away without me .? Stop. Come nearer." He told the girl :
" Hold my belt behind," When the boat approached, he jumped
into it, the woman holding behind. Then they went over the ocean.
When they came into the river and to the place where he lived, he told
them : "Let me out." When they approached the shore, he jumped
to land, the woman holding to him by his belt. The Watsayigeritl
went on up the river. Then Dikwagiterai was afraid that they would
kill him and went to Dapeletgek, Areata Bottom. There he made
a good, smooth, grassy place to live. From there he went away to
get dentalia to pay for his wife. He told her : " Look over the hill
every morning for a large light, the morning star. This will be a
sign that I am coming back that day." When he came back he

I o6 yournal of A merican Folk-L ore.

brought many dentalia. Then he went across the ocean to Hve, to
Shure, where his wife was from, and paid for her in dentalia.

ABSTRACTS.

1. Above-old-man makes water, vegetation, animals, and man, and in-
structs man as to life.

2. He wants men to live ten times, but is unable to prevail against the
underground insect spinagaralu, so that men die without returning.

3. Above-old-man destroys people with a flood, which covers all except
three mountain peaks, and then makes a new race.

4. The culture-hero-trickster Gatswokwire makes medicine which ena-
bles women to bear children without being themselves killed.

5. He comes to the keeper of fish, and by pretending to have fish eggs
secures the release of fish into the world.

6. He is carried across the ocean by a woman he finds on the beach.

7. Above-old-man makes the earth, man, and animals.

8. The spider descends from the sky by string he has made for Above-
old-man and swallowed.

9. The otter eating Above-old-man's fish is told by him to live in the
water.

10. The frog's child dying, the insect spinagaralu refuses to let it come
to life again, and thus causes permanent death. When spinagaralu's child
dies, the frog is obdurate.

11. The sky falls and the mole supports it with its hand, which becomes
twisted.

12. The culture-hero-trickster Gatswokwire changes his form in order
to obtain food from the same person repeatedly.

13. He and Coyote go to get women. He succeeds but Coyote fails
and looks for food.

14. Coyote marries and takes away his wife. He has no home, but de-
ceives the woman. She sees him looking for food and leaves him.

15. Coyote, troubling the panther as to the making of his harpoon point,
is told to break his leg, which he does.

16. Coyote leaps with other animals across a stream of pitch. Overdo-
ing the feat, he falls in, sticks, and dies. He returns to life.

17. The dog makes fire with the fire drill. He refuses to give it to the
panther.

18. The blue jay has the power of shaking acorn meal from her feathers,
and of leaching it supernaturally. Other women try to imitate her but
fail.

19. The grizzly bear thinks the sea lion dead, but is killed by him.

20. The crow crosses the ocean and abandons his children on a rock.
One of them returns, and the crow's wife, the eagle, burns him.

21. The raven takes a bathing woman's dress, and thus makes her follow
him to the man who is to marry her.

22. The pelican deprives others of their catch of fish until he is killed
by the eagle.

Wiskosk Myths. 107

23. The skunk pretending to be sick, the elk is called as doctor, but is
shot and killed by the skunk.

24. A poor boy is oppressed and starved. The spirits give him power
and he overcomes his oppressors and is a prominent man.

25. A poor man accompanies ten rich men who cross the ocean nightly
to dance. He surpasses them and wins a wife. After his return he pro-
cures dentalia to pay for her and goes back across the ocean with her to
live.

A. L. Kroeber.

io8 Journal of American Folk-Lore,

EXPLANATION OF THE SEATTLE TOTEM POLE.

Every visitor to Seattle, Washington, has been attracted and more
or less interested by the great totem pole that adorns its main square,
but until recently no authentic explanation of the carvings upon it
had been obtained.

During the last year, however, Professor Edmond S. Meany of the
University of Washington interested himself in the matter, and after
much correspondence obtained an account of it from a Tlingit Indian
of Ketchikan, David E. Kininnook, which was published in the Seattle
" Post-Intelligencer " of September 4, last.

Recently Professor Boas has received from Mr. George Hunt much
longer versions of the myths here illustrated and has transmitted
them to me, suggesting that I extract the essential portions and send
them to the Journal of American Folk-Lore for publication, along
with a reproduction of the pole. The accounts were obtained by
Mr. George Hunt from its former owner, Mrs. Robert Hunt, and
therefore ought to be reliable. It seems that the pole belonged to
the Ganaxa'di (People of Ga'nax), one of the principal Tlingit families
belonging to the Raven clan.

At the top of this pole is Raven himself in the act of carrying off
the moon in his mouth. The story told about this is the familiar
northwest coast tale of the being at the head of Nass, who kept day-
light and the moon in boxes in his house, and of how Raven stole these
by assuming the form of a hemlock needle, letting himself be swal-
lowed by that chief's daughter and being born again through her.
But after recounting in the usual manner how the disguised Raven
obtained the daylight and moon by crying for them, this version con-
cludes in the Nass fashion, i. e. Raven lets out the Hght to obtain
olachen from the ghosts who are fishing from canoes made of grave-
boxes. In the Wrangel version these fishermen appear as the ori-
ginal animals who were then in human shape but fled to the woods
and into the sea, and became the kinds of animals whose skins they
happened to be wearing at the time. Mr. Hunt's version also makes
the home of the keeper of daylight in a cave, and presents Raven's
quest as the result of a council to which he had called all of his
people.

The next two figures are said to be a woman and a frog illus-
trating the familiar story of the woman who teased a frog and was
carried off to the frog town, where she married. To recover her,
the lake in which the frog town stood was drained. According to
Mr. Hunt the woman whose story is related here was one of the
Ganaxa'di called Gatla'x, but it is generally told of the Kiksa'di.

TOTEM POLE AT SEATTLE

Explanation of the Seattle Totem Pole. 109

Aside from this it differs from other tales of the sort only in making
the heroine send her two little sons back to her father's house after a
bone to pierce holes in skins, and in making her father's people break
a dam in order to drain the lake and kill all of the frogs except her
children after they had done so.

Below the frog carving comes another episode from the story of
Raven. First is a carving of Mink, then Raven, next a common
whale, and at the bottom "the chief of all birds." It is the familiar
tale relating how Raven was swallowed by a whale and lived on its
insides until he killed it and drifted ashore, but the version is very
elaborate and differs in many particulars from any heretofore pub-
lished. In the first place Raven is represented as taking Mink along
with him as his companion. This is an incident of the tradition of
the Kimkink.i Secondly, the whale is asked to take them across a
bay or strait as a favor, and himself directs Raven to cut out and eat
portions of his fat if he will be careful not to touch his heart. After
the people outside had cut a hole in order to liberate them, it is said
that Mink jumped out all oily and rolled in rotten wood, giving his
fur the appearance it has to-day, and that Raven did likewise.

The conclusion is quite new to me. According to this the whale
drifted ashore at Naikun or Rose Spit on the northeastern end of
the Queen Charlotte Islands, and afterwards Raven and Mink started
to walk around them. " One day he [Raven] found a great house,
and then he thought to himself, ' I will go and see whose house it is ? '
And when he went into it there he saw a great man with a bird beak
on him, and as soon as Yatl [the Raven] saw him he knew who it was.
And then Yatl called him by his name. His name is Nasak Yale or
Chief of all Birds. Now he [Raven] was the chief of the Raven tribe."
Because this person was chief of all the birds, Yatl had a long talk
with him and told him everything that he had done. The chief
of all the birds was not pleased with those things, however, so he
turned Raven into the bird we see to-day and Mink into a corre-
sponding animal.

There is substantial agreement between these explanations and
those given by Mr. Kininnook. In the second episode, however, the
latter makes it a man who married a frog woman, and he weaves the
whole story into the myth of Raven by making Raven tell this man
to do so. He also seems to identify Mink with Low-Tide-Woman,
whom he makes Raven marry in order to obtain things found at low
tide. In the version of the Raven story which I collected at Wrangel,
Mink also appears in the tale of Low-Tide-Woman but is not identified
with her. Again, Mr. Kininnook calls this whale a killer instead of
a common whale, and makes Raven marry it in order to get more
^ Boas, Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen KUste Amerikas.

no Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

food, while the lowest figure he identifies with the keeper of the day-
light, whom he calls the father, instead of the grandfather of Raven.
This last being is worthy of special attention. The native name
that Mr. Hunt gives him, Nasak Yale, and which I write Nas-ca'kl-
yetl, means Raven-at-the-Head-of-Nass and was given by my Wrangel
informant as the name of the keeper of the daylight, moon, etc. He
was furthermore asserted to be the supreme deity of the Tlingit and
the special object of their prayers. I had supposed this view of him
to have arisen under missionary stimulus, but what Mr. Hunt says
would suggest that there was some aboriginal foundation for it.
Perhaps he was the Tlingit equivalent for the Tsimshian and Haida
heaven gods, Laxha' and Sins sga'nagwai.^

yolm R. Swanton.

^ Respecting the pole figured on the frontispiece Mr. Hunt writes : " This is
the totem pole at Fort Rupert, imitation of that taken from Alaska and now
in Seattle, put up by its true owner, Mrs. Robert Hunt, who put it over her dead
mother as a tombstone." He adds that its true history will be found in the paper
written by him, and signs himself " Geo. Hunt, History Collector."

Mythology of Indian Stocks North of Mexico. 1 1 1

MYTHOLOGY OF INDIAN STOCKS NORTH OF

MEXICO.

The following notes are intended as a brief guide to the principal
literature of the mythology of the Indian stocks north of the Mexi-
can boundary line. The arrangement is the linguistic one of the
late Major J. W. Powell and the Bureau of American Ethnology,
with a few modifications in spelling.

Of works of a general nature on the mythology of the American
Indians, or certain large sections of them, there may be mentioned
here : Miiller's " Amerikanische Urreligionen " (Basel, 1855) ; Boas's
"Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Kiiste" (Berlin, 1895) ;
Brinton's "American Hero-Myths" (Phila. 1882), "Essays of an
Americanist" (Phila. 1890), "Myths of the New World" (new ed.
Phila. 1896). "The American Anthropologist," "The Journal of
American Folk-Lore," and " The American Antiquarian," besides
the extensive publications of the Bureau of American Ethnology, con-
tain many monographs and articles.

Of the following stocks, some of which are altogether extinct, and
others nearly so, no considerable body of mythological data has been
published, or is known to exist : —

I. Adaizan, 2. Attacapan, 3. Beothukan, 4. Chimakuan, 5. Chima-
rikan, 6. Chitimachan, 7. Chumashan, 8. Coahuiltecan, 9. Costanoan,
10. Esselenian, 11. Kalapooian, 12. Karankawan, 13. Kusan, 14.
Natchesan, 15. Salinan, 16. Sastean, 17. Takilman, 18, Timuquanan,
19. Tonikan, 20. Tonkawan, 21. Waiilatpuan, 22. Washoan, 23. Wish-
oskan.i

The amount of material, published or in existence in MSS., con-
cerning the following stocks is not very extensive : —

1. Kidanapan. Some legends and other mythological data of the
Pomo, Gallinomero, Kabinapek, Senel, Yokaia, etc., of this stock are
given by Powers in his "Tribes of Cahfornia" (Contrib. N. Amer.
Ethnol. 1877, vol. iii.). The basketry designs of the Pomo tribes are
discussed at pages 20-24 of Dixon's work on this subject.

2. Mariposan. Some legends and other mythological data of the
Yokuts, etc., of this stock are given by Powers {op. cit). Mr. J. W.
Hudson (Journ. Amer, Folk-Lore, 1902, vol. xv. pp. 104-106) has pub-
lished a Mariposan myth of the San Joaquin basin.

3. Moquelumnan. Some legends, etc., from the Chokoyem, Miwok,

^ Since this was written Dr. A. L. Kroeber has published in the Journal of
American Folk-Lore,vo\. xvii. pp. 85-107, " Wishosk Myths," embodying English
tests and abstracts of twenty-five tales, — a valuable contribution.

112 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

etc., of this stock are given by Powers {op. cit.). A few basket-
designs of the Moquelumnan Indians of Amador and Calaveras
counties are described by Dixon {op. cit. p. 19).

4. PalaiJmiJian. Some legends and other mythological data from
the Achomawi, etc., of this stock are given by Powers {op. cit).
The basketry designs of the Pit River Indians of this stock are dis-
cussed by Dixon {op. cit. pp. 14-17). The shamans of the Acho-
mawi are briefly described by Dr. R. B. Dixon (Journ. Amer. Folk-
Lore, 1904, vol. xvii. pp. 24, 25).

5. Piman. The existence among the tribes of this stock of a
method of recording events by means of notched sticks was discov-
ered by the late Dr. Frank Russell, who has given a brief account
of these " Pima Annals " (Amer. Anthrop. 1903, n. s. vol. v. pp. 76-
80). Details will appear in his monograph on the Indians of this
region to be published by the Bureau of American Ethnology. The
narratives accompanying these "annals " contain many mythological
items. According to Mr. Mooney (Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn.
1892-93, p. 805) the Pima were unaffected by the " ghost dance " of
1890. The Papago branch of the Piman stock were visited by
Dr. W J McGee in 1894-95, but the results of the investigation
have not yet appeared in detail.

6. Qiwratean. Some legends and other mythological data from
the Karok, of this stock, are given by Powers {op. cit.).

7. Shahaptian. Some " Notes on the Mythology and Religion of
the Nez Perc6," of this stock, were published by R. L. Packard in
1 891 (Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, vol. iv. pp. 327-330). The subjects
dealt with are the stealing of fire by the beaver from the pines and
the obtaining of the sacred or vigil name by children. According
to Mr. James Mooney (Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn. 1892-93, p. 805)
the "ghost dance" excitement of 1890 touched very slightly, if at
all, the Shahaptian tribes of the Columbia basin. In the "Ameri-
can Anthropologist" (1900, vol. ii. n. s. pp. 779, 780) Mrs. R. S.
Shackelford published a brief " Legend of the Klickatat Basket."

8. Uchean. In the " American Anthropologist" (1893, vol. vi,
pp. 279-282) Dr. A. S. Gatschet published " Some Mythic Stories of
the Yuchi Indians." Abstracts are given of myths relating to origin
of dry land, making of first land, origin of red-cedar, sun myths,
etc. The Algonkian diving episode appears in the myth relating to
the discovery of dry land.

9. Weitspekan. Some legends and other mythological data from
the Yurok, of this stock, are given by Powers {op. cit).

10. Yakonan. In 1900 Dr. Livingston Farrand visited the Alsea
Indians of Oregon, who belong to this stock, and obtained " a series
of connected texts -and translations." The result of the investiga-

Mythology of Indian Stocks North of Mexico. 1 1 3

tion is resumed in an article, " Notes on the Alsea Indians of Ore-
gon" (Amer. Anthrop, 1901, n. s. iii. pp. 240-247). General be-
liefs about the world, past and present, shamanism, tribal stories,
traditions, etc., are briefly considered. The "Transformer" or
" Wanderer " is the central figure of these legends. Another sub-
ject is the adventures of five brothers ; the youngest is the cleverest
and deviser of means of escape from danger and difficulty.

11. Yanan. At pages 279-484 of Mr. Curtin's "Creation Myths
of Primitive America" (Boston, 1898) are given the English texts of
thirteen tales and legends of the Yanas, cosmogonic and animal,
including myths of the hero-child, finding of fire, the first battle,
star-lore, etc.

12. Yiiman. The mythology and folk-lore of some of the tribes
of this stock are but little known. "A Yuma Cremation," as wit-
nessed by him in 1892, has been described by Mr. G. R. Putnam
(Amer. Anthrop. 1895, vol. viii. pp. 264-267). In the "California
Medical Journal" (1896, vol. xviii. pp. 135-140) Mr. W. T. Heffer-
mann discusses " Medicine among the Yumas."

The mythology of the Dieguenos or Mission Indians of San Diego
has been studied by Miss C. Du Bois, who has published several brief
articles in the "Journal of American Folk-Lore" and elsewhere.
"The Mythology of the Dieguenos" (1901, vol. xiv. pp. 181-185)
gives cosmogonic and animal myths.

Dr. A. L. Kroeber's " Preliminary Sketch of the Mohave Indi-
ans" (Amer. Anthrop. 1902, n. s. vol. iv. pp. 276-285) contains notes
on religion, mythology, ceremonies, folk-lore. The " younger bro-
ther" myth is prominent. Mohave mythology "in its fundamental
nature resembles closely the mythologies of the Zuni, Sia, and
Navaho. Dreams are of great importance in Mohave religion, and
individual experience rules. Mohave cosmogonic and animal lore
are resumed in Lieutenant J. G. Bourke's " Notes on the Cosmogony
and Theogony of the Mojave Indians of the Rio Colorado, Arizona "
(Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1889, vol. ii. pp. 170-189). The Mohave
creator is Mustam-ho, whose resistance to being born is the cause of
the labor of women in childbirth. The Mohave Venus is Cathena.
The fire-stealer is the coyote. The first man was made of Mustam-
ho's body.

Some data concerning the mythology of the Wallapai and Hava-
supai Indians of the Yuman stock are to be found nn G. W. James's
"The Indians of the Painted Desert Region" (Boston, 1903), which
contains chapters on "The Advent of the Wallapai " (pp. 188-198,
creation legend), "The Havasupais and their Legends" (pp. 209-
219, origin of race), and "The Havasupai's Religious Dances and
Beliefs" (pp. 248-264).

114 yournal of American Folk-Lore >

Of the stocks included in the next group we possess more mytho-
logical and folk-lore material, published and in MSS., or are confi-
dent of its existence and probable record in the future. For some
of these tribes (as for the eastern and northern Algonquians) sur-
prisingly little has been done in the way of recording the native texts
of important myths and legends.

I. Caddoau. The mythological data concerning the Pawnee,
Arikara, and Wichita branches of this stock have grown to consider-
able dimensions during the past few years, owing to the activity of
specialists, like Grinnell, Dorsey, and Miss Fletcher. The " Ghost
Dance" excitement of 1890, according to Mr. James Mooney (Ann.
Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn. 1892-93, p. 927), affected the Caddo,
Wichita, and Pawnee so that it " has become a part of the tribal
life." The part played by the Caddo in the " Ghost Dance " is
described by Mr. Mooney {op. cit. pp. 1092-1103). Miss Alice C.
Fletcher has written about " A Pawnee Ritual used when Changing
a Man's Name" (Amer. Anthr. 1899, n. s. vol. i. pp. 82-97), "Star
Cult among the Pawnees " {ibid. 1902, vol. iv, pp. 730-736), " Paw-
nee Star Lore" (Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1903, vol. xvi. pp. 10-15),
etc. Her investigations, the results of which have been published
only in small part, have revealed the possession by the Pawnees
of a deep religiousness, which expresses itself in such forms that
some authorities have been tempted to see in them the effect of
contact with the white man. Dr. George A. Dorsey has published
"Wichita Tales" (Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1902, vol. xv. 215-239;
iQOSjVoI. xvi. pp. 160-179), — the story of tribal origins and a
boy-hero legend are given in detail, — and "How the Pawnee cap-
tured the Cheyenne Medicine Arrows " (Amer. Anthr. 1903, n. s.
vol. V. pp. 644-658). As vol. viii. of the " Memoirs of the Amer-
ican Folk-Lore Society " (Boston, 1904, pp. 320) appeared Dr. Dor-
sey's " Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee." A valuable contribution
to the literature of the mythology of the Caddoan stock is Mr. G. B.
Grinnell's "Pawnee Hero-Stories and Folk-Tales" (N. Y. 1889).
Mr. Grinnell has published since several articles, one of which is a
general discussion of " Pawnee Mythology " (Journ. Amer. Folk-
Lore, 1893, vol. vi. pp. 1 1 3-1 30). According to Mr. Grinnell, "nearly
all the ancient stories told in the tribes convey some religious lesson."
In fact, " the mythology of the Pawnees is founded almost entirely
on their religion." Dr. Dorscy's "Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee "
records some ninety tales (cosmogonic, boy heroes, medicine, animal
tales, etc.). In Pawnee mythology the stars play a very important
role, and the concept of Tirawa, the chief deity, is a remarkable one
for an uncultured Indian people. The Pawnee origin-myth is very
interesting. The Skidi traditions must rank among the notable con-
tributions to the literature of aboriginal mythology.

Mythology of Indian Stocks North of Mexico. 115

Since this article was in preparation has appeared Miss Fletcher's
fine monograph on " The Hako : A Pawnee Ceremony," forming
pt. ii. (pp. 5-372) of the " Twenty-second Annual Report of the
Bureau of American Ethnology," 1 900-1 901 [Washington, 1904].
" The Hako " is essentially a prayer for offspring, but is also of deep
social import, and has made useN^f many very ancient and unrelated
ideas and ceremonies. It is very expressive of primitive life and
thought. This monograph is discussed at some length elsewhere in
this Journal.

2. Chinookan. Our knowledge, of the mythology of this stock is
due to Dr. Franz Boas, the results of whose investigations in 1890-
1891 and 1894 have been published by the Bureau of American
Ethnology. As " Bulletin 20," appeared " Chinook Texts " (Wash-
ington, 1894, pp. 278), and as "Bulletin 26," was issued "Kathlamet
Texts" (Washington, 1901, pp. 261). The first contains the native
text, interlinear translation, and free English version of eighteen
myths (cosmogonic and animal), two historical tales, and thirteen be-
liefs, customs, and tales (spirits, birth, marriage, death, hunting, pot-
latch, etc.). The last few tales relate to the Clatsop of the Chinoo-
kan stock. The blue jay is a very prominent figure in Chinookan
mythology. The " Chinook Texts " cover a wide range of folk-lore
and are of especial value both to the linguist and to the mythologist.
The " Kathlamet Texts " contains native text, interlinear transla-
tion, and free English version of seventeen myths and sixteen tales in
the Kathlamet or Upper Chinook dialect, — cosmogonic, observation-
myths, animal stories, etc. The Kathlamet deluge legend has an Al-
gonquian aspect, while the raccoon story resembles " Uncle Remus."
The panther and lynx tale is a typical elder and younger brother
story. A large number of the myths have an observational charac-
ter. Some are of a social type, as is the case with many of the
myths of the peoples of the North Pacific coast, among whom grades
or classes prevail. The crow, the blue jay, and the coyote are promi-
nent figures. Elsewhere (Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1893, vol. vi.
pp. 39-43) Dr. Boas has specially discussed " The Doctrine of Souls
and of Disease among the Chinook Indians."

3. Copehan. Some mythological data concerning the Wintun and
Patwin of this stock are given by Powers in his "Tribes of Califor-
nia" (Contr. N. Am. Ethn. 1877, vol. iii.). Curtin devotes pages
3-278 of his "Creation Myths of Primitive America" (Boston, 1898)
to the Wintun, the English text only of nine myths being given.
The chief figures in Wintun mythology are Olelbis (who is now in
the sky), Winishuyat (a sort of Tom Thumb), Wokwok (son of
Olelbis and source of power and wealth), Norwan (food-giving hero-
woman), Hawt (the musician and water-spirit), Kele (the wolf). At

1 1 6 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

pages 511-516 is described "the making of doctors among the
Wintuns." The basketry designs of the Wintun have been briefly-
treated by Dr. R. B. Dixon (Mem. Amer, Mus. Nat. Hist. 1903, vol.
xvii. pp. 17-18).

4. Eskimoan, The literature of the mythology of the Eskimoan
stock includes a number of excellent monographs and special articles.
Greenland is represented by Dr. H. Rink's " Tales and Traditions
of the Eskimo" (London, 1875. Danish ed. 1 866-1 871), and G.
Holm's "Sagn og Fotallingerfra Anmagralik" (Meddelser om Gron-
land, vol. x.) ; the Smith Sound Eskimo by A. L. Kroeber's " Tales
of the Smith Sound Eskimo" (Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1899, vol.
xii. pp. 166-182); the Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay by
the data in Boas's " The Central Eskimo " (Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn.
1881-85, pp. 561-658) and his noteworthy monograph on "The
Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay" (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist., N. Y., 1901, vol. xiv. pp. 1-370), — in the latter the English ver-
sions of 81 tales from Cumberland Sound and 30 from the west coast
of Hudson Bay are given, the native texts of a number from Cumber-
land Sound ; those of Labrador by the data in L. M. Turner's " Eth-
nology of the Ungava District" (Ann. Rep. Bur, Ethn. 1889-90);
the Eskimo of the Mackenzie by the data in E. Petitot's " Traditions
indiennes du Canada nordouest" (Paris, 1886), "Monographic des
Esquimaux Tchiglit du Mackenzie et de 1' Anderson " (Paris, 1876), —
these two works contain a few native texts with interlinear transla-
tions, — and "Les Grands Esquimaux" (Paris, 1887); the Alaskan
Eskimo by the data in Murdoch's " A Few Legendary Fragments
from the Point Barrow Eskimo" (Amer. Naturalist, 1886, pp. 593-
599), his " Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition "
(Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn. 1887-88, pp. 3-440. E. W. Nelson's "The
Eskimo about Bering Strait" {ibid. 1896-97, pp. 309-518 espec),
and F. Barnum's "Grammatical Fundamentals of the Innuit Lan-
guage" (Boston, 1901). Nelson, at pages 450-518, gives the Enghsh
texts of some 30 folk-tales, including the creation legend, animal
myths, etc., — the Eskimo text with interlinear translation, of the
tale "The One-who-finds-nothing " is also given (pp. 475-479). The
stories (native text and translation) recorded by Father Barnum are
in the Tununa dialect of Nelson Island. The Eskimo of Kadiak are
represented by the 10 legends in Mr. F. A. Golder's " Tales from
Kodiak Island" (Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1903, pp. 16-31, 85-103),
— chiefly animal and hero stories. In the mythology of the Alaskan
Eskimo the raven figures prominently. The mythologic and folk-lore
relations of the Eskimo with the peoples of N. E. Asia have recently
been discussed in admirable scientific fashion by Mr. W. Bogoras, in
his monograph "The Folk-Lore of Northeastern Asia as compared

Mythology of Indian Stocks North of Mexico. 1 17

with that of Northwestern America" (Amer. Anthrop. 1902, vol. iv.
n. s. pp. 577-683), based on personal investigations (500 tales from
the peoples of N. E. Asia, including the Asiatic Eskimo, were col-
lected) under the auspices of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition.
According to Mr. Bogoras, the folk-lore of the "West Bering"
tribes, except the Chukchee, " shows comparatively much greater
similarity with Indian than with Eskimo tradition." The raven tales
of the Alaskan Eskimo, he thinks, were probably borrowed from the
Indians of Alaska, who have deeply influenced Eskimo religious and
social customs. The role of the Eskimo in the ethnological develop-
ment of the Bering Sea area has yet to be studied out.

Of essays of a general character on Eskimo mythology may be
mentioned Dr. A, L*. Kroeber's " Animal Tales of the Eskimo "
(Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1899, vol. xii. pp. 17-23), Dr. F. Boas'
"Eskimo Tales and Songs" {ibid. 1894, vol. vii. pp. 45-50), and H.
Newell Wardle's " The Sedna Cycle : A Study in Myth Evolution "
(Amer. Anthrop. 1900, vol. ii. n. s. pp. 568-580), — the last treats
of the old woman, mistress of the lower world. In an able and
suggestive article on " The Folk-Lore of the Eskimo " (Journ. Amer.
Folk-Lore, 1904, vol. xvii. pp. 1-13) Dr. Boas sketches the chief
characteristics of the mythology of this stock. The most character-
istic part of Eskimo folk-lore is the hero tales which " reflect with
remarkable faithfulness the social conditions and customs of the
people," but indicate no great power of imagination. These tales
treat of visits to fabulous tribes, encounters with monsters, quarrels
and wars, shamanism and witchcraft. Eskimo tales present the
sexual element very slightly. The great mass of Eskimo folk-lore
consists of hero tales in which "the supernatural plays a more or
less important role." Another fundamental characteristic feature is
"the limitation of the field of animal tales," — the animal myth
proper, Dr. Boas thinks, " was originally foreign to Eskimo folk-lore."
In Eskimo myths there is a " complete absence of the idea that
transformations or creations were made for the benefit of man during
a mythological period, and that these events changed the general
aspect of the world." Indeed, the most striking feature of Eskimo
folk-lore is "its thoroughly human character." In general the sub-
ject of tradition is "the events occurring in human society as it
exists now."

5. Kiowan. The mythology of the tribes of the Kiowan stock has
been studied by Gatschet and Mooney. The former published in
"Das Ausland " (November 17, 1890), under the title, "Sinti, dererste
Mensch," the creation legend of the Kayowe (Kiowa). The latter
has also discussed (Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn. 1892-93, pp. 1078-
1091) the share of the Kiowa and Kiowa Apache in the "Ghost

VOL. XVin. — NO. 69. 9

ii8 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

Dance" religion, — texts and explanations of 15 songs are given. In
"Urquell" (N. F. vol. i. pp. 329-333) Mr. Mooney describes "The
Kiowa Peyote Rite." It was through Mr. Mooney's Kiowa studies
largely that the real importance of " mescalism " (see Havelock Ellis
in Pop. Sci. Mo., 1902, vol. Ixi. pp. 52-71) among these and other
Indian tribes was demonstrated. The historical-ethnographical mo-
nograph of Mooney, " The Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians "
(Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethn. 1895-96, pp. 129-445), contains some
mythological data, besides a section (pp. 237-244) on "the religion
of the Kiowa." The sun, according to Mr. Mooney, is the chief
deity of these Indians, — " by him they swear, to him they make
sacrifice of their own flesh, and in his honor they held the great
annual k'ado or sun-dance." After the sun come the buffalo and
the peyote plant. The rain and the serpent are of little importance.
The Sun-boy and Sinti are the chief supernatural heroes. The
worship of the peyote (comparatively modern) has been adopted from
the southern tribes. The " ghost dance " is also an exotic.

The " mescal rattle " of the Kiowa has been described by Mooney
(Amer. Anthrop., 1892, vol. v. pp. 64, 65).

6. Kittmahan. Our knowledge of the mythology of this stock is
due to Dr. Franz Boas and Dr. A. ¥. Chamberlain, the former of
whom visited them in 1889, the latter in 1891. Besides his notes on
religion, shamanism, customs, etc. (Rep. on N. W. Tribes of Can-
ada, 1889), Dr. Boas published "Sagen der Kootenay " (Verb. d.
Berl. Ges. f. Anthr. 1 891, pp. 159-172), — six legends (chiefly ani-
mal tales), including the making the sun and the ascent of the
animals into the sky, are given. In the " American Antiquarian "
(1895, vol. xvii. pp. 68-72) Dr. Chamberlain discussed in general
terms Kootenay " Mythology and Folk-Lore," and a general account
of " Kootenay * Medicine Men ' " has also been published by him
(Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1901, vol. xiv. pp. 95-99). In his "Re-
port on the Kootenays " (Rep. on N. W. Tribes of Canada, 1892)
Dr. Chamberlain gave brief abstracts of numerous cosmogonic tales
and animal stories, including the deluge legend, and several tales of
the coyote-cycle (the coyote is the chief figure in Kootenay mytho-
logy) appeared as "The Coyote and Owl" (Mem. Intern. Congr.
Anthr., Chicago, 1894, pp. 282-284). ^^ the possession of the same
writer are the Kootenay texts and translations of a large number of
myths and legends (in large part animal tales) collected by him dur-
ing his visit of 1891. The af^nities of Kootenay mythology are
with the coyote-cycle of the Rocky Mountain tribes and the British
Columbian cycle of animal tales. The sun and moon myths suggest
comparison with those of some of the Californian tribes.

7. Koliischan. Some items of mythology and folk-lore of the

Mythology of Indian Stocks North of Mexico. 119

Tlingit are given by Boas (Rep. on N. W. Tribes of Canada, 1889)
and Niblack in his "The Coast Indians of Southern Alaska and
Northern British Columbia" (Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1888). In his
" Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Kiiste Amerikas "
(Berlin, 1895) Dr. Boas gives (pp. 311-328) the German texts of 10
Tlingit legends, besides 19 other brief tales about the raven, who is
the chief figure in the mythology of these Indians. A. Krause's
"Die Thnkit-Indianer " (Berlin, 1885) contains also some folk-lore
and mythologic material. A work of general interest is F. Knapp
and R. L. Childe's "Thlinkets of Southeastern Alaska" (Chicago,
1896). Lieut. G. T. Emmons's " The Basketry of the Tlingit " (Mem.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., N. Y., 1903, vol. iii. pt. ii. pp. 229-277) treats
of animal and other ornamental motifs, many of which have their
inner meanings, although the author notes "the absence of a totem
significance of these forms. The mythology of the Tlingit, etc., is
compared with that of the peoples of N. E. Asia by Bogoras (Amer.
Anthrop. 1902, n. s. vol. iv. pp. 636-668).

8. Lutuamiaji. Of the two sections of this stock, Modoc and
Klamath, the latter has been more studied. Besides the few data
in Joaquin Miller's "Life among the Modocs " (1873), we have Gat-
schet's "Songs of the Modoc Indians" (Amer. Anthrop. 1894,
vol. vii. pp. 26-31) and the Modoc material in his Klamath volumes.
Gatschet's notable monograph, " The Klamath Indians of South-
western Oregon" (Washington, 1890, 2 pts.), forming vol. ii. of
" Contributions to North American Ethnology," published by the
Bureau of American Ethnology, contains considerable mythologic
and folk-lore data, including many brief texts (creation, cosmogonic,
animal tales). Natural philosophy, elementary deities, spirit deities,
animal deities, principles of mythification, etc., are discussed. The
chief figure in Klamath mythology is K'mukamtch, " The Old Man
of the Ancients," creator, namer, ruler, transformer. He has begun
to have a grotesque and popularly comic character like the Cree
Wisketchak and the Ojibvva Naniboju. The companion and rival of
K'mukamtch is Aishish, his son, of whom several beautiful myths
are related. The " five thunders " are also important characters.
Texts, with annotations, are given of a number of incantation songs of
the shamans of the Klamath and Modocs. Dr. George A. Dorsey
has described certain " Gambling Games of the Klamath Indians "
(Amer. Anthr., 1901, n. s. vol. iii. pp. 14-27).

9. Piijiinan. Some legends and other mythological data from the
Maidu and Nishinam, of this stock, are given by Powers {op. cit).
The basketry designs of the Maidu are discussed by Dixon {op. cit.
pp. 2-14). The most important work on the mythology of this stock
is Dixon's " Maidu Myths " (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., N. Y.,

1 20 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

1902, vol. xvii. pt. ii. pp. 33-118), giving the English texts of 22
myths and legends. Among them are myths of creation, cosmo-
gonic tales, observation myths, animal tales, etc. In the last the
coyote is prominent. The "Earth-Namer " resembles the "Trans-
former" of the N. W. coast. The deluge legend has the diving
incident so well known from Algonkian mythology. The miracu-
lous twins appear also. Some of the animal tales have British Colum-
bian analogues. In a later publication Dr. Dixon discusses " System
and Sequence in Maidu Mythology" (Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1903,
vol. xvi, pp. 32-36), showing mythologies of both the N. E. and the
N. W. sections of the Maidu to possess " a notable system and
sequence," expressed with a certain literary charm and power. The
Maidu shamans are briefly described by Dr. Dixon in his article
on "Some Shamans of Northern California" {ibid. 1904, vol. xvii.
pp. 25, 26). In the same journal (1900, vol. xiii. pp. 267-270) he pub-
lished " Some Coyote Stories from the Maidu Indians,"

10. Skittagetan {Haidan). The mythology and folk-lore of the
Haida Indians has been studied by Deans, Boas, Dawson, and Swan-
ton. Besides several brief articles in the "American Antiquarian"
and the "Journal of American Folk-Lore," Mr. James Deans has
published "Tales from the Totems of the Hidery" (Chicago, 1899,
vol. ii. of Arch, of Int. Folk-Lore Assoc), containing many cos-
mogonic and animal legends and myths (creation, sun, moon, flood,
fire, etc.), English text only. Dr, Boas, besides notes in the " Re-
port on the Northwestern Tribes of Canada for 1889," has pubHshed
at pages 306-311 of his "Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifi-
schen Kliste Amerikas " (Berlin, 1895), the German texts of 8 brief
raven legends and the story of the frog-woman. His " Facial Paint-
ings of the Indians of Northern British Columbia" (Mem, Am, Mus.
Nat, Hist, vol. ii, 1898, pp. 1-24) may be mentioned here, as it deals
with a collection of facial paintings obtained from a Haida chief of
Masset, Dr. Dawson's work on the Haida Indians of Queen Char-
lotte Islands appeared as an appendix to the " Report of the Geologi-
cal Survey of Canada for 1878-1879," pp. 103-189. Dr. Swanton's
recent (1900-1901 and subsequently) visits to the Haida country
have resulted in the securing of considerable textual material (myths,
legends, etc.), of which only a brief specimen (Amer. Anthr. 1902,
vol. iv. n. s., p. 401) has yet been published. The subject of the
"Haida Calendar" has been treated by Dr, Swanton (Amer.
Anthrop,, 1903, vol. v. n. s, pp. 331-335). who is also preparing for
the American Museum of Natural History (N. Y.) a monograph on
the Haida.

11. Tsimshian {Chijnjucsyan). The most accurate data concern-
ing Tsimshian mythology are the result of the investigations of Dr.

Mythology of Indian Stocks North of Mexico. 121

Franz Boas, who visited the tribes of this stock in 18S6 and 1894.
Besides the notes on Tsimshian mythology contained in the " Re-
ports on the N. W. Tribes of Canada" for 1889 and 1895, Dr. Boas
has published German texts of 19 myths and tales of the Tsimshian
at pages 272-305 of his " Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Paci-
fischen Kiiste Amerikas " (Berlin, 1895), — cosmogonic and animal
tales, including sun myths, ascent to sky, deluge legend, fire-making,
etc. As " Bulletin 27 " of the Bureau of American Ethnology
(Washington, 1902, pp. 244) appeared Dr. Boas's "Tsimshian Texts,"
embodying native text, interlinear translation, and free rendering into
English of 23 tales and legends in the Nass River dialect, or
Nisqae, — cosmogonic tales, observation myths, animal stories, etc.
The raven figures prominently. Some of the legends are almost
fairy-tales. Tsimshian mythology reflects Tsimshian society and
class distinctions. Count v. d. Schulenburg's ** Die Sprache der
Zimshian-Indianer " (Braunschweig, 1894) also contains some my-
thological data.

12. WakasJian {KwakitUl-Nootka). Of the mythology and folk-
lore of some of the peoples of this stock not much is known, while the
Kwakiutl is represented by a rather large body of material. Con-
cerning the Makahs of Cape Flattery we have some items relating
to mythology at pages 61-76 of J. G. Swan's monograph on these
Indians (Smiths. Contr. to Knowl. 1868, no. 220).

The mythology and folk-lore of the Kwakiutl Indians have been
given special attention by Dr. Franz Boas. Besides the data given
in the "Reports on the Northwestern Tribes of Canada" for 1889
and 1890 (religion and secret societies) and some lesser articles. Dr.
Boas has published " Songs of the Kwakiutl Indians " (Int. Arch. f.
Ethn. 1896, suppl. pp. 1-9), "Songs and Dances of the Kwakiutl"
(Journ. Amer. Folk-Lore, 1888, vol. i. pp. 49-64). His monograph
on "The Social Organization and Religious Ceremonials of the
Kwakiutl Indians" (Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1895, pp. 311-733) is the
standard work on the Kwakiutl. Special chapters are devoted to
The Clan Legends (pp. 366 ff.). The Spirits Presiding over Reli-
gious Ceremonial and their Gifts (pp. 393-418), The Dances and
Songs of the Winter Ceremonial (pp. 431-500), The Winter Cere-
monial of the Kwakiutl (pp. 500-544), The Winter Ceremonial at
Fort Rupert, 1895-96 (pp. 544-606), Ceremonials of Other Tribes of
Kwakiutl Lineage (pp. 606-620), The Lao'laxa (pp. 621-632). An
Appendix (pp. 665-733) gives native text and interlinear translation
of many legends and songs. Another valuable publication is Dr. F.
Boas and George Hunt's " Kwakiutl Texts " (Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist. 1902, vol. V. pp. 1-402), which gives in parallel columns the
native texts and English versions of a large number of cosmogonic

122 yournal of American Fo Ik-Lore.

legends, animal tales, etc. The late Dr. G. M. Dawson's " Notes
and Observations on the Kwakiool People, etc." (Trans. R. Soc.
Can., 1888, vol. V. sect. ii. pp. 63-98) contains a few items relating
to traditions, religion, folk-lore. In his " Indianische Sagen von
der Nord-Pacifischen Kuste Amerikas" (Berlin, 1895), Dr. Boas
published the German texts of a number of Kwakiutl cosmogonic
and animal myths (pp. 157-169).

Concerning the Heiltsuk people of the Wakashan stock and their
mythology and folk-lore, we have the notes of Boas in the " Report
on the Northwestern Tribes of Canada for 1889," and the texts of a
number of cosmogonic (several raven myths) tales and animal stories
given by the same author at pages 232-241 of his " Indianische
Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Kiiste Amerikas" (Berlin, 1895).
Some data concerning the mythology and folk-lore of the Nootka
Indians are given by Dr. F. Boas in the " Report on the Northwest-
ern Tribes of Canada" for 1890 (pp. 32-52), and the same writer has
described their religious ceremonials (Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1895,
pp. 632-644). A considerable section (pp. 98-128) of his "Indian-
ische Sagen" (Berlin, 1895) is devoted to myths and legends (cos-
mogonic and animals) of the Nutka. Of earlier works must be men-
tioned J. R. Jewitt's "Narrative of Adventures and Sufferings"
(Middletown, 181 5), and G. M. Sproat's " Scenes and Studies of Sav-
age Life" (London, 1868).

Alexander F. Chamberlain.

Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

Traditional Ballads in New England. 123

TRADITIONAL BALLADS IN NEW ENGLAND.

INTRODUCTION.

Unrecognized in its extent, if not indeed unknown as an element
in American literature, is a widespread undercurrent of traditional
folk-song. Popular poetry, even of the better sort, is by no means
yet dead ; it lives on in every part of our broad land, as well in the
heart of the populous city as on the lonely hillside.

My researches, during the past two years, have been for the most
part limited to a special field of activity, — the gathering of the
remains, scanty, it seemed at first, of the older strata of the tra-
ditional folk-song, represented by the English and Scottish ballad.
Scattered over the country, versions of several ballads, notably " Lord
Randal," "The Elfin Knight," "Henry Martin," and two or three
others, have been known to collectors for some time, supposed to be
the last fading flowers of popular poetry in the New World. It seems,
however, not to have occurred to the collectors to draw an inference
from the excellent condition in which they found them preserved.
A ballad, extinct, or nearly so, appears in a short and mutilated form ;
if it still retains the main facts of the story, and especially if the
air has been preserved, its life is not yet ended, or near an end.

New England, the oldest portion of our country, contrary to what
has been supposed, is still the home of a large amount of traditional
folk-song, much of it of the best order. In all, sixty-six versions of
fourteen of the ballads represented in Professor Child's volumes have
come to my notice in the past two years. And of these a very few
come from early broadsides, hitherto unrecorded, representing a
tradition now extinct ; the great majority, however, are still sung by
elderly, or in some cases by young people, and are derived from purely
oral sources, uncontaminated by hack-balladry. The best of them,
those whose antiquity is most clearly attested, come from Vermont ;
the greater number are from Massachusetts.

At present — for augmentations will come in from time to time
— the complete list of the ballads recovered by me in New England
is as follows : —

The Elfin Knight,

Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight,

The Twa Sisters,

Lord Randal,

Young Beichan,

Lord Thomas and Fair Annet,

The Gypsy Laddie,

1 24 yournal of American Folk-Lore,

The Demon Lover,

Henry Martin,

Our Goodman,

The George Aloe and the Sweepstake,

The Golden Vanity,

Captain Ward and the Rainbow,

The Mermaid.
Nearly half of these are preserved in their entirety as folk-songs,
that is, with the original airs. Collectors have not always noted the
importance of the air as a means of preserving the ballad. Often it
happens that persons who can sing a ballad of twenty or more stanzas,
without a break, will be unable to recite, apart from the tune, more
than three consecutive stanzas, and seldom these correctly. This
illustrates an important point in connection with the transmission of
ballads, namely, that the words constitute but one half of a folk-song ;
the air is no less an essential part.

The origin of these ballads in New England and elsewhere is a
question to be considered. There are two possible sources,/;//-^ tra-
dition and contaminated tradition, as it may be called. Pure tradi-
tion, the source of the best ballads, as " Lord Randal," " The Twa
Sisters," and others, perpetuates itself orally, unassisted by the baser
art of broadside hack-balladry. It may be early, going back to the
time of the first settlers, as is the case with "The Elfin Knight"
and " The Golden Vanity," or, on the other hand, it may be more
recent. This recent tradition may come either direct from the old
countries, or by way of the British provinces. The best version of
" The Gypsy Laddie " comes from Nova Scotia.

Contaminated tradition occurs when the direct line of transmission
is for the time interrupted by a printed form of the ballad, which
may or may not pass again into oral circulation, and its ultimate
origin be forgotten with the perishing of the broadside. " Young
Beichan" and " Captain Ward and the Rainbow" were printed in
Boston by Coverly, during the first decade of the last century, and
seem to have met their death at the hands of the printer, though
there is evidence that "Young Beichan " at least was in oral circu-
lation as late as 1790. On the other hand, "Lord Lovell," one of
the best known of ballads, in its many versions differing from each
other very slightly, must go back to print, perhaps a lost broadside
by Coverly. The same printer issued a broadside of " Chevy-Chase,"
differing only in eccentric spelling from the textns receptns.

In the case where contaminated tradition is suspected, it is not
always easy to say just how much the broadside affected the pre-
existing oral tradition.

The subject-matter of the present article will for convenience be

Traditional Ballads in New England.

125

divided into parts. The first part will include versions of the follow-

ing ballads : —

1. The Golden Vanity.

2. Lord Thomas and Fair Annet.

3. The Twa Sisters.

4. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight.

5. The George Aloe and the Sweepstake.

6. Henry Martin.

7. The Mermaid.

8. Captain Ward and the Rainbow.

I. THE GOLDEN VANITY.

"The Little Cabin Boy." Recorded January 13, 1905, by M. E. B., Irasburg, Vt., from
the singing of an aged man born in Glover, Vt.

^^^

£fc

There was a ship

n Ik. N 1

in the

North - ern Coun -

trie,

V 1 ^ IS

1 N N 1

/ a ^ J

^ 1

rv V

\(\ m a • " r •

' J

J J

V-/ •

f> .

• « « • - -■ 1

All

in the Lov

IT - land low

The name

the ship

was the

1 V h.

1 1

/ _i ^

P •

^'^ * J

■■ ij J J

1 V- > S 4

• •"

Gold Chi - na Tree, All

the Low - land, low, low, low.

^ =^:£j=j

iE3^

ig?

Sail - ing the Low-land, low, low, low, Sail-ing the Low-land low.

1 There was a ship in the Northern Countrie,

All in the Lowland low,
The name of the ship was the " Gold China Tree,"
All in the Lowland low, low, low.

Sailing the Lowland, low, low, low,

Sailing the Lowland low.

2 She had not sailed past leagues two or three,

All in the Lowland low,
She had not sailed past leagues two or three
Before she espied a French Galilee.

3 The first that spoke was the ship Captain's man,

All in the Lowland low,
Saying, " Master, O Master, we 're all undone,
All in the Lowland, low, low, low ! "

126 Journal of A merican Folk- Lore,

4 Next spoke up was the little Cabin Boy,

All in the Lowland low,
Saying, " Master, O Master, what will you give to me,
If I will sink the French Galilee ? "

5 " Oh, I will give you gold, and I will give you fee,

All in the Lowland low.
And my eldest daughter your bride shall be.
All in the Lowland low, low, low."

6 He smote upon his breast, and away swung he,

All in the Lowland low,
He smote upon his breast, and away swung he.
And he swung till he came to the French Galilee.

7 Then he espied a little augur that came from a nun.

All in the Lowland low.
Then he espied a little auger that came from a nun.
And bored holes with it, twenty and one.

8 Some threw their hats, and some threw their caps.

All in the Lowland low.
Saying " For the Lord's sake, stop up the salt water gaps !
All in the Lowland low, low, low ! "

9 He smote upon his breast, and away swung he.

All in the Lowland low,
He smote upon his breast, and away swung he,
Until he came to the *' Gold China Tree."

10 Then all around the ship this little boy did swim.

All in the Lowland low.
Saying, " Master, O Master, won't you take me in ?
Or I '11 serve you as I 've served them ! "

1 1 They threw out a rope, and they slightly drew him in,

All in the Lowland low.
They threw out a rope, and they slightly drew him in.
And then he began to dance and sing,

12 Saying, " Master, O Master, what will you give to me,

All in the Lowland low,
Saying, Master, O Master, what will you give to me ?
For I have sunk the French Galilee ! "

13 "Oh, I '11 give you gold, and I '11 give you fee.

All in the Lowland low,
Oh I '11 give you gold, and I '11 give you fee.
And I '11 give you the land of North Amerikee ! "

\Traditioiial Ballads in New England.

127

14 " Oh, I '11 have none of your gold, or none of your fee,

All in the Lowland low,
Oh, I 'II have none of your gold, or none of your fee,
But your eldest daughter my bride shall be ! "

15 He married the daughter in spite of them all,

All in the Lowland low.
He married the daughter in spite of them all,
May the Devil take the Captain, sailors and all !

Taken down by me, October 2, 1904, from the singing of J. G. M., Newbury, Vt.

^m-.

Once there was

ship

the North-em Coun - ter - ee,

=1:

^m.

^^j^

• ^— :J:

The ti - tie she went un - der was the Gold - en Van - i

^—

Sup-posed to have been tak - en by a Turk-ish ca

^3^

And sunk - en

the Low

lands

low.

tEE3

Low

lands,

Low - lands low, And sunk - en

the Low - lands low.

Once there was a ship in the Northern Counteree,
The title she went under was the Golden Vanity,
Supposed to have been taken by a Turkish canoe.

And sunken in the Lowlands low.

Lowlands, Lowlands low,

And sunken in the Lowlands low.

The first on the deck was the little Cabin Boy,
Saying, " Master, what '11 you give me, if the ship I will destroy ? "
" My gold I will give you, my daughter for a bride,
If you '11 sink her in the Lowlands low I "

bored holes three times three,
And sunk her in the Lowlands low.

128

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

II. LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET.

"Little Eleanor." Recorded February', 1905, by M. E. B., Irasburg, Vt., from the
singing of an aged man born in Glover, Vt.

fi=t^

Lord Thom

bold

n - cer,

keep -

a King's deer,

Fair EI - ean - or a

y I " 1

1 ^

_,N J ^_ .

/T b h

1 ! ' 1

i "* N

ffW^ \) \

I J

* m J

•^

\\) 4

4 •

* 4

J J

■

"■

gay La - dy, Lord Thom - as he loved her dear,
1 V ''^

Fair

El - ean - or, a gay La - dy, Lord Thom-as he loved her dear.

1 Lord Thomas a bold officer,

A keeper of a King's deer,
Fair Eleanor a gay Lady,

Lord Thomas he loved her dear.

Refrain, — Fair Eleanor a gay Lady,

Lord Thomas he loved her dear.

2 *' Come riddle us, riddle us, mother," he said,

'* Come riddle us both as one,
Had I better marry Fair Eleanor,
Or bring the brown girl home ? "

3 " The brown girl, she has houses and lands,

Fair Eleanor, she has none,
So now I will advise you, as a blessing,
Go bring the brown girl home ! "

4 He dressed himself in his best attire,

His clothing all in white.
And every city that he rode through,
They took him to be some knight.

5 And when he came to Fair Eleanor's door,
He knocked so hard on the ring,
There was none so ready as Fair Eleanor,
To arise and let him in.

Traditional Ballads i7i New England. 129

6 " What now, what now ? " Fair Eleanor cried,

" What news do you bring unto me ? "
" I have come to invite you to my wedding ! " —
" That 's very bad news ! " said she.

7 " Come riddle us, riddle us, mother," she said,

" Come riddle us both as one.
Had I better go to Lord Thomas's wedding,
Or had I better stay at home ? "

8 " There are few would prove your friends, daughter.

There are many would prove your foes.
So now I 'd advise you as a blessing,
Lord Thomas's wedding don't go ! "

9 " There 's few would prove my friends, mother,

There 's many would prove my foes.
Betide my life, betide my death,
Lord Thomas's wedding I will go."

10 She dressed herself in her best attire,

Her clothing all in green.
And every city that she rode through,
They took her to be some queen.

11 And when she came to Lord Thomas's door,

She knocked so hard on the ring:.
There was none so ready as Lord Thomas himself.
To arise and let her in.

12 "Is this your bride ? " Fair Eleanor cried,

" To me she looks wondrous wan,
You might have had me, as gay a lady,
As ever the sun shone on ! "

13 The brown girl, she had a knife in her hand,

It was both long and sharp,
She placed it against Fair Eleanor's side,
And pierces it to her heart.

14 " What ails you, what ails you ? " Lord Thomas cried,

" To me you look wondrous wan.
The blood that was in your cherry red cheeks
Is all faded away and gone ! "

15 " Oh, where are your eyes ? " Fair Eleanor cried,

" Can't you but skim the seas ?
The blood that was in my cherry red cheeks
Is trickling down my knees ! "

i^^o

yournal of Americait Folk-Lore.

i6 Lord Thomas, he had a sword in his hand,
It was both sharp as an awl,
And with it he cut the brown girl's head off,
And threw it against the wall.

17 He laid the sheath down on the ground,
He put the point through his own heart.
Did you ever see three lovers so soon met,
That were so soon apart ?

Last stanza of a version of this ballad, sung by a young man about 1S60. Contributed
by I. L. M., Vineland, N. J., originally from Lynn, Mass.

" Now dig a grave," Sir Thomas cried,
" And dig it wide and deep.
And place Fair Elinor at my side,
And the brown girl at my feet ! "'

IIL THE TWA SISTERS.

Recollected June, 1904, by W. M., of the U. S. Navy, as sung forty years ago by the
midshipmen at Newport, R. I.

There was

-•— #-

-9-r-

the West, Bow down,

a man lived in

^H^

^5=3

3t=i:

-•-r-

bow

* .4. ' ..J. • • ' — • W-' ^•-s U «

down,There was a man lived in the West, Bow once to

There was

man lived in the West, And he

^^^^ ^ ^hJ— r^^^pp^^^

had two daugh-ters just of the best, So it's I'll

be true.

^=^S^^

true to my love, and my love will be true to me.

I There was a man lived in the West,
Bow down, bow down,
There was a man lived in the West,
Bow once to me.

Traditional Ballads in New England. 131

There was a man lived in the West,

And he had two daughters just of the best.

So it 's I '11 be true, true to my love,

And my love will be true to me !

2 The miller, he loved the youngest one,
But he was loved by the eldest one.

3 He gave the youngest a gay gold ring,
But he gave the eldest never a thing.

4 He gave the youngest a satin hat.
But the eldest, she got mad at that.

5 They took a walk by the river side,
Alas ! I must tell what did betide.

6 The eldest, she pushed the youngest in,
And all for the sake of the gay gold ring.

7 " Oh, sister, oh, sister, oh, save my life !
And you shall be the miller's wife ! "

8 She swam till she came to the miller's pond,
And there she swam around and around.

9 The miller, he took his hook and line,
And caught her by her hair so fine.

Taken down by H. M. R., in Calais, Maine.

1 There was a man lived in the West,

Bow down, bow down,
There was a man lived in the West, —

The bow is bent to me, —
There was a man lived in the West,
He loved his youngest daughter best.

Prove true, prove true,

Oh, my love, prove true to me !

2 One day he gave her a beaver hat,
Her sister, she did not like that.

3 As they were walking on the green.
To see their father's ships come in.

4 As they were walking on the wharf,
Her sister, she did push her off.

132 yournal of A merican Folk-L ore.

5 " Oh, dear sister, give me your hand,
And you shall have my house and land ! "

6 " No, I will not give you my hand,
But I will have your house and land."

7 Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
Until she came to a miller's dam.

8 The miller, he put in his hook.
And fished her out by her petticoat.

9 He stripped her off from toe to chin,
And then he threw her in agin.

10 Sometimes she sunk, sometimes she swum,
Until she came to her long home.

11 Her sister was hanged for her sake.
And the miller he burned at the stake.

IV. LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF-KNIGHT.

Contributed by L. W. H., Cambridge, Mass., in whose family it has been traditional for
three generations.

gF^ ^ .1 I J F

-^.

Pret - ty Pol - ly, she mount - ed her milk - white steed, And

:£

the am - bling gray, And they came to

the

^^m

broad
A

ter

side, Full an hour be - fore

it was

day, day, day, Full an hour be - fore it was day.

I Pretty Polly, she mounted her milk-white steed,
And he the ambling gray.
And they came to the broad water side,
Full an hour before it was day, day, day,
Full an hour before it was day.

Traditional Ballads in New England. 13;

2 " Now light you down, Pretty Polly," he said,

" Now light you down," said he,
" For six Pretty PoUies have I drownded here,
And the seventh you shall be."

3 " Take off your clothes, so costly, so fine,

And eke your velvet shoon,
For I do think your clothing is too good,
For to lie in a watery tomb."

4 " Won't you stoop down to pick that brier.

That grows so near the brim ?
For I am afraid it will tangle my hair,
And rumple my lily-white skin."

5 So he stooped down to pick that brier,

That grew so near the brim.
And with all the might that the Pretty Polly had.
She did tumble the false knight in.

6 "Lie there, lie there false knight," she said,

" Lie there all in my room,
For I do not think your clothing is too good.
For to lie in a watery tomb ! "

7 Pretty Polly, she mounted her milk-white steed,

And led the ambling gray,
And she came to her father's stable door,
Full an hour before it was day.

8 Then up and spoke her pretty parrot,

And unto her did say,
" Oh, where have you been, my Pretty Polly,
So long before it was day ? "

9 " Oh, hold your tongue, you prattling bird.

And tell no tales of me,
And you shall have a cage of the finest beaten gold.
That shall hang on the front willow-tree ! "

10 Then up and spoke her father dear.

And unto the bird did say,
" Oh, what makes you talk, my pretty parrot.
So long before it is day 1 "

11 "The old cat came to my cage door.

And fain would have eaten me,
And I was a-calling to Pretty Polly,
To drive the old cat away."
VOL. xviii. — NO. 69. 10

134

yournal of American Folk-Lorc.

V. THE GEORGE ALOE AND THE SWEEPSTAKE.

Recollected, June, 1904, by \V. M., of the U. S. Navy, as sung over forty years ago by an
ancient mariner.

^^^^^^§3

Once there were two ships, and two ships they were of fame, Blow

-x^

^N^

high, blow low, for slow sail - ed we, And one was the King of

'^=t^

i^=

:i=

Prus - sia, and one was Arch - ie

Spain, Cruis - ing

down the lone - ly coast of the high Bar - bar - ee.

1 Once there were two ships, and two ships they were of fame,

Blow high, blow low, for slow sail-ed we, —
And one was the King of Prussia and one was Archie of Spain,
Cruising down the lonely coast of the high Barbary.

2 " Now aloft, there aloft ! " our gallant commander cried,

" Look ahead, look astern, look to windward and to lee ! "

3 " Oh, there 's nothing ahead, and there 's nothing astern,

But there 's a lofty frigate to windward, and another on our lee."

4 " Now, hail her, oh, hail her ! " our gallant commander cried,

" Oh, I am the salt sea pirate, as this night you soon shall see ! "

5 Then broadside for broadside this daring dog did pour,
Till the man at the helm shot the pirate's mast away.

6 Then for mercy, for mercy this daring dog did cry,

" Oh, the mercy I will give you, I will sink you in the sea ! "

7 " Your ship shall be your coffin, and your grave shall be the sea,
Your ship shall be your coffin, and your grave shall be the sea! "

Traditional Ballads in New England.

135

VI. HENRY MARTIN.
Communicated by S. C. G., Minneapolis, Minn., as sung over fifty years ago.

^EEE^

In Scot - land there dwelt three broth - ers of late. Three

%--

?=^^

broth -ers of late, broth -ers three. And they cast lots.

3^=

see which of them Should go rob - bing all on the salt

see which of them Should go rob - bing all on the salt sea.

1 In Scotland there dwelt three brothers of late,

Three brothers of late, brothers three,
And they cast lots, to see which of them

Should go robbing all on the salt sea.
Salt sea !
And they cast lots, to see which of them

Should go robbing all on the salt sea.

2 The lot it fell on Henry Martin,

The youngest of these brothers three,
That he should go robbing all on the salt sea,
To maintain his two brothers and he.

3 He had scarce sailed one long winter's night,

One long winter's night on the sea,
Before he espied a lofty brave ship,
A-sailing off over the sea.

4 " Put back ! " he cried, " and square your main tack, —
Come sail down under my lee,
Your gold we 'II take from you, your ship we '11 let drift,
And your bodies we '11 sink in the sea ! "

1 36 jfournal of American Folk-L ore.

5 Broadsides, broadsides they gave to each other,

They fought for hours full three,
Till Henry Martin received his death wound,
And his body did sink in the sea.

6 Bad news, bad news I bring to old England,

Bad news I bring unto thee.
Your rich merchant ship is now cast away,
And your mariners sunk in the sea.

VII. THE MERMAID.
Recorded by me October 11, 1904, from the singing of J. G. M., Newbury, Vt.

a , A A /^

The

rag

ing

sea goes roar, roar, roar, And the

3^^

^Si^

storm - y winds they do blow, While we poor sail - ors are

-^— N

^=i

drown-ing in the deep, And the pret-ty girls are stand-ing on the shore.

1 The first came up was the carpenter of the ship,

And a hearty old fellow was he,
Saying, " I have a wife in old England,
And a widow I 'ra afraid she will be ! "

Refrain, — For the raging sea goes roar, roar, roar,
And the stormy winds they do blow,
While we poor sailors are drowning in the deep.
And the pretty girls are standing on the shore.

2 The next came up was a little cabin boy.

And a nice little fellow was he.
Saying, — " I 'd give more for my daddy and my ma,
Than I would for your wives all three ! "

3 The next came up was a fair pretty maid.
With a comb and a glass in her hand.
Saying,

Traditional Ballads in New England. 137

VIII. CAPTAIN WARD AND THE RAINBOW.

" Captain Ward, the Pirate, with an account of his famous fight with the Rainbow, ship
of war. Nathaniel Coverly, jun., Printer, Ijoston."

Broadside, printed not later than 1S14, of which two copies are known to me, — one in
the Isaiah Thomas collection of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass., the
other in the Boston Public Library.

1 Strike up you brave and lusty gallants, with music sound of drum,
For we have espied a rover, which to our seas have come.

His name you know is Captain Ward, right well it doth appear,
There has not been such a rover found out this thousand year.

2 For he has sent unto our King, on the fifth of January,
Desiring that he might come in with all his company,
And if you will let me come, till I my tale have told,

I will bestow for my ransom full thirty tons of gold.

3 First he deceived the wild Turk, and then the King of Spain,
Pray how can he prove true to us, when he proves false to them .-'
"Oh, no, oh no," then said the King, "for no such thing can be,
For he has been a rank robber and a robber on the sea."

4 " Oh then," says Captain Ward, " my boys, let 's put to sea again.
And see what prizes we can find on the coast of France and Spain."
Then we espied a lofty ship a-sailing from the west.

She was loaded with silks and satins and cambricks of the best.

5 Then we bore up to her straightway, they thinking no such thing,
We robbed them of their merchandise, then bade them tell their King.
Now when their King did hear of this, his heart was grieved full sore,
To think his ships could not get past, as they had done before.

6 Then he caused built a worthy ship and a worthy ship of fame,
Oh, the Rainbow, was she called, and the Rainbow was her name.
Oh he rigged her, and freighted her, and sent her to the sea.
With five hundred and fifty mariners to bear her company.

7 They sailed east, they sailed west, but nothing could espy,

Until they came to the very same spot where Captain Ward did ly.
"Who is the owner of this ship ? " the Rainbow then did cry,
" Here am I ! " says Captain Ward, " let no man me deny ! "

8 " What brought you here, you cowardly dog, you ugly wanton thief?
What makes you lie at anchor, and keep our King in grief ? "

" You lie, you lie ! " says Captain Ward, " so well I hear you lie,
I never robbed an Englishman, an Englishman but three.

138 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

9 As for the worthy Scotchmen, I love them as my own,

My chief delight is for to pull the French and Spaniards dowri."

" Why say'st thou so, bold robber ? We '11 soon humble your pride ! "

With this the gallant Rainbow, she shot out of her side

ID Full fifty good brass cannons, well charged on every side.
And they fired their great guns, and gave Ward a broadside.
" Fire on, fire on ! " says Captain Ward, " I value you not a pin,
If you be brass on the outside, I 'm good as steel within ! "

11 They fought from eight in the morning, till eight o'clock at night.
Till at once the gallant Rainbow began to take to flight.

** Go home, go home," says Captain Ward, " and tell your King from me.
If he reigns King upon dry land, I will reign King at sea ! "

12 With that the gallant Rainbow, she shot and shot in vain.
Then left the Rover's company, and home returned again.
To tell our King of England, his ship 's returned again,
For Captain Ward, he is so strong, he never will be ta'en.

13 " Oh, everlasting shame ! " said the King, " I have lost jewels three,
Which would have gone unto the sea, and brought proud Ward to me.
The first was the brave Lord Clifford, great Earl of Cumberland,
The second was the Lord Mountjoy, as you shall understand.

The third was the brave Lord Essex, from the field would never flee.
Who would have gone unto the sea, and brought proud Ward to me ! "

Phillips Bariy.
Boston, Mass.

Folk'LoTC of the Cree Indians. 139

FOLK-LORE OF THE CREE INDIANS.

It was upon the shores of James Bay, near the mouth of Pontiac's
Creek, that I witnessed a scene which is most vividly impressed upon
my memory.

Seated around a blazing camp-fire, a group of Cree Indians, silent
and moody, had just finished supper, and were enjoying their evening
smoke. The night was cold and dark, and save for the crackling of
the fires everything was as still as death. Suddenly one of the Indians
began to relate a story. At first his voice was low and pleasing ; then
as he spoke of fighting, excitement obtained the mastery and his
narrative was accompanied with wild but appropriate gestures. The
audience occasionally grunted approval. There was not a sign of
incredulity, although to me the tales were as absurd as they were
interesting. Since that memorable night I have tried diligently to
add to the collection of folk-lore there begun, but with small success.
The tales are told only in the fall of the year. Should an Indian
relate them during winter or summer, the belief is that misfortune-
will attend all his endeavors during the year. If told in fitting sea-
son, however, the narration will bring good luck. The young Indians
do not take the trouble to learn the stories, and the custom of story-
telling in the autumn is kept up by only a few of the older men, who
dread the ridicule of the white man and are for the most part silent
in his presence. Owing to these difficulties the few simple stories
which follow represent the whole of my folk-lore gleanings during:
seven years' intimate association with Cree Indians.

I. THE CREATION.

At one time, long ago, the world was covered with water, and the
animals wished for some dry land. The muskrat volunteered to
dive down and see what he could bring to the surface. He carried
some mud on his tail, but there was not sufficient, and it immedi-
ately sank. Next the otter made an attempt and failed. Then the
beaver tried and managed to bring to the surface enough earth to
form a small island. From this the world grew.

2. THE BIRTH OF LAKE MISTASSINI.

Two brothers went out on a hunting excursion. They separated
at a certain point, and each took a different route. One of them
came to a small pool and saw in the water an enormous otter. He
was just about to kill it when several young otters emerged from the
pool. He noticed that they were of different colors, some red, some
blue, and some green. Amazed at the unusual sight, he ran to inform

140 youvjial of American Folk-Lore.

his brother of the strange occurrence. The brother wished to go
back and shoot the animals, so they started off together. As soon
as the old otter made her appearance, one of the brothers fired. It
dived, and immediately the water of the pool began to boil and foam
and flood the surrounding land. The brothers ran in opposite direc-
tions and the water followed them. At last one of them was brought
to a halt at some high rocks near the post of Mistassini, and the old
otter devoured him. The waters then ceased to rise, and the lake
remained as it is to-day,

3. THE PAINTED CANOE.

Long ago an old man and his daughter lived by the shore of a
river. They were very happy until an Indian came along and mar-
ried the daughter.

The old man resolved, however, not to be so easily deprived of his
only comfort, so he took his son-in-law out into the woods and left
him to freeze to death.

To the dismay of the old man the daughter married again, so he
at once set about treating this young man as he had done the other.
In the spring at the time the sturgeon spawns he invited his son-in-
law to go out with him to spear the fish. The young man happened
to step on the edge of the canoe, and the old man, taking advantage of
the chance thrown in his way, jerked the canoe to one side, and the
young man fell into the rapid. When he came to the surface he saw
the canoe in the distance, but managed by swimming hard to reach
land in safety. When the old man came ashore he was questioned
as to the whereabouts of the young man, and replied that he sup-
posed his son-in-law must be drowned, as he fell out of the canoe.
To his astonishment they told him that his treachery was discovered
and that the young man was alive in his tent.

The old man next invited his son-in-law to go hunting with him,
and again he agreed. They journeyed far from their tent and
camped in the woods. At night-time it is the custom of the Indians
to hang their boots before the fire to dry. The old man and his son-
in-law did this, but the young man, suspecting treachery, changed
the position of the boots and hung his own where his father-in-law's
had been placed. The old man arose in the night, took his son-in-
law's boots and put them in the fire, never dreaming that he was
about to become the victim of his own treachery. He then aroused
the young man and told him his boots were on fire. The young
man on coming out of the tent said, "These must be your boots.
Mine are on your poles and are all right." He then put on his boots
and left his father-in-law to freeze to death. He had not gone far
before he heard footsteps behind him, and upon waiting saw that

Folk-Lore of the Cree Indians. 141

the old man had tied brush (twigs of fir-tree) upon his feet, and was
all right.

The young man saw that there would be no peace until he could
rid himself forever of his father-in-law's company. He made a canoe
and painted the inside more beautifully than any canoe had before
been painted. He also made handsome paddles and presented these
to the old man, who was delighted and became so anxious to try the
merits of his new canoe that he went out without noticing the threat-
ening weather. He was so taken up with the beautiful way in which
the canoe was decorated that he gave no heed to his course. A
storm sprang up, and he was never seen nor heard from again.

4. A BIG PERCH.

Some Indian hunters were camped along the shores of Lake Mis-
tassini. As fish and game were plentiful they were happy and con-
tented. One evening they missed one of their number, and though
they searched everywhere could not find him. They had many days
given him up for dead, when he surprised them by calmly walking
into camp. On their asking him where he had been he told the
following story : —

" That night you lost me I was at the bottom of the lake, where I
saw all kinds of fish, some pretty, some ugly, and some savage.
There was one perch so large that he could not turn around in the
lake, but had to swim up and down without turning."

The above story has been handed down from father to son, and
even to-day Indians refer to the " big perch," just as seriously as if
it really existed. Lake Mistassini is 120 miles long and 20 miles
wide, so the legend far eclipses the white man's story of the sea
serpent.

5. THE STORY OF KATONAO.

Katonao was a great warrior who was always seeking for glory.
He had two sons who were very much like him in this respect.
They went off to meet some other warriors, and Katonao followed to
help them fight. When he had gone some distance he saw a lot of
warriors on the ground dead, and he knew that his sons had passed
that way. At last he came across one of his sons who was lying
wounded on the ground, pierced by a number of arrows. The old
man pulled the arrows from his son's body and went in search of the
other son. He had not proceeded far when his wounded son over-
took him and both followed the tracks of the other son. At last
they came across him fighting desperately with hostile warriors, and
they ran to help him. Old Katonao tripped on his snowshoes and
was captured. The two sons tried hard to save their father and en-

142 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

deavored to pull him from the hostile warriors, but he asked them
to let him be taken.

The hostile warriors resolved not to kill Katonao at once, but
reserve him for a feast. They treated him with great cruelty on the
journey, sometimes dragging him naked through the snow and tying
him to the sled exposed all night to the cold. They gave him old
skins to eat. As soon as the warriors arrived home they tied old
Katonao up, and resolved to sacrifice him on the morrow. They
placed him in a tent with an old man as guard. Orders were given
to cook Katonao for the feast, but some of the women cried out that
there were lots of partridges in the woods. The old man then asked
the warriors if Katonao and the women could go hunting the par-
tridges, and they consented. Katonao then took up his bow and arrows
and killed many partridges. In hunting these birds he wandered
farther and farther away from his captors, and at last he made a dash
for liberty. He was still naked and suffered much in making his
escape. He had not gone far when he saw the warriors in full chase,
so he hid in the snow and killed two of them as they ran past him.
He then took off their clothes, fixed himself up, and started in
search of his sons.

When the warriors came upon their dead comrades, they returned
to the camp and blamed the old man for asking Katonao to go out
hunting. Then they called him and killed him for the feast. When
Katonao arrived at the tent of one of his sons, he found him making
snowshoes. He walked on farther and found the other son making
a canoe. Katonao shot an arrow into him and chased him into the
tent. The other son came up, and seeing what Katonao was doing
was about to put him to death, but the wounded boy cried out for
him to spare his father, so Katonao was spared and lived with his
sons for a long time.

6. THE FISHERMAN.

An old man and his two sons were encamped by the side of a large
lake. One day the wife of one of his sons saw a number of warriors
on the shore of the lake. She called out, as she knew the warriors
were waiting for the two young men to return from the hunt.

The old man had a fish-hook set through the ice, so he took a
small bag and a stick pointed at both ends and went to visit his
hooks.

As soon as the strange Indians saw the old man at his hooks, one
of their number went to push him under the ice. As the warrior
drew near, the old man stabbed him with the sharp stick. His com-
rades seeing this sent two of their number to kill the old man, but
these were killed in the same manner as the first. The whole band

Folk-Lore of the Cree Indians. 143

then went to obtain revenge. They fired arrows, but these fell
harmlessly into the old man's bag. The sons, hearing that their
father was in danger, came up and killed the warriors. The old man
was very tired, and glad to get a rest after his exertions.

7. THE BITER BIT.

There was once an old man who had an only daughter to look
after him. One day the daughter was married to a young Indian,
and this so angered the old man that he put the husband to death.

The daughter married again, and again the old man made away
with her husband. The manner in which he killed them was by
coaxing them to the top of a hill, where he had a trap placed to break
their backs.

At last the daughter married a man who happened to be a little
more cunning than the rest. He ran away with the daughter and
went off to hunt bear. That winter he was very successful and
killed many bears. He made a large roggan or birchbark basket in
which he put the bear's fat. The roggan was so heavy that it took
four men to carry it.

In the spring the couple returned to the old man's wigwam, and
the son-in-law made him a present of the roggan. The old man was
so strong that he lifted the roggan easily. The old man then coaxed
the son-in-law to go to the top of the hill, intending to serve him as
he had done the others, but the young man proved too strong and
cunning for the old fellow, and in wrestling he broke the old man's
back. During the struggle the old man cried out to his daughter
that her husband was killing him, but she had no sympathy for him,
and said that it served him right.

Fred Swindlehiirst.

Montreal, Canada.

144 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

RECORD OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

NORTH AMERICA,

Algonkian. Blackfeet. At pages 276-277 of Professor Wiss-
ler's monograph on the " Decorative Art of the Sioux Indians,"
noticed below, are some items concerning the '• Decorative Art of
the Blackfeet." The beaded and quill work of the Blackfeet "are
relatively infrequent, and do not possess the variety and complexity
of those of the Dakota." ParflecJie decoration is known as " Gros
Ventre painting ; " this probably indicates that " the whole was
copied directly from that tribe." The native art of the Blackfeet is
pictographic, and "the few highly conventionalized forms they have
adopted are important religious symbols." In general it may be said
that " the Sioux show a tendency to love art for art's sake, while the
Blackfeet love art for the sake of their religion." — Miisqiiakie {Onta-
gavii, Fox). Volume li. (1902, ix. 147 pp. pi. 1-8 and 64 figs.) of
the Publications of the Folk-Lore Society (London) is entitled
" Folk-Lore of the Musquakie Indians of North America and Cata-
logue of Musquakie Beadwork and other Objects in the Collection
of the Folk-Lore Society, by Maria Alicia Owen." Miss Owen is a
member of the American Folk-Lore Society and has contributed to
its Journal from time to time. The monograph now under consid-
eration treats of : Mythical origin, achievements and fate of the
brothers, legend and history, government, beliefs, dances, birth and
infancy, puberty, courtship and marriage, death, burial, and ghost-
carrying, folk-tales, etc. Pages 95-147 are occupied by a descrip-
tive list of one hundred and nine items of Musquakie objects pre-
sented by the author to the Society : woman's dance costume and
ornaments ; man's dance costume and ornaments; shaman's costume,
ornaments, and paraphernalia ; musical instruments ; weapons, imple-
ments, etc.

In the myth of origins, He-nau-ee (Mother), who came down from
the Upper World in a storm, figures with her two children, Hot
Hand and Cold Hand, who, after a number of adventures, including
the killing of Black Wolf, fell into the cave of Ancestors (Ancestral
Animals) by whom they were made via-cottpce (full of magic), and
sent back. A boy and a girl born of lumps on the side of the Bro-
thers were the ancestors of the tribe — they began by having seven
sons and seven daughters, from whom came the seven clans of the
Musquakies, named after the seven ancestral animals (fox, eagle, bear,
beaver, fish, antelope, raccoon). After teaching the boy and girl, the
Brothers went away to kill or conquer the demons and devils. The
Musquakie tribe is "a limited monarchy with an hereditary chief of

Record of A fnerica n Folk-L ore. 1 4 5

the Eagle clan." It has a head-chief's council, councils of sub-
chiefs (of the seven clans), and a body of " honorable women." The
shaman is a prominent figure in the councils — the present head-
shaman and person of most influence had the advantage of studying
medicine with a white man. The " honorable women " have great
power to turn public opinion. In their religious and superstitious
beliefs, " the Musquakies pay homage to four gods, seven totems, or
patron saints, and an uncountable number of demons, devils, sprites,
and ghosts." The "gods " are the good manito-ah (in the sun), the
bad vianito-ah (lord over that cold, slippery, wet cavern in which bad
souls are imprisoned), and the two Brothers.

The chief dances are the religion dance, or dance of remembrance
{i. e. of "unforgotten ways of their fathers "), with a subsequent four-
days' Sabbath, corn-planting dance, totem dances (like the religious
dance, but with no dog sacrifice), green-corn dance (" what Thanks-
giving is to a Yankee, or the Feast of the First Fruits to a Semite "),
the woman dance, bear dance (by young men), buffalo dance (" both
an incantation and an historical drama "), discovery dance, young
dogs' dance (with howling and barking), horses' dance, scalp dance
("now only a bit of acting"), dead man's medicine dance, the young
servant's dance, birds' dance (public observance by members of a
secret society of reckless young men), presents dance or dower dance
(by young men for poor marriageable girls). While Musquakie
infants and little children "are indulged and petted as few white
children are," they have few toys and no "medicine" of their own,
except a few talismans, more for the sake of the soul than of the
body. Following his being weaned (at four or five), the Musquakie
boy has a nine-years' novitiate till after the midnight dance (Reli-
gion) he wakes up a man. The girl's training is not so severe.
The Musquakie wooing and wedding have their share of gossip and
romance. The grave-digging, formerly the work of slaves, is now
done by white men hired by the relations. The "ghost-carrier"
rides toward the west. The folk-tales include : Girls and bear, the
gray-wolf and the orphan boy, the woman and the tree-ghost, the
man and the tree-ghost, the man and the young girl, the duck-woman,
the woodpecker-man, prairie-chicken woman, the owl, the girl-with-
spots-on-her-face, the young man that killed himself and was made
alive again. One curious item of belief (p. 94) is that a suicide's
soul explodes.

This volume is especially valuable as a study of the lore of a peo-
ple who have been considerably influenced by the whites in spite of
their resistance. In connection with Miss Owen's data should be
read the articles of Mrs. Lasley (J. A. F.-L. vol. xv. 1902, pp. 170-
178) on "Sac and Fox Tales" and William Jones {ibid. vol. xiv.

146 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

1901, pp. 225-239) on " Episodes in the Culture-Hero Myth of the
Sauks and Foxes."

Caddoan. Part ii. (pp. 5-372, 9 pi. 11 figs.) of the "Twenty-
second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1900-
1901 " [Washington, 1904], consists of "The Hako : A Pawnee
Ceremony," by Ahce C. Fletcher, assisted by James R. Murie,
music transcribed by Edwin S. Tracy. The Hako ceremony had no
fixed or stated time, and " was not connected with planting or har-
vesting, hunting or war, or any tribal festival," although, the Kiira-
hus (custodian and hierogogue) said : " We take up the Hako in the
spring when the birds are mating, or in the summer when the birds
are nesting and caring for their young, or in the fall when the birds
are flocking, but not in the winter when all things are asleep. With
the Hako we are praying for the gift of life, of strength, of plenty,
and of peace, so we must pray when life is stirring everywhere."
Miss Fletcher (p. 280) describes the purpose of the Hako, with "its
long series of observances, which are replete with detail and accom-
panied by nearly one hundred songs " (no change in the order of
rites or songs was permitted), as twofold : " First, to benefit certain
individuals by bringing to them the promise of children, long life,
and plenty ; second, to affect the social relations of those who took
part in it, by establishing a bond between two distinct groups of per-
sons, belonging to different clans, gentes, or tribes, which was to
insure between them friendship and peace." Desire for offspring
was probably the original stimulus, but the ceremonial forms here
used to express this desire were undoubtedly borrowed from earlier
ceremonies through which the people had been familiarized with
certain symbols and rites representing the creative powers. The
second purpose of the Hako "was probably an outgrowth of the first
purpose, and may have been based upon tribal experience in the
practice of exogamy." Besides its social and religious significance,
the Hako became a medium of exchange of commodities among
tribes, — "the garments, regalia, and other presents brought by the
Fathers to the Children were taken by the latter to some other tribe,
when they in turn became the Fathers." Testimony to "the men-
tal grasp " of the Pawnees is borne by the " compact structure " of
the Hako. The rhythm of the songs accompanying every ceremo-
nial act has been determined by the thought to be expressed, —
"rhythm dominates the rendition, which is always exact, no liberties
being taken for the purpose of musical expression, in our sense of
the term." Of the songs, words, music, and translations are given.
The paraphernalia are figured in the plates. The Hako ceremony
consists of the Preparation with 8 rituals, and the Ceremony itself
with 12 rituals. There are also four incidental rituals that may be

Record of A merica n Folk-L ore. 147

interpolated (comforting the child, prayer to avert storms, prayer for
the gift of children, changing a man's name). The rituals of the
Preparation are : I. Making the Hako (invoking the powers, pre-
paring the feathered stems, painting the ear of corn, and preparing
the other sacred objects, offering of smoke). II. Prefiguring the
journey to the Son. III. Sending the messengers. IV, Vivifying
the sacred objects, Mother Corn assumes leadership, the Hako party
presented to the Powers. V. Mother Corn asserts authority, songs
and ceremonies of the way. Mother Corn reasserts leadership. VI.
The Son's messenger received, the Hako party enter the village. VII.
Touching and crossing the threshold, consecrating the lodge, cloth-
ing the Son, and offering smoke. VIII. The Fathers feed the Chil-
dren. IX. Invoking the visions. X. The Dawn (the birth of Dawn,
the Morning Star and the new-born Dawn, daylight, the Children
behold the day. XI. The male element invoked (chant to the sun,
day songs). XII. The rites came by a vision. XIII. The female
element invoked (the sacred feast of Corn, song to the Earth, offer-
ing of smoke, songs of the birds). XIV. Invoking the visions of
the ancient. XV. The flocking of the birds, the sixteen circuits of
the lodge. XVI. Seeking the child, symbolic inception, action sym-
bolizing life. XVII. Touching the child, anointing the child, paint-
ing the child, putting on the symbols. XVIII. Fulfilment prefigured
(making the nest, symbolic fulfilment, thank offering. XIX. The
call to the Children, the dance and reception of gifts. XX. Bless-
ing the child, presenting the Hako to the Son and thanks to the
Children. The Hako Preparation also of three and the Ceremony of
four divisions. Of the Preparation the first division (initial rites) in-
cludes rituals L-IV., the second (the journey), the fifth ritual, and
the third (entering the village of the Son and consecrating his lodge)
rituals VI. and VII. The first division (the public ceremony) of the
Ceremony includes rituals VIII. -XIV., the second (the secret cere-
monies) rituals XV.-XVIII., the third (the dance of thanks) ritual
XIX., and the fourth (the presentation of the Hako) ritual XX.

This monograph, invaluable to the student of primitive religions,
represents four years of work and gives the entire ceremony as
observed in the Chani band of the Pawnee tribe. The collaborator
of Miss Fletcher, Mr. Murie, is " an educated Pawnee whom I have
known since he was a schoolboy, twenty years ago," and one fully
qualified to preserve the ancient lore of his people. She also had as
authority for the text and explanation of the ceremony, Taherussawi-
chi, a full-blood Pawnee about 70 years old, who is a fine specimen in-
tellectually of the Indian stock. In her "The Hako " Miss P'letcher
has accomplished a most difficult task with great tact and skill, and
added a classic to the literature of the American aborigines.

148 yournal of American Folk-Lore,

California. Galen Clark's " Indians of the Yosemite Valley an'd
Vicinity, their History, Customs, and Traditions " (Yosemite Valley,
1904, pp. no) treats of early history (original legend according to
Chief Teneiya), contact with the whites and effects of the war, cus-
toms and characteristics (division of territory, commerce, communica-
tion, dwellings, clothing, etc.), sources of food supply (hunting, fish-
ing, acorns as food, Indian dogs, nuts and berries, grasshoppers and
worms), religious ceremonies and beliefs (dances, festivals, marriage,
medicine men, disposing of the dead, spiritism), natural industries,
(basketry and bead work, bows and arrows). The section (pp. y^-
100) on " Myths and Legends " contains : Legend of To-tau-kon-
nu-la and Tis-sa'-ack (origin of the mountain Half Dome), Another
Legend of Tis-sa'-ack (origin of North Dome), Legend of the Grizzly
Bear (origin of tribal name Yosemite), Legend of the Tul-tok'-a-na
(rock named after the measuring-worm). Legend of Grouse Lake,
Legend of the Lost Arrow. Concerning these legends the author
remarks (p. 'j'j): "The Legend of To-tau-kon-nu'-la and Tis-sa'-ack
is made up of fragments of mythological lore obtained from a number
of old Indians at various times during the past fifty years. It varies
somewhat from other legends which have been published regarding
these same characters, but it is well known that the Indians living
in Yosemite in recent years are of mixed tribal origin and do not
all agree as to the traditional history of the region nor the names of
the prominent scenic features, nor even of the valley itself." Pages
107-109 are devoted to the " Interpretation of Indian Names," the
"accepted meaning of twenty-one names of prominent features of
the valley being given, including Yo-sem-i-te, " Full-Grown Grizzly
Bear." Mr. Clark, the author, was the discoverer of the Mariposa
Grove of Big Trees, and for many years Guardian of the Valley.

Iroquoian. To the "Twenty-first Annual Report of the Bureau
of American Ethnology, 1899-1900" (Washington, 1903), pages 127-
339, Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt contributes the first part of a valuable mono-
graph on " Iroquoian Cosmology." Of an Onondaga, a Seneca, and
a Mohawk legend of the origin of things, the native texts, inter-
linear, and English translations are given. The Onondaga text was
obtained from the late John Buck in 1889 on the Grand River Reser-
vation, Ontario, and revised in 1897 with the help of his son, — the
shortness of this version is accounted for by the fact that " the relater
seemed averse to telling more than a brief outline of the legend." A
longer version from Chief Gibson will be printed later. The Seneca
text was obtained in 1896 on the Cattaraugus Reserve, N. Y., from
the late John Armstrong, "of Seneca-Delaware-English mixed blood,
an intelligent and conscientious annalist," — it has also been re-
vised since. The Mohawk text was obtained in 1S96-97 on the

Record of America7i Folk-Lore. 149

Grand River Reservation from Seth Newhouse, " an intelligent and
educated member of the Mohawk tribe." Of the material as a whole
Mr. Hewitt says (p. 137) : " In general outlines the legend, as related
here is identical with that found among all of the northern tribes of
the Iroquoian stock of languages. It is told partly in the language
of tradition and ceremony, which is formal, sometimes quaint, some-
times archaic, frequently mystical, and largely metaphorical. But
the figures of speech are made concrete by the elementary thought
of the Iroquois, and the metaphor is regarded as a fact. Regarding
the subject-matter of these texts, it may be said that it is in the
main of aboriginal origin. The most marked post-Columbian modi-
fication is found in the portion relating to the formation of the physi-
cal bodies of man and of the animals and plants, in that relating to
the idea of a hell, and in the adaptation of the rib story from the
ancient Hebrew mythology in connection with the creation of
woman." The tales are given "exactly as related," no liberties hav-
ing been taken with the texts. The idea of the direct creation of
the bodies of man and of the animals out of specific portions of the
earth by Tharonhiawakon is declared by the author to be " a com-
paratively modern and erroneous interpretation of the original con-
cept (due to Scriptural teachings). .The original Iroquoian thought
was : The earth through the life, or life-power innate and immanent
in its substance, — the life personated by Tharonhiawakon, — by feed-
ing itself to them produces plants and fruits and vegetables which
serve as food for birds and animals, all which in their turn become
food for men, a process whereby the life of the earth is transmuted
into that of man and of all living things." With this significance
the Iroquois call the earth EitJiinoha, " Our Mother." The mere
creation of man from a piece of earth (as the potter makes a pot) is
not Iroquoian — for, in the protology of these Indians, "things are
derived from things through transformation and evolution." The
parthenogenetic conception, too, has been misunderstood and misin-
terpreted. The first beings of Iroquoian mythology were anthropic
or "man-beings," /. e. they "were not beasts, but belonged to a
rather vague class, of which man was the characteristic type." Beast
gods come later. Among these first beings were : Daylight, Earth-
quake, Winter, Medicine, Wind (or Air), Life (Germination), and
Flower. The Iroquoian term rendered in English "god " really sig-
nifies "disposer, controller," for to the Iroquois "god " and "con-
troller " are synonymous. The reign of beast, plant, tree gods, etc.,
came about from the fact that "in the development of Iroquoian
thought, beasts and animals, plants and trees, rocks and streams of
water, having human or other effective attributes or properties in a
paramount measure, were naturally regarded as the controllers -i

VOL. XVm. — NO. 69. 1 1

1 50 Journal of American Folk-L ore.

those attributes or properties, which could be made available by
orenda or magic power." For this reason "the reputed controllers
of the operations of nature received worship and prayers." Mr.
Hewitt's monograph contains most valuable data for the study of
primitive religion, and his authority must carry weight in the settle-
ment of numerous disputed questions. Concerning the name Taiuis-
karon \NQ \e2Lxr\ (p. 139): "The Mohawk epithet is commonly inter-
preted * flint,' but its literal and original meaning is ' crystal-clad ' or
* ice-clad,' the two significations being normal, as crystal, flint, and
ice have a similar aspect and fracture. The original denotation is
singularly appropriate for winter," The Onondaga Ohad and the
Seneca Ot/iakivenda' " do not connote ice, but simply denote flint."
The name TJiaronhiaivakon signifies " he grasps the sky (by mem-
ory)," — he is also called Odendonnia, sprout, or sapling, and loskaha,
having apparently the same meaning. The " hiding away " of chil-
dren till puberty is a curious primitive Iroquoian custom noted on
pages 142 and 255. " The tree called Tooth " is said to be probably
the yellow dog-tooth violet, — its blossoms make the world in which
it is light. A euphemism for " is pregnant" is "life has changed."
The monkey (Onondaga ^' gadjik' daks, it eats lice") was probably
quite unknown to the Iroquois. In the Seneca version (p. 233) two
female children are given to a man-being in addition to his two male
children " merely to retain the number four, as they do not take any
part in the events of the legend." In the Mohawk version (p. 266)
occurs the word karoh'to (it tree floats) in which some authorities
see the etymology of the place-name Toronto. To the texts are
appended some good pictures of Iroquoian Indians. The publication
of the original Indian texts and their interpretation by an expert like
Mr. Hewitt marks a new era in the study of the northern Iroquois.

Pueblos. — Hopi {Moki). To Part i. of the "Twenty-second
Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1900-1901 "
[Washington, 1904], Dr. J. Walter Fewkes contributes (pp. 1-195,
70 figs. 30 plates) an account of "Two Summers' Work in Pueblo
Ruins." The ruins in question are those on the Little Colorado
River, those near Winslow, the Chevlon and Chaves pass ruins,
the ruins between Winslow and the Hopi Pueblos, Kintiel, ruins near
Holbrook, Four-mile ruin, Pinedale, Stott ranch, ruins in Pueblo Viejo,
etc., and were investigated in the summers of 1896 and 1897. The
plains and mesas bordering the Little Colorado River and its trib-
utaries were "sites of populous pueblos in prehistoric times." The
alkalinity of the soil, which led to the abandonment of Sunset, once
a thriving Mormon settlement near Winslow, may, perhaps, account
for similar abandonments by their Hopi predecessors. Drought and
Apache attacks were also in evidence. The situation of ruins is

Record of A merican Folk-Lore, 151

indicated by the statement (p. 58), " the simple existence of a perma-
nent spring of potable water in this part of Arizona may be taken as
indicative of ruins in its immediate vicinity, and when such a spring
lies on or near an old trail of migration, evidence of former settle-
ments cannot be difficult to find." The former inhabitants of these
prehistoric pueblos were probably akin to the Hopi. The pottery
remains and their ornamentation are discussed in detail. Of decora-
tive designs, human figures are very rare, and there were only a few
pictographs of quadrupeds, the majority of animal figures being
those of birds, — insects are represented by the butterfly, dragon-fly,
and spider, the last occupying an important place in Pueblo mytho-
logy. There is a wealth of geometrical designs. In the line of
ornaments there occur mosaics ("the ancient Pueblo peoples of Ari-
zona were adepts in making mosaics, some examples of which rival
in excellence the work of a similar kind in old Mexico "), lignite
gorgets, ear-pendants, etc., shell wristlets, bracelets, rattles, gorgets,
animal figures, etc., — "all the species of shells which were found in
ruins belong to the molluscan fauna of the Pacific, and are still used
for ceremonial or ornamental purposes in modern Hopi pueblos."
The collection of bone implements was "large and varied in char-
acter." Turtle carapaces, horn objects, pigments, cloth fragments
(remarkably few), matting (for the dead), basketry (essentially the
same as modern Pueblo types), prayer-sticks, bow-and-arrows, gaming-
reeds, seeds in food basins (corn like that cultivated by modern
Hopi farmers), food remains (corn-bread like that of modern Hopi),
stone implements, stone slabs (decorated with figures painted in
various pigments), discs, fetishes, human crania, animal remains, etc.,
are briefly treated. By its architecture and pottery Kintiel belongs
to the Zuni series. The prehistoric inhabitants of Pueblo Viejo
practised both house-burial and cremation. The rectangular rows of
stones on level mesa tops and side hills, Dr. Fewkes thinks, " may
be regarded as the walls of terraced gardens, so placed as to divide
different patches of cultivated soil, or to prevent this soil from being
washed down to the plain below." The use of terraced gardens still
survives among the Hopi Indians. The ancient farmers of the
Pueblo Viejo also practised irrigation, as the remains of extensive
aboriginal ditches show. Jars or vases made in human form are not
known in the northern and central Arizonian (Pueblo) region, and
their rare presence in the southern area ie. g. cave in the Nantacks)
is due to Mexican influence, and harmonizes with the theory of
a Mexican art element in southern Arizona. A human effigy vase
has been found at San Jose (Pueblo Viejo). Yellow ware is the
characteristic pottery of Tusayan, red ware of the Little Colorado, and
brown of the Gila valley ruins. The cliff-building stage of culture is

152 Jourjial of A merican Folk-Lore.

limited to no race or country, its existence being due to geological
and climatic causes. The original hunter turned farmer here be-
cause there was no game to keep him to his earlier estate, and no fish
to make of him a fisherman. The history of this region is the story
of the sedentary agriculturalist harried by the nomadic robber. The
Indian turned farmer to escape perishing, then cliff-dweller and
pueblo-dweller to escape or resist his human foes. — To the "Twenty-
first Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1899-1900"
[Washington, 1903], Dr. Fewkes contributes a paper (pp. 3-126, 62
plates), on"Hopi Katcinas drawn by Native Artists." The article,
which is " profusely illustrated by a series of colored plates repro-
duced from the original drawings made by a native artist well versed
in the symbolism of his people," is concerned with data collected in
1900. The various Hopi festivals are briefly described, also the
pictures of the Katcinas relating to them, with more or less de-
tail in many cases. The idea of obtaining such a " series of draw-
ings of all the personations of supernatural beings which appear in
Hopi festivals " was suggested to Dr. Fewkes " by an examination of
Mexican codices, especially the celebrated manuscript of Padre Saha-
gun, now in Madrid, the illustrations in which are said to have been
made by Indians, and Chavero's * Lienzo de Tlascala,' lately (1892)
published by the Mexican government." This comparison is well
worth developing further. The pictures " may be regarded as pure
Hopi, and as works little affected by the white teachers with whom
of late these people have come into more intimate contact than ever
before. As specimens of pictorial art they " compare very well with
some of the Mexican and Mayan codices," and they also show "the
ability of the Hopis in painting, a form of artistic expression which is
very ancient among them." These pictures likewise "represent men
personating the gods as they appear in religious festivals, and dupli-
cate the symbols on certain images called dolls, which represent the
same beings." It is these personations that are called katcinas, and
the number of them is very great, — " much greater than the number
figured, especially if all those mentioned in the traditions are in-
cluded." The names of the pictures are of philologic importance, —
"some of them are called by Zufiian, others by Keresan, Tanoan,
Piman, and Yuman names, according to their derivation." Says Dr.
Fewkes on this point : "This composite nomenclature of their gods
is but a reflexion of the Hopi language, which is a mosaic of many
different linguistic stocks" (p. 18). Among the more interesting
and important pictures are those of Pantiwa, the sun-god (of Zuni
origin) ; Tcakwaina (of Tewan origin, relating to the matriarchal
clan system) ; Sio Calako (a Zuni giant) ; Tcbaiyo (a bogy god) ;
Eototo (important in the celebration of the Departure of the Katci-

Record of A merican Folk- Lore. 153

nas) ; figurines of corn maidens (an interesting marionette perform-
ance) ; Mucaias Taka (Buffalo youth) and Mucaias Mana (Buffalo
maid) ; Tacab (a Navaho god) ; Kae (corn katcina) ; Tawa (sun
katcina) ; Lenya (flute katcina) ; Citulilu (rattlesnake, of Zuni origin),
etc. On pages 109-112 are described "ancient clan masks;" on
pages Ii2-ii4masks introduced by individuals; on pages 114-117
personators appearing in races called wazuac ; on pages 1 18-122 beings
not called katcinas. On pages 123-124 are given the Hano (Tanoan)
names for about 60 of the pictures here described, and on pages 124-
126 the foreign origins of the various not-Hopi katcinas are indicated,
SiouAN. — Dakota. Professor Clark Wissler's " Decorative Art of
the Sioux Indians," published in the " Bulletin of the American
Museum of Natural History " (vol. xviii. pt. iii. pp. 231-278, 19 pi.
29 figs., N. Y., Dec. 17, 1904), treats of: Decorative designs and
their elements, conventional decorations with symbolic associations,
examples of the ideas associated with designs, military symbolism.
The chief symbolic motive in decorative art is furnished by "the.
men or rather the military interests which they represent." To picto-
graphic expression they add the use of the geometric designs of the
women, reading into these their own ideas. The origin of these
geometric designs is uncertain, but they "bear a stronger resem-
blance to Southwestern art than to any other." The higher produc-
tions in art seem to have been masculine in origin, — the ideals of
the women among the Sioux seem to be more often ideals of tech-
nique. One very interesting feature of the decorative art of the
Sioux is " the use and recognition of the pattern-names for the most
elementary geometric designs, and the use of these as elements in the
composition of complex designs." Among these designs are the tipi,
step, bag, bundle, box, trail (path, road), "three-row," "middle-row,"
space, vertebrae, "filled-up," twisted, tripe, arrow-point, "full of
points," crossed arrows, looking-glass, etc. There may be said to
exist "a school of art" among the Dakota, whose ideal is "the use
of conventional elements in compositions of conventional types," —
in its production, this art belongs to woman. The decorations of a
woman are adopted by a girl after she has formally gone through
the puberty ceremony. The women say that they sometimes dream
out complex designs, — in such dreams, "the design usually appears
on a rock or the face of a cliff, though dreaming of an entire piece
of work in its finished state is not rare." Such experiences are
attributed to the female culture-heroine. The few "dream designs"
of recent origin seen by the author are " in no way different from
other designs." In ceremonial and religious designs colors are often
symbolic : Red, sunset, thunder ; yellow, dawn, clouds, earth ; bltie,
sky, clouds, night, day ; black, night ; green, summer. The cross

154 journal of American Folk-Lore.

appears as a military symbol. With the Sioux war was an ideal, and
the Indians "pray for power and success in a future war," while with
the Blackfeet "the great idea was to get horses by raiding other
Indians ; fighting was a mere incident," and the Blackfeet " pray and
conjure that they may get many horses by means within the limits
enforced by the police." Every reason leads to the belief that the
pictographic mode is the older, and that " reading in " of resem-
blances plays a large role.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

Mayan. In part i. of the " Twenty-second Annual Report of
the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1900-1901 " [Washington, 1904],
pp. 197-305 (12 pi. 47 figs.), Cyrus Thomas has an article on "Mayan
Calendar Systems II.," the sections of which treat of : Initial series
of Mayan inscriptions, Secondary numeral series of the Quirigua
inscriptions, Maya chronological system. The Cakchiquel calendar,
Maya mode of calculation. Signification of the numeral series,
Inscription at Xcalumkin, Yucatan, Inscription on Stela C, Copan,
The nephrite stone of the Leyden Museum, Calendar and number
tables. The topics are discussed largely in relation to Goodman
and Maudslay's views and theories. Stela D Copan is noteworthy
for having in the initial series the usual face characters replaced by
full forms. Concerning this, Professor Thomas observes (p. 222) :
" Entire bodies, instead of conventional heads, are given, and, though
they are to some extent grotesque, yet they seem to indicate the
aboriginal idea of the origin of these symbols." The a/iau symbol
" is the skeleton form of a nondescript bird-like animal with a large
fang ; the c/uien glyph is a frog-like animal." In the full forms of
ahatt and katim in Stela D the little patches of cross-hatching ap-
pear as feather marks. Professor Thomas considers that " Good-
man's determinations, where the data are sufficient, are, as a rule,
correct," although there are also cases of mere guesswork. On
page 244 he suggests that in a certain part of the Dresden Codex
" the aboriginal artist, by inadvertency, made an exchange between
the black and red series in the ahaus and chuens." He does not
agree with Goodman's view that " the system used in the inscrip-
tions is different from that used in the Dresden codex, which he
evidently includes under the term * Yucatec system,' " and points out
that the inscription of Xcalumkin " carries back the Yucatec calen-
dar system to the days of the inscriptions." Goodman's suggestion
that the Colomes, Xius, Chels, and Itzas had each their own " chro-
nological system, using a common calendar," is not approved, nor his
theory of only thirteen cycles to the great cycle. Goodman's asser-
tion that the calendar year of the Cakchiqucls consisted of three

Record of American Folk- Lore. 155

hundred and sixty-six days is thought to be incorrect, — the num-
ber was four hundred. Professor Thomas holds, concerning Maya
methods of calculation, that " all the series in the codices and inscrip-
tions could have been formed by the aboriginal authors with their
numeral systems by addition and subtraction." (P. 289.) The ear-
liest and latest dates at Copan are, according to Professor Thomas,
222 years apart," and the dates may refer to historical events.

SOUTH AMERICA.

Calchaquian. To the " Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos
Aires" (vol. xi. 1904, pp. 163-314) Dr. Juan B. Ambrosetti con-
tributes a monograph on "El bronce en la region Calchaqui." The
first part treats of Calchaqui mining and metallurgy (ancient mines,
use of copper among the Peruvians, methods of fusion, bronze, Ar-
gentine tin, Calchaqui methods) ; the second describes the archaeo-
logical material (borers, simple knives, chisels, axe blades, spatulas,
choppers, hatchets, ornamental objects, flatheaded pins with holes,
pin with spiral-head, pins with graffiti, rings, bracelets, and other
personal ornaments, bells, depilatory pincers, needles, spindle-knobs,
bolas, stellate club-heads, ceremonial axe of Peruvian type, toki or
ceremonial axe, "sceptres," ceremonial knives, "gauntlets," pectoral
insignia, disks, etc.) An appendix (pp. 305-312) treats of bronze
axes with iron handles, counterfeit bronzes, fusion of bronze in the
colonial period, non-Calchaqui bronze. The Calchaquis were really
in the bronze age, and there is much to interest the folk-lorist in the
nature of their weapons and implements, their ornamentation, etc.
The figures on the insignia for the breast and forehead are sui
generis. The ornamentation of the bronze disks is also remarkable.
To this monograph is appended (pp. i-viii) a list — sixty titles in
all — of the published writings of Dr. Ambrosetti on Argentinean
archaeology and related topics.

A. F, C. and I. C. C.

156 yournal of A merican Folk-Lore.

RECORD OF NEGRO FOLK-LORE.

Africa and America. Rev. R. H. Nassau's " Fetichism in
West Africa" (N. Y., 1904, pp. xix, 389) contains a brief section
(pp. 273-276) on "The American Negro Voodoo." According to the
author, " Vudu, or Odoism, is simply African fetichism transplanted
to American soil." As a superstition it "has spread itself among
our ignorant white masses as the 'Hoodo.'" He also thinks that
" Uncle Remus's mystic tales of * Br'er Rabbit "... are the folk-
lore that the slave brought with him from his African home." The
glossary contains such more or less familiar words as bwanga (medi-
cine), grce-gree (fetich amulet), gumbo (okra), mbenda ( = pinder
" ground-nut "), etc.

Jamaica. The collection of " Folk-Lore of the Negroes of Ja-
maica" (see this Journal, vol. xvii. p. 296) is continued in "Folk-
Lore" (vol. XV. 1904, pp. 450-456). Items of superstition under the
rubrics, relating to the human body ; friendship, marriage, and
lovers ; birth and death ; marriage, courtship, and lovers ; death, the
corpse, the funeral ; vegetation ; the body ; births, babies, and chil-
dren ; miscellaneous, — chiefly from the southern districts of St.
Andrew. Many interesting omens are given. Of " a man of medi-
ocrity in the spiritual matters of life," it is said that he "becomes a
' rolling calf ' after death, for he is too good for hell and too wicked
for heaven." There is reminiscence of African witchcraft in the
idea that " if a certain plant called wangra is in a provision ground,
every thief that visits the field will die." The folk-lore of the mole
is quite extensive : A mole on the lip signifies a lying tongue ; on
the abdomen, edacity \sic\ ; on the leg, love of travel ; on the neck,
wealth ; one on the neck also indicates that the person will be hanged,
and one on the wrist that he will be handcuffed. Of April Fool's
Day, it is said that " All people who are born on the first day of
April grow up fools." People who die unbaptized " become wander-
ing spirits."

A. F. C.

Record of Philippine Folk-Lore. 157

RECORD OF PHILIPPINE FOLK-LORE.

"AssuAN." To Dr. Washington Matthews the Editor owes the
following genuine contribution to folk-lore, which appeared in " The
Friends School Quarterly " (Washington, D. C.) for February, 1905 :

A CURIOUS BELIEF.

In the Philippine Islands the people believe in the " Assuan." The
Assuan is supposed to be a young man who is very handsome and
who goes courting the girls, trying to get them to marry him. For
this purpose he goes to balls and various ceremonies, and also visits
at their houses in the evenings and makes himself very agreeable.
He has power to change himself into any kind of animal or bird
whenever he wishes.

The Assuan is supposed to have a servant called "Tic-Tic," who
goes everywhere with him. It is Tic-Tic's business to hunt for little
children and babies and carry them away while Assuan is getting
the young girls. The reason this servant is called "Tic-Tic" is be-
cause when he has some children he goes outside of the house where
his master is and calls "Tic-tic! tic-tic!" so that his master will
know that he has something and will come out to go home with him.

These creatures are said to live in the roots of the big mango-
trees, where they make great holes. When they bring the girls and
babies home they drop them down into a very deep hole and keep
them there until they are to be eaten.

All the girls were terribly afraid of being caught by these things,
so they always kept the stick with which the rice was pounded across
the front door. If the Assuan came he could get into the house
over the stick, but could not get out again, and so would be caught.
It would be hard to find a house in all the islands which does not
have the rice stick across the door at night.

It is believed that any man can become an Assuan by eating a

great quantity of raw meat and drinking blood, so for this reason no

good Filipino will eat meat that has not been cooked brown. The

servants we had would not take beef extract when they were sick

because they believed it was made of the blood of soldiers killed

in the war. By taking it they were afraid they would become As-

suans.

Alexander S. Wotherspoon.

The author is a boy twelve years of age (son of Colonel W. W.
Wotherspoon, U. S. A.), who has just returned from the Philippines.
While there he picked up a great deal of folk-lore from the servants

1 5 S jfournal of A merican Folk-Lore.

and from native boys of his own age. Both in the interests of the
collection of folk-lore and for the encouragement of the author, this
little article deserves reproduction here.

Igorot. In the "American Anthropologist" (vol. vi. n. s. pp.
695-704, 4 pi.) for October-December, 1904, Dr. A. W. Jenks has a
well-illustrated article on " Bontoc Igorot Clothing." The Bontoc
culture area " is in the centre, geographically and culturally, of the
entire Igorot area of Luzon." The Bontoc are "agricultural head-
hunters, who live in the village of Bontoc." Men's and women's
clothing are described, and pages 699-704 are occupied by a discus-
sion of the " Origin and Purpose of Clothing," with particular refer-
ence to the Bontoc. Dr. Jenks concludes that man's clothing origi-
nated in utility, the chief motif \i€\n^ "convenience for carrying
with him, attached to his body, constantly desired possessions."
Woman's clothing originated because of menstruation, and "in the
Philippine Archipelago alone some women seem to have answered
that demand by the use of the breech-cloth, others by the apron,
others by the pantaloons, and still others by the use of the skirt."
The author is convinced that " the sense of shame never caused a
primitive people to adopt its first form of covering for the person."
Naked up to six or seven years, the Bontoc male puts on successively
the basket-work hat, the girdle (at ten), the breech-cloth (at puberty,
ca. 15). The woman, naked up to eight or ten, puts on then the
bark-skirt and the girdle, which constitute her usual attire. Employ-
ments, etc., and cold weather induce certain changes of dress. All
the Igorots, we are told, "men, women, and children, sleep without
breech-cloth, skirt, or jacket." Women and girls do not dance
without the blanket. Pelvic depilation is practised by " unmarried
men and women and the majority of married ones." They wish,
while working or travelling naked, to "appear like the children."

Songs. Lieutenant A. S. Rigg's article on " Filipino Songs and
Music," in the " Dial " (Chicago), vol. xxxvii. 1904, pp. 277-278, con-
tains notes on MS. and songs in general. Also a brief ancient song
of the Ilocans, with native text and translation. The song is ad-
dressed to the matigmangkik or anitos of the trees.

A.F. C.

jfohn H. Hinton, 159

JOHN H. HINTON.

John H. Hinton, M, D., Treasurer of the American Folk-Lore
Society, died in New York, after a brief illness, on April 26. Dr.
Hinton has been officially connected with the American Folk-Lore
Society during nearly the whole period of its existence. In 1891 he
temporarily accepted the position of treasurer, at first for a year only ;
from 1893, under the Rules under which the Society is at present
organized, he received an election for the established term of five
years, and has subsequently been twice reelected. In this office his
known responsibility and repute as treasurer of other well-known
societies have been of signal service, and have materially contributed
to the usefulness and success of the organization. His undertaking
of this duty was brought about mainly through the suggestion of his
warm friend, Dr. H. Carrington Bolton, who, more than any other
person, was responsible for drawing up the Rules ; associated with
Dr. Bolton in this task was his intimate acquaintance. Dr. Daniel G.
Brinton. These three have now passed away. Dr. Hinton, the ripest
in years, having been last to depart. When the removal of other
coadjutors is taken into account, including Francis James Child, J.
Owen Dorsey, John G. Bourke, and John W. Powell, it will be seen
that the Society has suffered loss greater than the lapse of time
would usually inflict. Until very lately, Dr. Hinton has been in the
enjoyment of apparently vigorous health, while he habitually mani-
fested remarkable courage and cheerfulness. It was therefore a
surprise to the officers of the Society, when shortly after the New
Year his resignation was suddenly received. Through his long pro-
fessional activity and his official connection with several important
societies, Dr. Hinton was widely known. A formal memorial notice
must be deferred until the following number of this Journal.

1 60 journal of American Folk-Lore.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Geography-Rhymes. — In the Boston " Evening Transcript " some dis-
cussion of this topic has recently taken place. The following is from the
issue for January 28, 1905 : —

I should like to tell of some of the methods of teaching by means of
singing used in a Maine country school forty-five years ago. We learned
the multiplication tables by a sort of chanting, thus : —

Two times one are two,
Two times two are four,

and so on, with a rousing chorus of

Five times five are twenty-five,
Five times six are thirty,

and so forth, sung to the air of "Yankee Doodle," and following each
table.

The whole school enjoyed this, and never failed to come out strong on
the chorus, although often it was a forlorn hope which carried along the
tables of sevens and eights !

This seems to have been a precursor of the modern kindergarten methods,
except that we were learning something useful. We had another singing
exercise whereby we learned our geography. I recall one verse relating to
the rivers, which was sung to the tune of " Oh, Come, Come Away : " —

Oh, come, let us sing
Our country's noble rivers ;
St. Lawrence gay begins the lay,
St. John's now we see ;
Aroostook, Allagash, we note,
Machias and St. Croix we quote.
And then a line devote
Penobscot, to thee.

We had a small geography book containing many rhymes set to such
familiar tunes as " Bonnie Doon " and " Flow gently, sweet Afton."

The countries and their capitals were also learned by a sort of chant, and
the words were often amusingly twisted to fit the measure, as "Mexi' — co,
the caplital is M'exico." The various bodies of water were served up in
groups of threes, with a repeat : —

Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean.
Or

Great Slave Lake, Great Bear Lake, Lake of the Woods.

Perhaps some one who reads this may recall a similar experience, and
also may remember the title of that old geography song-book.

H. J. c.

Views of a Mohawk Indian. — In the Toronto " Evening Telegram "
(January 18, 1901) appeared the following item: —

Notes and Queries. i6i

The London (Eng.) " Daily News " publishes an interview with Brant-
Sero, of the Mohawk Indian reserve, Brantford, who has been in England
since his return from South Africa, where his efforts to enlist in the British
army failed. In the course of the interview the talented Indian expressed
interesting opinions regarding his race, and among other things said : —

" How long have your people been settled in Canada ? "

" We have for over a hundred years been the faithful friends and allies
of England. Our ancestors migrated from the beautiful Mohawk Valley to
Ontario, where they had been granted by the British Government a tract
of land 600,000 acres in extent. This has now dwindled down to 50,000,
but upon this reservation we have lived contentedly, tilling our farms and
making rapid progress in the arts of civilization."

"Do the Six Nation Indians still cling to their ancient customs even in
the midst of civilization ? "

" Yes, we are still faithful to the ways of our forefathers. Our chiefs are
chosen in the same manner, and the same ritual is observed, as when we
roamed over all the land which lies between Florida and Canada, two
centuries before a white man set his foot upon the American continent."

"These traditions, I suppose, have been handed down from father to
son ? "

" No, no, from mother to daughter. In our Indian tribes the woman is
of more importance than the man. They preserve the customs, and were
the depositories of the traditions of the race. If a warrior died in battle, it
was the women who recorded his deeds and preserved his memory. They
were better educated than the men. Inheritance runs through the female
line, and it is the women who, in secret council, choose the chiefs, even
down to the present day."

"The Red Indians are not degenerating, I understand you to say? "

"Certainly they are not degenerating, nor are they dying out. They
have made wonderful progress, especially in Canada. The last census in
the United States shows that the Indians are increasing, and in Canada they
are multiplying rapidly. There are about 20,000 in Ontario belonging to
the Six Nations. We are beginning to wake up to the possibilities which
lie before us. Our children are educated in the common schools, and many
of our young men study at the colleges. In Canada we have equal oppor-
tunities, and we have availed ourselves of them. There are Indians in
every profession and calling. There are some few who have qualitied and
practise as lawyers ; there are a number of doctors, and many have gone
into trade. Three or four hold government positions. The one profession
which the Indian has not taken kindly to is the ministry. Nor does he like
to be a shopkeeper. The old inclination to roam is still strong in our
blood, and we don't like to be tied down to one place.^ Of course, the
greatest number of our people are engaged in agriculture, and in tilling the
ground. Up to two years ago Indians in the reservations had the right to
a vote. Even now. those who are settled outside the reservation can exer-
cise the franchise on the same conditions as their white neighbors."

" Then an Indian is not looked dow" upon in Canada, in the same way
as a negro in the Southern States r

1 62 y otirnal of American Folk- Lore.

" Oh, dear, no. We are on a footing of perfect equality. In Toronto
and other cities a white man will make way for us on the sidewalk, take of¥
his hat in salutation, as if we had the same blood in our veins as he. In
South Africa it was very different. There the white man seems to think
he was placed in the country by Providence to boss the colored man.
Why, there were men who actually refused to shake hands with me
because of my Indian blood. Another thing, by the way, which struck me
very much in South Africa was the dress of the women. Even right up
country they would be dressed as if for the streets of London. Their
evening dresses, too, were quite as showy as anything to be seen here in
England."

" Do your people still speak the Indian language, Mr. Brant-Sero, or
have they adopted English as the means of communication ? "

" We speak both English and Indian as a rule. All know English, and
in Quebec province French as well. Indeed, we speak too many languages,
and none of them perfectly. The Indian, however, is a good public speaker.
He is always dignified, and never fails to make an interesting and appro-
priate speech upon even the most trivial subject. The Canadian Indians
take to politics like ducks to water. They are quite at home in the atmos-
phere of politics. But really there are few walks of life in which the Cana-
dian Indian has not distinguished himself. Some of our men have made
themselves names which are numbered amongst the most prominent in the
Dominion."

" Who, for instance, may I ask ? "

"Well, the most remarkable of modern Indians — for my pride in my
ancestor. Captain Joseph Brant, will not permit me to admit a wider com-
parison — is Dr. Oronhyatekha. He is a doctor of medicine and a justice
of the peace. He has the gift of mastery over men, and is a most remark-
able man himself. He has been called the second Sir John Macdonald of
Canada. Sir Henry Acland was his foster father. He met Dr. Oronhya-
tekha as a boy when the Prince of Wales visited Canada in i860. Both
the Prince and Sir Henry were so much struck with the youth that Sir
Henry took him back to England, where he was educated, and took his
degree at Oxford. Dr. Oronhyatekha is proud of his race. He still speaks
Indian to his intimate acquaintances, and has a large home in the reserve
of the Six Nations,"

" Then you are hopeful as to your race's future ? "

" Yes, indeed," replied Mr. Brant-Sero earnestly, " I am sure my people
have a very bright future before them. Our ancestors spilt their blood to
help to build up the Empire in the New World. They preferred British
rule, and so transferred the whole of the government of the Six Nations to
Canadian territory. There during a century we have lived and prospered,
and Canada, I believe, is proud of the progress we have made."

Fr. Hunt-Cortes, the " White Indian." — In the Boston " Herald "
(Sunday, January 29, 1905) was published the following account of a very
interesting cleric and scholar by F. R. Guernsey: —

Notes and Queries, i6

City of Mexico, January 24, 1905. Sometimes of a bright morning on
the streets of the Mexican capital you may chance to meet, among the
cosmopolitan throng, a briskly moving man of blue eyes and ruddy face,
vivacious, and with the clean-shaven countenance of a priest. He is worth
noticing, worth stopping to have a chat with, for this is the well-known Fr.
Augustin M. Hunt-Cortes, chaplain of the Church of Loretto, and founder
and head of the locally famous Working Boys' Home ; a scholar, linguist,
and archseologist known on both sides of the Atlantic among the learned.

There is no more interesting figure on the streets of the ancient city of
Mexico than Fr. Hunt-Cortes. He has served republics and an empire,
given a goodly portion of his life of sixty-five years to the study of the
Nahuatl or Mexican language, and is beloved by the Aztec people, by
whom he is known as the " White Indian." Mexico, the modern and pro-
gressive, has, among its many men of mark, no more interesting person-
ality.

Fr. Hunt-Cortes is an American, born in 1840, in New Orleans, his father
being Thomas K. Hunt, a native of Ireland, and his mother Dona Isabel
de Cortes, of Seville, Spain ; the bloods of two interesting races, the Irish
and the Andalusian, are mingled in his veins.

In his boyhood he applied himself to the study of English, French, and
Spanish, and so came to be early acquainted with the classics of three lan-
guages. But at the age of fourteen he lost both parents, and grew up
under the care of his guardians. When twenty-three years of age he re-
ceived, through the instrumentality of friends and of President Lincoln, a
post-ofiice appointment, and, though a Southerner by birth and natural sym-
pathies, he adhered to the cause of the Union in the civil war.

Subsequently, at the time of the French intervention in Mexico, young
Hunt had special charge of the Mexican official correspondence with our
government, and so it came about that he was placed in contact with the
republican president of Mexico, Don Benito Juarez, and his secretary, Don
Pedro Santacilia. His health becoming impaired, he was recommended a
change of climate, and in 1866 repaired to New Orleans, after a long
absence, having the intention of proceeding to Spain, where he hoped to
recover his health.

But it chanced that his destiny was to be linked to that of Mexico, for
he met in New Orleans some gentlemen attached to the court of the Em-
peror Maximilian. A warm friendship sprang up with these gentlemen,
and young Hunt was induced to come to this city. Letters were given him
to the Emperor and to distinguished members of his government, then
approaching its fall, and Mr. Hunt received an appointment in the war
office under Gen. Tomas Murfy.

Soon began a stormy and hazardous period in the life of Mr. Hunt, The
imperial forces were defeated at San Lorenzo while marching under Gen-
eral Marquez to the relief of Puebla, which was captured by Gen. Porfirio
Diaz on April 2. Mr. Hunt and some men under his direction took refuge
in a village near Texcoco. They crossed the lake of Texcoco, landing at
Mexicaltzingo, and were preparing to take a canoe from that point to this

164 yoitrna I of American Folk-Lore.

city -when they fell into the hands of republican scouts, and Mr. Hunt was
sent as a prisoner to the castle of Chapultepec, being afterward shifted
from place to place, and finally to Puebla, where he remained till July,
1867, when he was released under the terms of a general amnesty granted
to the imperialists.

He remained in Puebla three years, and was appointed on the commis-
sion to accompany the Hon. William H. Seward, the famous American
statesman, who was visiting Mexico. It was while in the party of Mr.
Seward that young Hunt met his first teacher of Nahuatl, or the Mexican
language, in the person of Don Francisco Zempoalteca, afterward president
of the supreme court of the state of Tlaxcala. At this time young Hunt
made many advantageous acquaintances, and was appointed to the profes-
sorship of French and English languages in the Carolina State College,
Tlaxcala.

Returning to this city, he continued the study of Nahuatl, and the gen-
eral history of ancient or Aztec Mexico. During General Grant's visit to
this country young Hunt met the great American soldier, and was of utility
to him. One of Hunt's teachers was the well-known lawyer, Don Faustino
Chemalpopoca, of Aztec family, who had been court interpreter and teacher
to the Emperor Maximilian. On the death of this gentleman Mr. Hunt
succeeded him in the chair of Nahuatl in the Pontifical University of
Mexico. This was the beginning of his long career as a philologist and
archteologist. In 1884 he founded at Texcoco an academy for the preser-
vation and teaching of the ancient Aztec language, the school standing
on the site of the palace of Nezahualcoyotl.

At first the native children and school-teachers at Texcoco were mem-
bers of the academy or school, but later on its work attracted the attention
of the better classes and intelligent natives, including members of the
primitive tribes, all familiar with the language. The work of Mr. Hunt at
this period commended itself to learned men in Mexico, who offered to co-
operate with him in his enthusiastic efforts to rescue from oblivion the
ancient vernacular of the race.

It was in 1895 that Mr. Hunt met the Americanists who had assembled
in a congress in this city. He addressed them on the subject of an early
translation of ^sop's Fables from the Greek into the Nahuatl, done by a
friar of the sixteenth century, and put into Spanish by Mr. Hunt, who
appended a grammatical analysis. This work is now being turned into
English and Spanish by him, and when completed it will serve as a means
of acquiring the Nahuatl language.

While teaching Nahuatl in his Texcoco academy Mr. Hunt undertook,
successfully, to adapt the language to modern necessities. Following
Nahuatl analogy, he had the pupils learn such words as " huecatlacuilotiztli,"
or " far-off writing," otherwise " telegraph," while telephone was rendered
by the odd-looking and sounding word " huecacaquitiliztli," or " sound-
from-afar-off." Other modern words of daily use were turned into Nahuatl.
Several of the pupils, now grown up, occupy respectable positions in society
as merchants, priests, physicians, teachers, etc.

Notes and Queries. 165

In 1892 Mr. Hunt-Cortes' investigations in religious matters brought
him into communion with the Catholic Church, and in this act he had the
support and cordial encouragement of the late Archbishop of Mexico, INIgr.
Antonio Labastida, a remarkable prelate of much influence in Mexican
politics. The good will of the late Pope Leo XIII. was at this time mani-
fested to Mr. Hunt, who was baptized in the ancient church of Tacuba, a
notable edifice built from the ruins of the palace of the last lord of Tlaco-
pan, and of the temple of Huitzilco-Opochtli. Mr. Hunt-Cortes decided
to enter the priesthood, and made his preparatory studies in the College of
San Luis, Jacona, state of Michoacan.

His first mass, a simple low mass, was celebrated in the Cathedral of
Mexico. A first mass in Mexico is generally a high mass, with classical
music and an appropriate sermon, and in the presence of the sponsors of
the new priest. But Fr. Hunt-Cortes preferred to ascend to the altar of
God for the first time before a congregation of his Indian friends, who
earnestly desired this favor of him, their old acquaintance and ardent lover
of their race and language. His first high mass was celebrated in Tlaltiza-
pam, state of Morelos, and the enthusiasm of the good people of this town
was such that on ascending to the high altar he found before him a gold
and silver chalice and a large gold crucifix and cruets, wrought by the
hands of the faithful Indians from metals found in the state of Guerrero.

Fr. Hunt remained for a time in the hot country, laboring among the
Indian people with the zeal and Christian fervor of a faithful pastor of
souls. He had taken a special course in the National School of Medicine
in this city, and so was able to minister to the bodily needs of his flock.
His motto was after the manner of the pious missionaries of the sixteenth
century, to give to, rather than to receive from, the Indian.

In the fourth year of his priesthood he was given charge of the sanctuary
of Loretto, in this city, where he still discharges the sacred duties of the
ministry.

In this city everybody knows of Fr. Hunt's labors among the poor work-
ing boys, newsboys, pedlers, etc. He founded his Working Boys' Home
in 1896, under the auspices of President and Mme. Diaz, who have con-
tinued his true and powerful friends, taking great interest in this practical
form of philanthropy. In this school Fr. Hunt trains the boys, his " future
presidents," as he fondly calls them, for useful careers. He has had not
only Mexican lads, but Americans, Spaniards, French, and Cuban pupils,
and even a young Japanese, who was brought directly from Tokio to the
home. The latter, a bright little lad from ancient Nippon, is now again in
Japan, and keeps up an interesting correspondence with his benefactor in
Mexico.

Among his literary avocations, Fr. Hunt has established a magazine
called the " Hunt-Cortes Digest," treating of matters relating to the ancient
history of Mexico, language, races, etc. A course of instruction in Aztec
or Nahuatl is given, and much light thrown on the ancient civilization of
Mexico, which Fr. Hunt-Cortes calls the *' Egypt of the West."

VOL. xviii. — NO. 69. 1 2

1 66 younial of A merican Folk-Lore.

The Doughnut. — Mr. Charles Peabody is desirous of obtaining the in-
formation outlined in the following questionnaire : —

1. Have you in your family any special traditions, usages, or recipes
concerned with

doughnuts

gingernuts

crullers

crumpets

jumbles

pancakes

apees

olykoeks

pretzels ?

2. Can you suggest any additional names of such esculent objects?

3. At what meal, or on what day, season, feast, fast, etc., were particular
cakes or doughnuts eaten with you ?

4. What shapes were doughnuts, etc., wont to assume among your ac-
quaintance ?

5. Did any of the doughnuts and cookies have salt, seeds, or other sea-
soning sprinkled on top?

6. What special part did the children play with regard to cooking or
eating these things ?

Charles Peabody.
197 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Mass.

Answers may be sent to the Editor of this Journal or direct to Mr. Pea-
body.

LOCAL MEETINGS AND OTHER NOTICES.

Boston. — Thursday^ March 23. The regular meeting of the Boston
Branch was held at 8 p. m. at Faelten Hall, Huntington Chambers. Prof.
F. W. Putnam presided, and introduced Mr. George H. Pepper of the
American Museum of Natural History, New York, whose subject was "The
Navajo Blanket, its Weaving, its Symbolism and its Folk-Lore." Mr. Pep-
per gave a graphic account of the various steps in the making of a Navajo
blanket, as he had witnessed the process in the Southwest. Each step was
illustrated by fine lantern slides, with an explanation of the symbolism of
the various types. To illustrate his subject still further, Mr. Pepper showed
a number of fine blankets, some of them of great antiquity and value. The
address drew out an audience of members and friends that filled the hall.
Great interest was shown in the subject as presented by Mr. Pepper, and
many lingered after the address to get answers to their special questions.

Tuesday, May 9. The annual meeting, postponed from April, was held
at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Shreve, 1755 Beacon Street. In
the absence of Prof. Putnam, Mr. W, W. Newell presided, and after the
reports of the last meeting were read and accepted, the annual reports of

Bibliographical Notes. 167

the Secretary and the Treasurer were presented. The Secretary reported
a prosperous year, with a larger accession of new members than in any
single j^ear during her term of office, with only one death and two resigna-
tions from the branch. Meetings have been held regularly, and have been
well attended.

The report of the Treasurer, Eliot W. Remick, showed an unexpended
balance larger than usual in the treasury.

The following officers were elected for the ensuing year; President, Prof.
F. W. Putnam ; Vice-presidents, W. W. Newell and W. C. Farrabee ; Trea-
surer, Eliot W. Remick ; Secretary, Helen- Leah Reed ; Council, Mrs. H.
E. Raymond, Miss Marie Louise Everett, Miss Cora A. Benneson, Dr. J.
H. Woods, Langdon Warner.

After the business meeting, Langdon Warner of Harvard spoke on " The
Nomad Tribes of Central Asia." This w^as an extremely vivid account of
Mr. Warner's own experiences last year, when a member of the Carnegie
expedition under Prof. Pumpelly. This address dealt particularly with a
ride of his own from Khiva across the desert, and he brought before his
hearers, not only these nomads, as they appear and as they live, but their
modes of thought as well. He illustrated the latter phase of his subject by
a number of bits of folk-lore, as " He who offers a thirsty man water in
the desert, washes away the sins of a lifetime."

Helen L. Reed, Sec'y.

Acting Treasurer of the American Folk-Lore Society. — To fill
the vacancy left by the decease of Dr. Hinton, the Council has appointed
Mr. Eliot W. Remick, who will act in such capacity. Mr. Remick's address
is 300 Marlborough Street, Boston, Mass.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

BOOKS.

Legends of the Apple. A Paper read before the Cincinnati Branch of
the American Folk-Lore Society, October 19, 1904. By A. G. Drury,
A. M., M. D. Cincinnati, 1904. Pp. 52.

The topics treated in this little volume include : The name apple, the fruit
of the tree of knowledge, Adam's apple. Eve's apple-tree, forbidden fruit,
the apple of his eye, apples of Sodom, Atalanta's race, the apple of discord,
the apples of the Hesperides, the court of Alcinous, king of the Ph^acians,
William Tell and the apple, English lore about the apple, Sir Isaac Newton
and the apple, the apple-dumpling and the king (George III.), Shakespeare's
references to the apple, Grimms' Fairy Tales, Prince Ahmed and the fairy
Peri-Banu, the apple in European folk-lore, custard-apple, seedless apples,
" great apple dumpling " (N. Carolina), coreless apples, the apple-tree at
Appomattox, etc. The apple has figured largely in folk-lore, especially in
that of the Western European peoples, and Dr. Drury has gathered together

1 68 "* youriial of America7i Folk-Lore.

many interesting facts, legends, and proverbial expressions. The wide-
spread belief that the fruit of the tree of knowledge mentioned in Genesis
was the apple is thought to be due to a passage in the Song of Solomon
(viii. 5) : "I raised thee up under the apj>le tree : there thy mother brought
thee forth," The Hebrew word tappwah, used in Genesis, means " the
sweet-scented." The folk-lore of " the forbidden fruit" is quite extensive.
One of the " origins " of the expression " in apple-pie order " is given on
page 48. Also "apple-turn-over," as applied to a bed made in a certain
way.

Macedonian Folk-Lore. By G. F. Abbott, B. A. Cambridge : Univer-
sity Press, 1903. Pp. xi, 372. (Contains results of author's studies in
the Greek-speaking parts of Macedonia, 1900- 1901.)

The subjects treated are : The folk-lorist in Macedonia, the folk-calendar
and the seasons, winter-festivities, divination symbolism, birth, marriage,
funeral rites, spirits and spells, Macedonian mythology, Alexander and
Philip in folk-tradition, bird legends, miscellaneous, riddles, Kuavorpayov^a.
In spite of the inroads of modern " civilization," Macedonia is still a good
field for the folk-lorist. There " the old Klephtic ballads are still sung, not
only on the mountains, but in the fields and plains, and in all places where
the ear of the police cannot reach." Few remnants of the once so popular
blind minstrels are left, — these have died a twin death from civilization
and from barbarism. The cottage fireside is the hope of the folk-lorist here
as elsewhere. The enthusiasm for science of Kyr Liatsos, the tailor of
Melenik, was such that Mr. Abbot reckons him " worth at least a dozen
ordinary old dames rolled into one." His characteristic abandonment of
business and denunciation of the Turk are well expressed on page 5. The
meanings and popular names of the Macedonian-Greek month-names (often
purely folk-etymological) are, beginning with January : " Breeder," " Vein-
sweller," "Flayer," " St. George's Month,"" Harvester " (June), "Thresher,"
"Vintage Month" (September), "St. Demetrius' Month," "Sower," "St.
Nicholas' Month." November and December together are called " Twins."
The Macedonian Yule-tide celebrations in their entirety are described as
" solemn scenes," rather than " merry scenes." In Macedonia coffee instead
of tea is used for "cup divination." The shepherds of western Macedonia
practice omoplatoscopy. There are three different ways of interpreting
sneezing. No traces of " seers of the Scottish Highland type " Avere met
with, but " prophets " exist. Symbolic and sympathetic magic (e. g. rain-
making) flourishes. Interesting is the modification of classic tradition,
especially in funeral rites and customs through Slav influence. On page
225 we are informed that "the Mohammedan ministers and monks enjoy
a far higher reputation as wielders of magical powers than their Christian
confreres. Likewise the most famous fortune-tellers of either sex belong to
the Mohammedan persuasion." Part of this, the author remarks, "may
arise from the universal tendency to credit an intellectually inferior race
with greater proficiency in the black arts." The old Gypsy women, etc.,
are, however, formidable competitors of the dervishes. The Macedonian

Bibliographical Notes. 169

Sroixeta are cousins of the Russian domovoi and related to the Teutonic
brownie and the Celtic glaistig. To Alexander and Philip the Macedonian
peasant attributes " everything that savors of antiquity." The game of
" The Meeting of Three Roads " is identical with the English " Nine Men's
Morris." Riddles (Mr. Abbot cites half a hundred) are very popular in
Macedonia, and " the Macedonian farmer, like the French wit of a certain
class, delights in doitble-entendre." Mr. Abbot has written both an interesting
and a valuable book, filled with facts for the student of comparative folk-
lore.

Griechische Fruhlingstage. Von Edward Engel. Zweite, neubear-
beitete Auflage, mit 21 Bildern nach der Natur. Jena: Hermann Cos-
tenoble, 1904. Pp. 376.

This pleasant book of travel contains much of interest to the anthropolo-
gist and the student of folk-lore, — especially in the comparison of the old
and the new in thought, word, and deed in Hellas. The author has not done
as some travellers have, passed judgment on all the Greeks from his short
experience with boatmen, — even those of Corfu are not so black after all.
Food-adulteration is an art in which the modern Greeks are still complete
barbarians and will have to learn everything from the "Europeans," as they
call all other non-Greeks of the continent. In Ithaca the author learned
(contrary to some travellers' tales) that not all the children had Ulyssean
names, and some of them had never heard of the Homeric hero, except to
be able to point out his Kastroii. In Pyrgos, the capital of Elis, one meets
with pretzels, for which the Greek term seems to be kuluria. Interesting
are the Tragiidia Klcftika, songs of the Klephts. So too such proverbs as
" One hand washes the other, and both wash the face ; " and the na?marisma
(cradle-song) on page 124. The old Greek Moira are remembered in the
offering or putting away of food and drink for " the three Mires." In the
village-name Ajannu one has to recognize Agios yoannis (St. John). On
page 159 it is pointed out that the term " Je suis grec en jeu " (where grec
= sharper) arose in Paris at the time of the Mississippi fraud. Before that
greo (as in the Academy's Dictionary of 1694) meant simply " clever." The
modern Messenian calls the " powers " of Europe (i dindmis. The Lord's
Prayer in folk-Greek, not the church-tongue, is given on page 217. The
folk-idea of the Graeco-Turkish war is shown at pages 217-218; also the
popular conception of King Otto. The Argos Easter-dances are described
on pages 240-243. From his guide, Michail, the author was able to get
" a better word than alogon, for ' horse ' — viz. ippos." But the idea of its
survival from old Greek days was demolished, when Michail told him that a
German traveller some time before had told him to say ippos and not alogon,
or soon. In spite of a German philologian's disgust at a people who would
construe apo with the accusative, — they have fallen so low ! from the geni-
tive down, — the author hopes for them a happy future, citing the words
of a Greek friend : " After all we are much better than the ancient Hel-
lenes." When a Greek curses he wishes his enemy to be buried in foreign,
soil ; when two Greeks meet in a strange land, their greeting is Kalin
patrida ! " Happy Fatherland ! "

1 70 Journal of American Folk- Lore.

Les Mceurs des Indo-Chinois d'apres leurs cultes, leurs lois, leur littera-

ture et leur theatre. Par Ch. Lemire, Re'sident honoraire de France.

Paris, 1902. Pp. 28. Maps and figs.

This little book contains interesting data concerning the mental charac-
ters and achievements of the various races and peoples of Indo-China, —
Annamese, Kiams, Thais, Khmers, Siamese, etc. The Annamese have
Confucian morals, ancestor-worship, laws and literature, all more or less
Chinese, — also a sort of bastard Buddhism. In Cambodia, Buddhism suc-
ceeded Brahmanism, with which it mingled. Just as Annamese culture has
been so greatly influenced by China, so has Siamese and Thai by India.
The Chinese drama uses only as springs of human actions natural morals,
reason, ancestor-worship, — divinity, although dominating humanity, ap-
pears only vaguely and unpersonified. With the Khmers (Thai) events are
subordinated to personal merits and demerits, and the characters are in
mental and supernatural relations with the divinities. The Annamites, a
realistic people, indifferent to beauty, form, ideal, woman, do not practice the
dance. With the Cambodians it accompanies all plays and festivals. Said
Prince Yukanthor : " The Cambodian dance they showed us at Paris in 1900
resembles the Khmer dance as the civilization introduced into Cambodia
by the French resembles the ancient civilization of the Khmers ! "

Some Cambodian proverbs may be reproduced here : —

1. Do not try to go up stream.

2. The law, beside our passions, is like a flower on the head of a bald man.

3. Do not be morose. One can live in a narrow room, but one cannot live with a
griefstricken heart.

4. Fortune is not equal to knowledge.

5. Battle is painful. If the army goes away, be sad. If it stays near, be happy.

The Siamese tale of " The Walking Skull " is directed at drunkenness.
Being brief, it may be given here : " Two drunkards were friends. One of
them died. Some time after the cremation of his comrade the survivor went
to the cemetery. Perceiving the half-carbonized skull of his friend, he be-
gan to lament, and, addressing the dead man, he invited him, as a sort of
adieu, to come to drink a cup with him as of old. He then left. The skull
at once rolled after him along the road. The drunkard, hearing behind him
something like the noise of a cracked cocoanut, turned round and saw, to
his great surprise, the dead man's skull moving towards him as if by means
of a spring. Brave and gay companion, he was not afraid. ' My friend,'
he said to himself, ' is thirsty. He is coming to drink some brandy with me
at the inn where we have passed so many happy moments.' "

This is a good example of the short Siamese tales.

Tiele's Kompendium der Religionsgeschichte iibersetzt von Lie. Dr.
F. W. T. Weber. Dritte deutsche Auflage durchgesehen und umgearbeitet
von D. Nathan Soderblom, Professor an der Universitat Upsala. Bres-
lau: Verlag von Theophil Biller, 1903. Pp. xii, 426.

, The very brief space devoted to the religions of primitive America in this
Compendium, four or five pages only, deserves extension in view of the

Bibliograph ica I Notes. 171

recent studies of Boas, Matthews, Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Dorsey, Fevvkes,
Mooney, Hewitt, etc. None of these investigators are included in the
list of references, reliance being placed on Reville. Totemism and animal-
cult are distinguished. Totemism is often social rather than religious.
The " sun-worship theocracy " (p. 28) of the Natchez is given too much
importance, perhaps. The deities of the civilized peoples of Mexico and
Peru often "hovered between spirits and gods," as the names given them
sometimes indicate.

WiE DENKT DAS VoLK UBER DIE Sprache ? Plaudcreicn iiber die Eige-
nart der Ausdrucks- und Anschauungsweise des Volkes von Professor Dr.
Friedrich Palle. Dritte, verbesserte Auflage von Professor Dr. Oskar
Weise. Leipzig & Berlin : B. G. Teubner, 1904, pp. v, 112.

The first edition of this really interesting and useful little book appeared
in 18S9, A glance at the section titles and the index (pp. 127-153, 2
cols, to the page in the old) shows that Dr. Weise, who edited it after the
death of the author, has made a good many changes, both of addition and
of omission. The topics treated are : Folk and language, relation of sound
and idea, choice and significance of names, history and use of personal
names, number in the mouth of the folk, vanished speech-consciousness,
culture-historical deposits in language, clearness of folk-speech, vocabulary
of dialect, vivacity of presentation, convenience, liberties of folk-speech.
On page 15 attention is called to the references to peculiarities of bodily
organs, etc., in Latin names: Flaccus ("flabby"), Brutus ("heavy"), Len-
tulus ("slow"), Balbus ("stammerer"), Lurco ("glutton"), Naso ("big
nose "), Nasica (" sharp-nose "), Labeo (" thick lips "), Capito (" block-
head"), Calvus ("bald"). Varus ("crooked leg"), etc. At another ex-
treme was the German patriots, who named their daughters Gneisenatiette.
and Bliicherin. " Fanny," as a diminutive of Franziska, obtained currency
in Germany from the name of the heroine of Fielding's novel published in
1742. To literary influences are due also the run of Edgar and Edmund
(King Lear), Richard (Scott's Ivanhoe and Talisman), Flora (Scott's
Waverley), etc. In central Germany the military records reveal a peasant's
son with the name of Florian Stephan TertuUiani! The governmental re-
naming of the Jews produced many such appellations as Lowental, Veilchen-
feld, etc. Among interesting number terms and phrases may be cited the
following: A nine-skm man (Leipzig = "a sly fellow"), nine-wise (Low
German = " very wise"), seven league boots, a face like three (ox seven)
days of rainy weather, take your seven baked pears, and go, the food is
already wzxmed Jif teen times, he has only three senses, he can't count up to
three, he is three cYveests high, etc. The expressions "eine alte Jungfer, ein
silbernes Hufreisen, die Stadt Diisseldorf, Messinghorn, ein vier blattriges
Kleeblatt," etc., represent curious appositions to which the ear has become
accustomed. Innumerable are such turns of folk-speech as "to be all ear,"
" to run one's legs off," "to be nothing but skin and bone," "to be beside
one's self" (pp. 69-73).

The richness of dialects in names for animals, synonyms, onomatopoeic

1 72 Jotimal of American Folk-Lore.

terms, euphemisms, etc., is noted. H. Schrader collected over 500 similes
and idioms for drinking. Among the " liberties " taken by folk-speech may
be mentioned the Tyrolean die Menschin, and the die Dingin of several
dialects.

Although the author naturally confines himself very much to German
words and phrases, the English student of folk-speech and folk-etymology
will read this book to great advantage.

Sociological Papers, by Francis Galton, E. Westermarck, P, Geddes,
E. DuRKHEiM, Harold H. Mann, and V. V. Branford, with an Intro-
ductory Address by James Bryce, President of the Society. Published
for the Sociological Society, London : Macmillan & Co., 1904. Pp.
xviii, 292.

This volume consists chiefly of the papers read during the spring and
summer of 1904 before the newly formed Sociological Society, at its first
session. The names of the authors guarantee good contents. The article
of most interest to the folk-lorist is Professor Westermarck's " On the Posi-
tion of Woman in Early Civilization " (pp. 145-160). The other topics
treated are the origin and use of the word sociology, eugenics (its scope
and aim), civics (as applied sociology), life in an agricultural village in
England, the relation of sociology to the social sciences and to philosophy,
sociology and the social sciences. To most of the papers are appended
discussions and written communications by other sociologists. Dr. Wes-
termarck cites evidence to show " how little we know at present about the
real causes on which the position of woman in the various human societies
depends," and how incorrect, in so far as the earlier stages of culture are
concerned, is the dictum that " a people's civilization may be measured by
the position held by its women." For " even where the position of the
female sex, from a legal, religious, and social point, is disgracefully low, the
women, in spite of their physical weakness, are not quite unable to influence
the men, and even to make their husbands tremble." The common invest-
ing of women with a certain mystery has often led to man's fear of, or re-
spect for, their magic powers. Economic conditions also vary the position
of woman among uncivilized races. The husband's " rights " are often not
so absolute as many have supposed. Custom must be distinguished from
mere tyranny.

A. F. C.

THE JOURNAL OF

AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

Vol. XVIIL — JULY-SEPTEMBER, 1905.— No. LXX.

MEXICAN HUMAN SACRIFICE.

Ceremonial slaughter of human beings has been practised in the
world widely and for various reasons. Where the belief exists that
earthly social grades and relations are continued in the other world,
it is natural to dispatch wives and slaves to minister to a dead man
in his new life. In this case the slaying is merely an expression of
respect and kindness to the deceased — simple social etiquette ; the
victim fulfils the duty of his or her station, and no religious senti-
ment is involved. The same thing is true when a captive or other
person is killed and eaten merely for food or to acquire his qualities
(courage, wisdom, and the like) ; the procedure in such cases is
physically or psychically economic. If a man is killed in order that
his ghost may harass an enemy, this again is a social secular act, not
religious. If the object of the slaughter is to secure a skull as a
powerful supernatural thing, guardian or oracular, we have a re-
ligious ceremony, a wise provision for the ministrant's welfare. He
takes a skull as he would take a magic stone or the claw of a magic
animal ; but to get the skull its owner must be killed.

A different element enters when human blood or the offering of
human life is required to insure fertility of soil or of animals, or
stability of houses or bridges. In some cases the ritual conception
in this ceremony appears to be the recognition of the magical power
residing in blood considered as the seat of life. The motive is
economic, and the procedure is scientific in so far as the blood is
employed as a fertilizer ; but as its fertiHzing power depends not on
its chemical ingredients, but on its superhuman qualities, the pro-
cedure assumes the form of magic ritual, possibly with a religious
tinge. It is sometimes difficult or impossible to say whether such
use of blood involves the conception of a distinctly supernatural
force. In the central Australian economic (food-producing) cere-
monies, for example, there is, according to the statements of Messrs.
Spencer and Gillen,^ nothing but the bare process ; it appears to be
^ The Native Tribes of Central Australia.

174 journal of A mericart Folk-L ore.

a sort of imitative magic. But it is possible that the blood employed
is supposed to be acceptable and seductive to the controlling spirits
of the various classes of animals.

In this latter case the ceremony involves the placation of a super-
natural being by the offer of food. The food placed by the grave of
a dead man was partly a tribute of respect, the fulfilment of a pious
duty ; in part, also, it was, doubtless, a gift designed to procure the
good offices of the deceased. In a relatively late stage blood was a
common offering to ghosts, as in the Athenian Anthesteria, and this
was a true sacrifice. When ghosts grew into deities, the ceremonial
offering of blood became an elaborate rite ; and the custom might
easily be carried over from ghosts or infernal deities to high gods.
The blood offered might be non-human or human.

An obscure religious sentiment is to be recognized sometimes,
also, in those cases, if any such exist, in which the sins or evils of a
community are held to be massed in the person of a human being
who is then slain, and thus the evils are got rid of.^ The victim, in
such a ceremony, is not a substitute for other human beings, nor is
he an offering to a deity ; he represents the idea that evil is a physi-
cal thing that may be thrust forth like a mass of wood or earth.
The killing is ceremonial, communal, and apotropaic (that is, ulti-
mately economic). In the crudest forms of the procedure there
seems to be no religious idea ; in the higher forms it is brought into
connection with supernatural beings.

Ceremonial slaughter of human beings originates in a time of
savagery when human life is little considered in itself. In many
cases the victims are preferably children, perhaps because children
are regarded as socially of less importance than adults. The practice
survived in some ancient civilized nations, notably among the Semites
(Carthaginians, Hebrews, and others) ; but in these cases it was con-
nected with more advanced religious ideas.

The Mexican religious cult, in which human sacrifice figured
largely, was relatively well developed, having a great apparatus of
temples and priests, with elaborate ceremonies. Some of the sacri-
ficial details are found in other cults ; the act of slaughter is com-
mon to all animal sacrifices, and the barbarous mode of killing is a
feature of social culture and is not in itself religiously important.
There is, however, one detail of the cult (occurring in certain sacri-
fices) that is not found in the Carthaginian and other ancient cere-
monies of human sacrifice : it is the reverent care that in certain
cases was lavished on the victim for some time before he or she was
put to death. The facts are familiar and need not be repeated here

1 Some facts bearing on this point are collected by Frazer in his Golden Bough,
ii, and Miss Harrison in her Prolegom. to the Study of the Greek Religion, ch. iii.

Mexican Human Sacrifice. 175

at length.^ The main points are these : the victim was identified
with the god to whom he was to be sacrificed ; he received the dress
and the name of the god, was luxuriously housed, and when he went
forth was worshipped and prayed to as divine; after he was slain,
his heart was offered to a god, his head was preserved as a sacred
object, and (according to Herrera) his heart was eaten. It is obvious
that this procedure differs from those described above. Its object is
not to provide an attendant for a deceased chief or to secure good
crops, nor merely to gain a head. Nor is Mr. Frazer's explanation
satisfactory, namely, that the divine man must be slain that he may
not incur the weaknesses of old age.^ There is no suggestion of
such an idea in the Mexican system. The identification of the vic-
tim with the god is naturally explicable as a development from the
early rite in which the victim is regarded as divine by nature (as in
the examples given below). Since the victim was a god and the
continued presence of the god was desirable, it is not difficult to see
how the custom arose of clothing the ministrant in the skin of the
slain animal or man. Such a mode of personation is frequent in
very early ceremonies, as in Australia and North America ; a striking
Greek instance is given by W. R. Smith,^ though here later ideas
also appear. The examples collected by Mr. Frazer of the slaying
of divine kings and of their temporary abdication, while very inter-
esting in themselves, do not appear to be connected with the placa-
tion of gods, and therefore have no bearing on the question of
Mexican human sacrifice. So far as the mere act of slaughter is
concerned, in this and every other animal sacrifice, it might be
explained as necessary in order that blood or flesh might be offered
to the deity, as, in fact, in Mexico the heart of the victim was so
offered. But, as is remarked above, there are other details in the
Mexican ceremony that demand explanation.

For the elucidation of the central fact of this ceremony — the
religious reverence paid the victim before his death — we naturally
seek similar customs in other nations. Exact and instructive paral-
lels, however, it is difficult to find — ceremonies, that is, in which a
human victim is petted before being slain, and in which an explana-
tion of the whole procedure is suggested.* Failing this, we must look
for parallels in which the victim is a beast, and the procedure simpler.

^ They are given in Acosta's Historia de las Tndias, bk. v. chs. lo, 21 ; Saha-
gun's Histoire des chases de la Nouvelle Espagne (Fr. trans.), bk. ii, ch. 5 ; Her-
rera's Historia de las Indias Ocidentales, III, ii, caps. 16, 17.

"^ Golden Bough, ch. iii.

^ Religion of the Semites, Additional Note G.

* A somewhat similar procedure is described, from Le Mercier, in Parkman's
Jesuits in North America, p. 80. For India, see Weber, Itidische Streifen, i, d^,
and Hopkins, Relig. of India, p. 196.

176 yournal of A merican Folk-L ore.

Such ceremonies, more nearly primitive may suggest the desired
explanation.

Certain of the features of the Mexican ritual appear in the bear
festival of the Ainu.^ The bear cub is carefully nurtured (sometimes
suckled by the women) till he is of the proper age, and is then
brought out, worried, and killed — slain, like the Mexican victim, in
a savagely cruel manner. He is regarded as a god both before and
after death. The invitation to the feast (which is prepared by the
possessor of the cub) announces that the little divinity of the moun-
tain is to be " sent away " — he is a messenger.^ The address to the
animal, before it is killed, asks pardon for what is to be done, assures
him that great honor is thus paid him, and that abundance of food
and drink will be sent along with him, and begs him to speak well
of the people when he reaches his parents and other divine friends
in the other world. Similar petitions are addressed to him after
he is killed ; his head is cut off and preserved as a sacred object ;
a potage of the flesh is partaken of by all persons present ; his
own flesh is set before the head as food and worship is offered it.
He is prayed to return, that he may again be hunted and " sent
away." The belief that a slain animal reports to his fellows the
manner of his treatment by men, and thus procures or prevents a
plentiful supply of game, is widespread among the North American
tribes ; and in the California buzzard festival^ the killing of the bird
seems to be connected with the desire for an abundant supply of the
species, though there is no suggestion of how this result is to be
brought about. The Ainu ritual appears to give a definite reason
for the killing of the animal : it is sent as a messenger to the inhab-
itants of the other world, not merely to procure a supply of game,
but also to secure the good will of the Powers in the beyond. A
respectful message, sent by a proper person, is in fact a natural
way of gaining the favor of the powerful.

The character of emissary comes out plainly in the Borneo pig
ceremonies described by Mr. Haddon.^ When the object is divina-
tion by means of the pig's liver, the animal is asked to convey a
message to the god ; and as it is important that the message be car-
ried correctly, the attention of the victim is secured, during the
utterance of the address to the deity, by holding and prodding it.
On the occasion of naming a child, when it is desired to know the

* I follow the description in John Batchelor's The Aititi and their Folklore, c\\.
42.

2 According to Mr. Batchelor the Ainu term corresponding to our "sacrifice "
means to " send away."

* See Frazer, Golden Bough.

*■ A. C. H addon, Head-Hunters, pp. 336, 353 ff.

Mexican Human Sacrifice. 177

will of the appropriate god, the latter is not addressed directly, but
the pig is the intermediator between him and the suppliant. The
feeling seems to be that the god is too great a personage to be ap-
proached directly by men. The pig, the familiar friend of man, yet
by its nature akin to the gods, is a natural go-between. The death
of the animal is necessary, since only by this means can its soul go
to the world of the gods, where it is conceived of as mingling on
terms of equality with the divine inhabitants. The report of this
ceremony says nothing of a hope for the return of the pig to earth,
and very little of a friendly or caressing treatment of it before it is-
slain ; the main point is its function as messenger, a function that
supposes the existence of well-developed high gods.

The Ainu and Borneo ceremonies offer parallels to the two main
points in the Mexican ritual, — the reverent treatment of the divine
victim and its slaughter (and the tearing out of the man's heart
in Mexico may be compared with the extraction of the pig's liver in
Borneo). That the victim is carefully and honorably tended, we
may suppose, is the expression partly of respect for its divine charac-
ter, partly of desire to gain its good will and secure its good offices in
the other world. Thus nurtured and petted, it may be expected to
go its way cheerfully with its message to the gods. Such would be
the conception of the ceremony in its earlier form. In the course
of time, in a growing community, the cruder ideas of the ritual
would be outgrown and forgotten, but the general procedure would
persist as a traditional sacred and potent ceremony : the victim
would be caressed and slain, not because it was regarded as an am-
bassador, but because such treatment was held, in accordance with
tradition, to be acceptable to the gods ; still later, the preliminary
ceremony would be dispensed with, the slaughter of the victim would
be regarded as the effective thing, and would be brought into rela-
tion with such other conceptions of gods and sin as might meantime
have arisen.

In the earliest examples that I have found of this ambassadorial
slaughter the victim is a beast; the slaying of human beings as
sacrifice proper belongs to a relatively advanced cultural stage of
society. There are no records to explain precisely the manner of
the transition from beast to man ; conjectures on this point must be
derived from the general history of religious cults. It is known that
the early intense and vital belief in the sacredness and divinity of
beasts gradually faded away. Wild animals were relegated to a
separate domain, and became more and more alienated from man ;
domestic animals were employed for labor and food, and lost, through
familiarity, their sacred character except as it survived in obscured

178 Journal of A merica n Folk-L ore.

form in certain stated and unexciting ceremonies ; totemistic creeds
vanished with the adoption of the agricultural life. When there was
a demand for a particularly powerful offering to the gods, human
life, as more worthy and precious, would seem to be especially
appropriate. Up to a certain stage of social growth such an offering
would not be offensive to public taste. The slaying of human beings
for various reasons (as is mentioned above) had long been practised,
and a certain degree of savage indifference to human slaughter
lingered long in half-civilized communities. Ancient methods of
warfare (particularly, perhaps, among the Semites) were characterized
by proceedings barbarous in the highest degree. In modern times
illustrations are afforded by the wars between the Poles and the
Russians in the seventeenth century, by the Thirty Years' War in
Germany, and by the treatment of the Jews in Europe up to the
seventeenth century. Thus, in ancient cults, where slaughter was
the traditional form of sacrifice, no humane considerations would avail
to deter men from offering what they thought would be most accept-
able to the higher Powers.

In some such way, it may be supposed, occurred the transition
from the simple process of sending a messenger to the gods to the
sacrificial ritual of the Mexicans. It does not enter into the plan of
this paper to discuss human sacrifice in general. When a ritual pro-
cedure has once been established, every succeeding generation will
infuse into it its own religious ideas ; these later accretions must be
distinguished from the original conception, and my object is to sug-
gest one possible starting-point for the historical development of
animal sacrifice in general and human sacrifice in particular.

A couple of American Indian ceremonies may be mentioned, the
origin of which may be illustrated from the facts presented above.
One of these is the White Buffalo Festival of the Uncpapas described
by Miss Fletcher.^ Of the many interesting details given by her it
will be sufficient here to call attention to those that seem to have
relation with our particular point. Her introductory remark is sig-
nificant : " A man who kills a white buffalo is considered to have
received a blessing from the gods." One naturally asks why the
slaughter of the animal should be regarded as an evidence of divine
favor and recognition ; the report of the ritual does not distinctly
answer this question ; the answer must be sought in some under-
lying early conception. The main features of the ceremony are the
divine worship offered to the dead body, and the solemn eating of

1 Alice C. Fletcher, in the Sixteenth Report of the Peabody Musejun of Ameri-
can ArchcEology and Ethnology (Cambridge, 18S3); also as separate pamphlet
(Salem, Mass., 1884).

Mexican Human Sacrifice, 1 79

the flesh of the animal. Food and drink are placed beside the head
of the hide — an offering, the Indians say, to the buffalo ; pipes are
presented to the hide and then to the chiefs ; portions of the hide
are preserved as bringing good luck ; the skull is laid finally at the
foot of the sacred pole ; soup, prepared from the scrapings of the
hide, is eaten by all the men present, and the buffalo meat is solemnly
eaten by the chiefs. That is, the animal is treated as a god, and
the slaying of it is regarded as bringing a blessing from the gods.
The ceremony is not totemistic ; no such religious worship is else-
where paid a totem simply as a totem. The resemblance to the
Ainu ritual suggests that the two may have had the same origin :
the killing of the buffalo would then be meritorious because it was
necessary that the soul of the animal should be sent as messenger to
the high gods, and these latter would be pleased with such a mark of
respect and homage. The Uncpapa ritual is a relatively advanced
one, and it would not be surprising if certain primitive features —
such as the preparatory caressing of the animal and the putting, a
message into its mouth — should have faded away. The Mexican
ceremony has preserved the former of these features ; it is a famil-
iar fact that in the transmission of early religious procedures dif-
ferent communities may retain or abandon different parts of the
whole ; the complete ceremony is sometimes to be reconstructed
from the scattered remains found in various cults.

Perhaps the Zuni turtle ceremony may offer a vestige of the am-
bassadorial slaughter of an animal.^ The sacred turtle, treated after
its capture with every mark of respect and affection, is then killed,
with prayers and offerings, its flesh and bones deposited in the
river, and its shell preserved as a sacred thing in the house. The
native comment on the procedure is that the turtle is a kinsman,
that when killed it does not die, but only changes its place, goes to
the home of its brothers. This is an expression of the widespread
belief in the identity of certain animals with certain human beings,
but it does not explain why the killing of the turtle was regarded as
a religious duty. Mr. Frazer makes the suggestion that the object
of the ceremony is to keep up communication with the souls of the
departed, which are supposed to be assembled in the other world in
the form of turtles. The suggestion is in the right direction, but is
not definite enough. To make the communication effective a mes-
sage must be sent. Of such message there is no mention in the
record, but a comparison with the Ainu ritual makes it not improb-
able that the Zuni ceremony is a refinement on an earlier procedure
in which the soul of the slain animal was dispatched as ambassador

* See F. H. Gushing, " My Adventures in Zufii," in The Century for May,
1883.

1 8o journal of A merican Folk-L ore.

to the gods. The ceremony might be supposed, it is true, to belong
in the same category with the numerous cases in which a slave or
a kinsman is slain as messenger to a deceased person ; but the
elaborate details of the Zuiii ritual, the deep feeling manifested by
the slayer, and the religious homage paid to the animal appear to
invest it with a higher significance.

Other features besides the slaying of the victim enter into the
rituals described above, particularly, the eating of the animal's
flesh. This side of the sacrificial ceremony has its own line of de-
velopment and requires a separate treatment. It seems to have
originated in the desire to secure for the worshippers the potency of
the sacred body ; it was communal, as most religious functions were
communal in early times, when the social unit was the clan or the
larger family.' From time to time it has been modified and reshaped
as new ideas came in and the constitution of society changed.

As is suggested above, the ambassadorial sacrifice may be regarded
as analogous to the custom of slaying a man in order that he may
convey a message to a deceased friend. The two procedures have
in common the fact of a message to the other world. But the note-
worthy feature in the Ainu and Borneo rites is that these definitely
open communication between man and the gods and secure the good
will and aid of the latter ; they are thus religious and sacrificial in a
sense that is not true of the mere sending of a message to a dead
person. It is also to be noted that, in the crudest known rites of
this nature, it is a sacred (that is, divine) beast that is sent as mes-
senger, and not a human being ; and therefore the employment of
a human being in the specific character of sacrifice would seem to
be a relatively late custom.^

Crawford H. Toy.

1 Suggestions of an ambassadorial function for sacrificial animals are cited above
(from Frazer), and after this article was prepared I found that a view some-
what similar to that here given had been expressed by MM. Hubert and Mauss in
their " Essai sur le Sacrifice " in VAnnee Sociologique, vol. ii. 1898. These gen-
tlemen, starting not with simple savage forms, but with late elaborate sacrificial
rituals, particularly the Hindu and the Hebrew, reach the conclusion that sacrifice
is a religious act which, by the consecration of a victim, modifies the condition of
the moral person who performs it, or of certain objects in which this person is
interested; that the sacrificial procedure consists in establishing a communication
between the sacred world and the profane world by the intermediation of a victim,
that is to say, of a thing destroyed in the course of the ceremony ; that the object
of the slaying is to detach the sacred soul of the animal from its profane body,
and that the disengaged soul may be employed to convey the wishes of the wor-
shippers to the celestial Powers. I am glacl to find myself so far in accord with
these eminent scholars. It is not clear to me, however, by what path they reach
their conclusion ; the idea of intermediation or ambassadorial function is not
expressed in the Hindu, Hebrew, and Greek rituals, and nothing in our authors'

Mexican Human Sacrifice. i8i

analysis (if I have understood them correctly) appears to demand it. Further,
the distinction they make between the sacred soul and the profane body of the
victim is not borne out by the history of ritual; on the contrary, the body,
from the earliest times onward, is sacred, and the partaking of the flesh, as sacred,
forms an important part of most ancient sacrificial procedures. Nor is it true, as
they represent, that the animal is sanctified by the sacrificial procedure ; the
animal is sacred by nature, and it is for that very reason that it is chosen to be a
messenger to the gods. But notwithstanding what I conceive to be serious
defects in their general construction of the sacrificial ceremony, they appear to
have divined its fundamental idea, and their essay is suggestive throughout.

1 82 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

RIDDLES FROM MASSACHUSETTS.

I. What grows in winter and dies in summer, and always grows with
the biggest end up ?

(An icicle.)

2. Round as an apple,

Busy as a bee,
The prettiest thing
That ever you see.
(A watch.)

3. Round as an apple,

Yellow as gold,
With more things in it
Than you 're years old.
(A pumpkin.)

4. In a mill there is a chest,
In the chest there is a till,
In the till there is a cup,
In the cup there is a drop,

No man eats it, no man drinks it, no man can live without it
(A drop of blood.)

5. As high as a house,
As low as a mouse.
As green as grass,
As black as ink.
As bitter as gall,
Yet sweet for all.

(A walnut.)

6. Riddle cum riddle cum rawley,
Petticoat bound in scarlet,
Stone in the middle.

Stick in the tail,
Tell me this riddle,
Without any fail.
(A cherry.)

7. There is an old woman that has but one eye.

Every time she goes through the gap,
She leaves a piece of her tail in the gap,
(A needle.)

Helen S. Thurston.

The Algonkin Manitou. 183

THE ALGONKIN MANITOU.i

The Algonkin conception of the manitou is bound up with the
manifold ideas that flow from an unconscious relation with the out-
side world. It is embodied in all forms of religious belief and prac-
tice, and is intimately associated with customs and usages that bear
upon life and its welfare. It is the purpose in the following pages to
give simply, and in as few words as possible, the meaning of the man-
itou as it is understood by three Algonkin peoples — the Sauk, Fox,
and Kickapoo. All three speak related dialects of the same lan-
guage ; all three have a similar form of society ; and all three have
much the same religious rites and practices. It will be convenient
to refer to them collectively, and when the reference is made the
term Algonkin shall be used ; the term shall apply to them only, and
not to other units of the same family.

In the first place the term manitou is a religious word ; it car-
ries with it the idea of solemnity ; and whatever the association it
always expresses a serious attitude, and kindles an emotional sense
of mystery. The conceptions involved in its use can best be shown
by taking up some features of Algonkin religion.

The essential character of Algonkin religion is a pure, naYve wor-
ship of nature. In one way or another associations cluster about an
object and give it a certain potential value ; and because of this sup-
posed potentiality, the object becomes the recipient of an adoration.
The degree of the adoration depends in some measure upon the extent
of confidence reposed in the object, and upon its supposed power of
bringing pleasure or inflicting pain. The important thing with the
individual is the emotional effect experienced while in the presence
of the object, or with an interpreted manifestation of the object.
The individual keeps watch for the effect, and it is the effect that fills
the mind with a vague sense of something strange, something mys-
terious, something intangible. One feels it as the result of an active
substance, and one's attitude toward it is purely passive.

To experience a thrill is authority enough of the existence of the
substance. The sentiment of its reahty is made known by the fact
that something has happened. It is futile to ask an Algonkin for an
articulate definition of the substance, partly because it would be
something about which he does not concern himself, and partly be-
cause he is quite satisfied with only the sentiment of its existence.
He feels that the property is everywhere, is omnipresent. The feeling

^ The quotations and references throughout this paper are from notes and
Algonkin texts collected in work for the American Museum of Natural History,
New York city.

184 Journal of American Folk-Lore,

that it is omnipresent leads naturally to the belief that it enters into
everything in nature ; and the notion that it is active causes the mind
to look everywhere for its manifestations. These manifestations
assume various forms, they vary with individuals and with reference
to the same and different objects. Language affords means of
approaching nearer to a definition of this religious sentiment.

In the Algonkin dialects of the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo, a rigid
distinction of gender is made between things with life and things
without life. When they speak of a stone they employ a form which
expresses the inanimate character of the stone ; in the same way,
when they speak of a dog they use another form which indicates the
animate nature of the dog. Accordingly, when they refer to the
manitou in the sense of a virtue, a property, an abstraction, they
employ the form expressive of inanimate gender. When the manitou
becomes associated with an object, then the gender becomes less defi-
nite. Some reasons for this confusion will become evident farther on.

When the property becomes the indwelling element of an object,
then it is natural to identify the property with animate being. It is
not necessary that the being shall be the tangible representative of
a natural object. To illustrate a concrete instance of this sentiment,
here is the comment made by a Fox apropos of an experience in the
sweat lodge : " Often one will cut one's self over the arms and legs, slit-
ting one's self only through the skin. It is done to open up many pas-
sages for the manitou to pass into the body. The manitou comes from
the place of its abode in the stone. It becomes roused by the heat of
the fire, and proceeds out of the stone when the water is sprinkled
on it. It comes out in the steam, and in the steam it enters the
body wherever it finds entrance. It moves up and down and all over
inside the body, driving out everything that inflicts pain. Before
the manitou returns to the stone it imparts some of its nature to the
body. That is why one feels so well after having been in the sweat
lodge."

The sentiment behind the words rests upon the consciousness of
a belief in an objective presence ; it rests on the sense of an existing
reality with the quality of self-dependence ; it rests on the percep-
tion of a definite, localized personality. Yet at the same time there
is the feeling that the apprehended reality is without form and without
feature. This is the dominant notion in regard to the virtue abiding
in the stone of the sweat lodge ; it takes on the character of conscious
personality with some attributes of immanence and design.

Falling in line with what has just gone before is the belief that the
virtue can be transferred from one object to another. The virtue
in both objects is of the same fundamental nature, but of different
degree and of unequal value. In the transfer, the virtue of one

The Alg07ikin Manitou. 185

object reinforces that of the other. Such is the idea implied in the
following abridged narrative.

A body of Sauks had wandered out on the Plains in search of buf-
falo. While approaching a vast herd they came unexpectedly upon
some Comanches who were much fewer than they and who were
creeping upon the same herd. The Sauks rushed them, and the Co-
manches at once took to flight. But in the pursuit the Sauks were
delayed by a lone Comanche. He had chosen to sacrifice his life in
order to give his comrades a chance to escape. He accomplished his
purpose. The man's deed and the bravery he displayed aroused a
feeling of admiration from his foes. And out of honor for the man
they chose not to take his scalp nor to count coup upon him. But
instead they cut out his heart. Passing it around, they all ate of it.

So much for the narrative in brief. To the Algonkin the heart
was endued with the manitou, the sense of the manitou being an
impersonal essence, a supernatural virtue. The men ate the heart
to get its supernatural quality. They believed that the quality was
what made the Comanche so brave, and that by eating the heart they
could come into possession of its quality. They felt that it would
react upon them in the same way as it had upon the Comanche ; and
furthermore, that the combined effect of the quality within them and
what was in the Comanche would render it possible for them to be-
come better fighters than they could otherwise have become. The
example betrays the reliance placed upon the help of the cosmic
substance rather than upon human aid. The reliance does not rest
upon a random hope, but on an assurance that the expected will
come to pass with a happy result.

It is natural to confuse the property with an object containing the
property. The confusion is frequently met with in what are consid-
ered mediums of manifestations. For instance, there is an Algonkin
story which contains an episode of the cosmic hero taking upon him-
self the form of a pretty maiden. The girl comes to a lodge where
she is entertained by an aged woman. The old woman prepares two
grains of corn and a bean, and putting them into a small bowl, invites
the girl to eat. The girl nibbles one grain at a time, and for every
grain that is taken out, there is always another to take its place.
Finally the girl eats up the food and returns the vessel empty to the
hostess. The old woman looks with wonder at the empty bowl, and
then turning to the girl, remarks, " You must be a manitou ! "

It is desirable to point out two arrestive features, arrestive to the
sense of an Algonkin who is a passive, uncritical listener to the tale.
One is the continued multiplication of the food, and the other is the
interruption of the performance. One's unconscious feeling about
the food is that its recurrence was due to the work of the impersonal,

1 86 Journal of A merican Folk-L ore.

mystic property with which the food was charged and because of which
it was replenished; and that the amazement of the old woman was
due to the surprise felt at the sight of a miraculous interruption of
a miraculous multiplying process. She laid the cause to the girl,
whom she addressed as an animate form of the substance. Naming
her an animate manitou was the same as making the property and
the creature one and the same thing.

Here is another story which illustrates the ambiguity, but in a dif-
ferent relation. It is the story of a man and his wife who had gone
off on a distant hunt for game. One evening they caught sight of
some Sioux who had been shadowing them. In the gathering dark-
ness and during a drizzling rain they set out in flight. The Sioux
were moving about them on every side, and were signalling back and
forth with the cries of birds and animals in an effort to locate the
pair.

Despairing of escape by their own help, the man and his wife stopped
and dismounted. The man was not able to get into rappoH with the
mystery, and so called upon his wife. In a little while she heard words
coming to her from on high. They were words spoken to her by
her elder brother when she was a child ; he had spoken them during
a fast and on the day he had died. They were : " If ever in the
course of your life you meet with adversity, then think of me."
With these words were others telling how she and her husband
should escape. The story goes on to tell how the pair followed the
advice and how they made their escape.

The story has one purpose : it is to tell of deliverance by the help
of a transcendent agency ; in this case it is an elder brother who
comes as a mystic apparition invested with the cosmic substance,
and having the attribute of prophecy and guidance.

Further instances of the confusion are to be found in the narra-
tives of individual experiences in trance and dream transport. Boys
and girls begin early to practise seclusion, and at the time refrain
from touching food. During the earlier periods the fasting is of short
duration, and with hardly any further meaning than that of a prepa-
ration for the ordeals yet to come ; the performance becomes more
serious during adolescence, and it is of the utmost importance during
maturity. One then fasts and keeps vigil in the hope of gaining
insight into the mystery of life. One adjusts one's self to a particular
mental attitude, and so goes seriously prepared to see, to hear, and
to feel. In this mental condition one sometimes sees strange objects,
one sometimes hears prophetic warnings, and one sometimes feels the
spell of an all-pervading presence. It is during one or more of these
experiences that one is said to come into possession of hidden reve-
lation.

The Algonkin Manitou. 187

Vision does not come to every one that fasts. But when one is
fortunate enough to experience a mystic transport at the sight of
something animate, or inanimate, then one is apt to make that object
an ideal of divine guidance. Of or through it one invokes aid in the
critical moments of life. It is not easy for an Algonkin to convey a
definite idea of the nature of the object : it may be the inanimate,
mystic property, or it may be a medium of the property. Much de-
pends upon what the individual reads into the manifestation, and this
in turn is colored by instruction received before the transport.

Some, however, do not see the objects themselves, but they hear
their sounds or their voices. To judge from the testimony of indi-
viduals who have had the transport, it would seem that it is more
common to hear than to see. The words caught convey a profound
sense of authority ; they must influence the course of one's actions.
It is from this kind of experience that some claim to have derived
sacred songs and forms of ritual. It was from this source that came
the Ghost-dance, at least so was it taught the Sauk, Fox, and Kick-
apoo. Its ritual, its songs, its step, its teaching were all said to
have been revealed to a young woman, who in turn transmitted it
all to the people of her nation.

The most common experience seems to be that of being over-
whelmed by an all-encompassing presence. It is an experience least
susceptible of an articulate report, and yet it is the one looked upon
as the source of greatest authority. It is not easy to induce an
Algonkin to speak of any of these experiences. It is even urged
upon the individual never to reveal the details except on particular
occasions, and in critical moments like that of approaching death.
Many of them, however, have passed into tradition, and here is the
shortened account of one of the experiences : —

A youth once accompanied a party of warriors on a raid against a
people of the Plains. The party was beaten and the youth was
killed. In accordance with an Algonkin custom, the family of the
slain adopted another youth to take the place left vacant by death.
The adopted youth had been a bosom friend of the slain. The act
of his adoption placed upon him the responsibility of avenging the
death of his friend.

Before entering upon the mission he went, as was the custom, into
a fast, that he might obtain mystic guidance. Accordingly, so goes
the story, the youth had a vision, and there was open to him a view
of the battlefield where his friend had been slain, of the location of
the enemy that had caused the death, and of the path to be taken
in order to come upon the foe. And in the vision he saw himself
eating of the enemy. This last was for him a symbol that his mis-
sion would have a happy issue.

I S8 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

The narrative is typical of the more usual forms of revelation.
The youth had gone primed to meet with a particular experience ;
he received tidings of just the sort of thing he was looking for. It
is not easy to find out how much of this sort of thing is fraud. Be-
yond doubt there is some fabrication, and much is read into an expe-
rience ; but there is also reason to believe that it is seldom done with
intent, and that it is usually the result of an unconscious self-decep-
tion. The visitation is attributed to animate beings. " The manitou
beings have taken pity upon me " is the stock phrase uttered by
one coming out of such a vision. These " beings " are not tangible
realities. The term manitou beings is but an intelligible form of
expressing the exciting cause ; it is more natural to identify the
communication with animate beings, in spite of the -consciousness
that the beings themselves are vague and inarticulate.

There is no doubt in an Algonkin's mind about the reality of these
revelations ; the feeling that one saw something arrestive, that one
heard impressive voices, that one was overcome by an objective,
mysterious presence is proof enough to establish the reality of the
revelation. But it is doubtful if an Algonkin would think of going
into the question of authority. One is sure of it, but why, one does
not know, any more than that it is the inspired assurance of a tran-
scendent agency.

The interpretation of the cause of the revelation varies with indi-
viduals. If the cause is something present to the thought, then it is
likely the work of the mystic activity. This is the interpretation
sometimes given by one who has been overcome by the presence of
the mystery without form and without feature. In another sense
and one more frequent, it is the effect of the combined presence of all
the manitou beings taken together. If the object of the revelation
be present to the sense, then the interpretation is liable to confusion.
For instance, if the revealing object be an owl, then the interpretation
is likely to take one or the other of these two forms : either the owl
is a vessel or conveyance of the property ; or else the owl is the
property itself. In the first case, the manitou manifests itself through
the agency of an owl. The notion here of a difference between the
object and what it contains differentiates the vessel from the pro-
perty. In the other case, the property becomes so intimately asso-
ciated with the object that the object and the property come to be one
and the same. The confusion of the object and the property does
away with the consciousness of any differentiation. The personifi-
cation is easy and of unconscious mould. The notion that the object
and the property are one and the same thing is the interpretation one
more commonly meets with. The sense of incongruity or improba-
bility does not enter to disturb the mind.

The Algonkin Manitou. 189

So universal and easy is this lack of mental discrimination that it
is no trouble for an Algonkin to invest an object with the mystic sub-
stance, and then call the object by the name of the substance. The
process suggests a possible explanation of how an Algonkin comes to
people his world with manitou forces different in kind and degree ;
it explains in some measure the supernatural performances of mytho-
logical beings, the beings that move in the form of men, beasts, birds,
fishes, and other objects of nature. All these are a collection of
agencies. Each possesses a virtue in common with all the rest, and
in so far do they all have certain marks of agreement. Where one
differs from another is in the nature of its function, and in the degree
of the possession of the cosmic substance. But the investment of a
common, mystic virtue gives them all a common name, and that name
is manitou.

The emotional effect produced by the strange but sincere regard
for the manitou explains much of the esoteric sentiment felt for a
myth, a tradition, a form of ritual, or anything whatsoever connected
with a ceremonial practice. An Algonkin holds that the proper time
to recite a myth is in winter, and that its recitation shall be attended
with some kind of formality ; and that to tell a myth out of season
and without formality is to take chances with something beyond
human power. It requires but a gentle scare to set one who has
committed the infraction into a state of mental confusion. The sen-
timent behind the myth rests on the naive belief that the myth may
be either the supernatural property or an agent of the property.
Hence, to play lightly with it is like playing lightly with any other
idealized object associated with the supernatural substance. The
infraction creates a feeling of unrest, a disturbing sense of insecur-
ity.

In the same way one needs to seek for a psychological reason to
explain why an Algonkin feels reluctant to speak about a sacred
ceremony except in moments propitious and opportune. The cere-
monial lodge is a holy symbol ; it means a place where one can enter
into communication with higher powers, where with sacrifice and
offering, with music and dance one obtains audience and can ask for
things beyond human control ; it means a place where one can for-
get the material world and enjoy the experience of that magic
spell which one feels is the sign that not only is one in the presence
of the supernatural property, but in that of the beings who hold it in
high degree. It is a function with a very definite purpose. It is to
invoke the presence of an objective reality ; the objectified ideal may
be animate or inanimate. And the effect is in the nature of a pleas-
ing thrill, a sense of resignation, a consolation. This efifect is the
proof of the presence of the manitou.

VOL. xviii. — NO. 70. 14

iQO yournal of American Folk-Lore.

It has thus been observed that there is an unsystematic belief in
a cosmic, mysterious property which is believed to be existing every-
where in nature ; that the conception of the property can be thought
of as impersonal, but that it becomes obscure and confused when the
property becomes identified with objects in nature; that it manifests
itself in various forms ; and that its emotional effect awakens a sense
of mystery ; that there is a lively appreciation of its miraculous effi-
cacy ; and that its interpretation is not according to any regular rule,
but is based on one's feelings rather than on one's knowledge.

Such in very brief statement is the conception of the manitou of
three Algonkin peoples, — the Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo. It seems
probable that the same thing holds true of other Algonkins, like the
Ojibwas, Ottawas, Menominees, and others of the central group. It
would be interesting to know if the same conception in its general
features extends to all the other members of the family.

William Jones.

Traditional Ballads in New England. 191

TRADITIONAL BALLADS IN NEW ENGLAND. II.

IX. THE GYPSY LADDIE.

Taken down by an operative in the Stillman Woollen Mills, StUIman, N. S., from the
singing of an old man. Communicated by E. E. D., Cambridge, Mass.

1 The Gypsy Daisy came riding o'er the plain,

He sang so loud and clearly,
He sang till he made the green woods ring,
And charmed the heart of a Lady.

Refrain, — Red Lady dingo, dingo day,

Red Lady dingo, dingo Daisy;
Red Lady dingo, dingo day.

She 's away with the Gypsy Daisy.

2 " Come saddle me my old brown hack,

The gray one is not so speedy,
I '11 ride all day, and I '11 ride all night,
Till I overtake my Lady."

3 He rode till he came to the riverside.

The waters flowed so freely.
The tears down his cheeks did flow.
And then he saw his Lady.

4 " Could you forsake your house and home,

Could you forsake your baby,
Could you forsake your own wedded Lord,
And go with the Gypsy Daisy .'' "

5 " Yes, I '11 forsake my house and home.

Yes, I '11 forsake my baby,
Yes I '11 forsake my own wedded Lord,
And go with the Gypsy Daisy,

6 " Last night I lay on a bed of down.

The Land Lord lay by me ;
To-night I '11 lay on the damp cold ground,
Along with the Gypsy Daisy."

Communicated to me March, 1904, by M. B., Fall River, Mass.

I Last night I slept in a warm feather bed.
And in my arms a baby ;
To-night I '11 lie on the cold, cold ground.
In the arms of Gypsy Davy.

192

yournal of American Folk- Lore,

Refrain, — Raddle daddle, dingo dingo day,
Raddle daddle, dingo daisy,
Raddle daddle, dingo dingo day,
I 'm gone with the Gypsy Davy.

2 " Oh, how could you leave your house and land,

Oh, how could you leave your baby,
Oh, how could you leave your true wedded lord,
To go with the Gypsy Davy ? "

3 " What care I for your house and land,

What care I for your baby,
Or what care I for my true wedded lord, —
I 'm off with the Gypsy Davy !

4 " I never loved you in all my life,

I never loved your baby,
I married you against my will,

And I 'm off with the Gypsy Davy ! "

Communicated to me September 16, 1904, by M. L. J., Lynn, Mass., as sung over fifty
years ago in Swansea, Mass.

The

Gyp - sy came rid

ing o'er

the

field,

The

L/ft 1

^ 1

1 ," ," - 1

^•L" 1

1 1

J r

\ d \ m

• "■ "■ i m

«.

) * 1 •

L* J_

-4

-: ^ '

• 1 •

Gyp - sy he sang gal

ly, He sang till he made the

=1=

mer -

woods

ring, And

charmed the

heart

the

y-f

1* ^

N ^

y ' Tl 1

N. |« r

-t> J

^ H-^

-J—

J J —

^W ^s^

—4-

— 1/

dy.

Al - ly

ly ding,

[=^=M^=Et

•t^

ding, al - ly da - day, Al - ly al - ly ding, al - ly da • day.

I The Gypsy came riding o'er the field,
The Gypsy he sang gaily,
He sang till he made the merry woods ring,
And he charmed the heart of the lady.

Traditional Ballads in New England. 193

Refrain, — Ally ally ding, ally ding, ally da-day,
Ally ally ding, ally da-day.

2 So when the master he came home,

Inquiring for his lady.
The servants made him this reply, —
" She 's gone with the Gypsy Davy."

3 " Now bring me here my good black horse,

The brown one he is lazy.
For I will neither eat nor drink (sleep)
Till I overtake my lady."

Taken down June, 1904, by I. L. M., Vineland, N. J., from the recitation of a lady liv-
ing in Nantucket, Mass.

1 The Lord returned to his castle gate,

Inquiring for his Ladye,
The servant maid to him replyed,
" She 's gone with the Gypsy Davie."

Refrain, — Raddle daddle ding, daddle ding, daddle ding.
Raddle daddle ding O Davie.

2 " Go saddle my black, go saddle my brown.

My brown it is most speedy ;
I '11 ride all night, and I '11 ride all day.
Till I overtake my ladye."

3 He rode all night, and he rode all day,

And he overtook his ladye.

Along with the Gypsy Davie.

4 " Can you forsake your house and home.

Can you forsake your baby,
Can you forsake your own true love.
To go with the Gypsy Davie ? "

5 " Yes, I '11 forsake my house and home,

Yes, I '11 forsake my baby,
Yes, I '11 forsake my own true love.
To go with the Gypsy Davie !

6 "Last night I slept on a warm feather bed.

Along with my sleeping baby ;
To-night I'll sleep on the cold, cold ground.
Along with the Gypsy Davy."

194

yournal of American Folk- Lore,

Communicated to me April 7, 1904, by S. A. F., Providence, R. I.

The

rich

man came

froD

a o'er

the

sea

In -

Vtfit

1 '

■*

/ ^C

; J

1 ' J

r \ "

• •

■^

J *

V- / J *

J • 1

i}'- S

qmr - ing for his La - dy, The ser - vant gave him

^ -^ i^

r^:

-1-

=F=4=

atit:

3=^

this re - ply, " She's gone with the Gyp - sy Da

I The rich man came from o'er the sea,
Inquiring for his Lady,
The servant gave him this reply, —
" She 's gone with the Gypsy Davie."

Refrain, — Rattle dattle ding, O rattle dattle day,
Rattle dattle ding O daisy.

Communicated March, 1904, by M. B., Fall River, Mass.

1 The Gypsy came from o'er the hills.

She sang so loud and boldly,
She sang so loud it made the green woods ring,'
They called her the Gypsy Daisy.

Refrain, — Raddle raddle ring, O raddle raddle ray.
Raddle raddle ring O rarey.
Raddle raddle ringo, raddle raddle ray.
She 's gone with the Gypsy Daisy.

2 " Saddle up the dark bay horse,

The white one 's not so speedy,
I 'II ride all night, I '11 ride all day.
Till I overtake my Daisy ! "

3 " Yes, I will leave my house and land.

Yes, I will leave my baby.
Yes, I will leave my true wedded lord,
To follow the Gypsy Daisy."

Traditional Ballads in New England.

195

Contributed by E. E. D., Cambridge, Mass.

4 — ^

t I J i '

Rad - die, rad - die din - go, din - go day.

r"J7- j^

Rad-dle, rad - die, din - go

Rad- die, rad - die din - go Da - vie.

w^~^~^

#^^

din - go day, She's gone with the Gyp - sy Da - vy.

X. LORD RANDALL.

Contributed by M. L. S., Newport, R. I., August, 1903, as taken down from the recita-
tion of a lady over eighty years of age, who learned it about 1875, from a nephew, since
deceased.

1 "Oh, where have ye been, Lord Lantoun, my son?

Oh, where have ye been, my handsome young man ? "
" Out with the hounds, mother make the bed soon,
I 'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie doon."

2 "Where gat ye your dinner, Lord Lantoun, my son?

Where gat ye your dinner, my handsome young man?"
" I dined with my leman, mother make the bed soon,
I 'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie doon."

3 "What ate ye to dinner, Lord Lantoun, my son ?

What ate ye to dinner, my handsome young man ?"

" Eels, stewed in damsons, mother make the bed soon,

I 'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie doon."

4 " Oh, where are your hounds, Lord Lantoun, my son ?

Oh, where are your hounds, my handsome young man ? "
"They swelled and they died, mother make the bed soon,
I 'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie doon."

5 "I fear ye are poisoned, Lord Lantoun, my son !

I fear ye are poisoned, my handsome young man ! "

" Oh, yes, I am poisoned, mother make the bed soon,

I 'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie doon."

196

jfourtial of American Folk-Lore.

Taken down by me September 21, 1903, from the singing of J. M. L., Hingham, Mass.,
n native of Springfield, Mass., where the ballad was simg eighty or more years ago.

3^t

(9 -9-

Oh, where have you been, . Sweet Wil - liam my son?

gE=|^^^P^i|lg^li=^

Oh, where have you been, . my own dear - est one ? Oh,

I 've been a hunt - ing, moth - er make the bed soon.

:^:

q=-

::i=i

:t:

1^-.

-s^-

For I'm pois -oned to the heart and I fain would lie down.

1 " Oh, where have you been, Sweet William, my son ?

Oh, where have you been, my own dearest one ? "
" Oh, I 've been a-hunting, mother make the bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

2 " Oh, what have you been a-drinking, Sweet William, my son ?

Oh, what have you been a-drinking, my own dearest one.' "

" Oh, 't is ale I 've been a-drinking, mother make the bed soon,

For I 'm poisoned to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

3 " Oh, who gave it you. Sweet William, my son ?

Oh, who gave it you, my own dearest one? "
" My Sweetheart, she gave it me, mother make the bed soon.
For I 'm poisoned to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

4 " Oh, what will you give Father, Sweet William, my son ?

Oh, what will you give Father, my own dearest one ? "
" My horses and cattle, mother make the bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

5 " Oh, what will you give Mother, Sweet William, my son ?

Oh, what will you give Mother, my own dearest one ? "
" My love and my blessing, mother make the bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

6 " Oh, what will you give Brother, Sweet William, my son?

Oh, what will you give Brother, my own dearest one? "
" My sword and my pistol, mother make the bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

Traditional Ballads in New England.

197

7 " Oh, what will you give Sister, Sweet William, my son ?

Oh, what will you give Sister, my own dearest one ? "
, " My gold and my jewels, mother make the bed soon,

For I 'm poisoned to the heart, and I fain would lie down,"

8 "Oh, what will you give Sweetheart, Sweet William, my son ?

Oh, what will you give Sweetheart, my own dearest one ? "
"Give her Hell and damnation, mother make the bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

Communicated July 11, 1903, by A. M., with the following comment, "As sung by my
mother, who would be more than one hundred years old, if living.

I#=d3

:^E=3L

::1=R

Oh, where have you been,

Fair

son, my

^S:

son ? Oh, where have you been, . my own dear - est

S J J-

one ? I 've been out a - court -ing, moth - er make my bed soon,

i^^

For I 'm pois - oned to my heart, and I fain would lie down.

1 " Oh, where have you been. Fair Elson, my son ?

Oh, where have you been, my own dearest one ? "
" I have been out a-courting, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to my heart, and I fain would lie down."

2 " Oh, what have you been eating, Fair Elson, my son ?

Oh, what have you been eating, my own dearest one ? "
"I 've been eating eels, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to my heart, and I fain would lie down."

3 " What color were those eels, Fair Elson, my son ?

What color were those eels, my own dearest one .'' "
" They were black, white, and yellow, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to my heart, and I fain would lie down."

4 " What you will to your father. Fair Elson, my son ?

What you will to your father, my own dearest one .'' "
"A black suit of mourning, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm poisoned to my heart, and I fain would lie down."

198

yournal of American Folk- Lore.

5 " What you will to your brother, Fair Elson, my son ?
What you will to your brother, my own dearest one ? "
" A black yoke of oxen, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm poisoned to my heart, and I fain would lie down.

Communicated December 3, 1904, by H. J. C, Concord, N. H., as sung half a century
ago at neighborly gatherings in Hebron, Me.

=F=F= ^E:

-A=±

Oh, where d' ye go court - ing, Sweet Nel - son, my son ?

X---

Oh, where d' ye go court - ing, my sweet pret - ty one ?

=]=

=^=^

went to see Pol - ly, moth-er make my bed soon, For I'm

^^^

sick at my heart, and I long to

lie

down.

1 *' Oh, where d' ye go courting, Sweet Nelson, my son ?

Oh, where d' ye go courting, my sweet pretty one ? "
" I went to see Polly, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at my heart, and I long to lie down."

2 " What d' ye have for your supper, Sweet Nelson, my son ?

What d' ye have for your supper, my sweet pretty one ? "
" Speckled eels, fried in fat, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at my heart, and I long to lie down."

3 ** What d' ye leave to your father. Sweet Nelson, my son ?

What d' ye leave to your father, my sweet pretty one t "
" My farm and farming tools, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at my heart, and I long' to lie down."

4 " What d' ye leave to your sister, Sweet Nelson, my son ?

What d' ye leave to your sister, my sweet pretty one ? "
" My purse and my jewels, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at my heart, and I long to lie down."

5 "What d' ye leave to your Polly, Sweet Nelson, my son ?

What d' ye leave to your Polly, my sweet pretty one ? "
" The rope and the gallows. Oh, make my bed soon !
For I 'm sick at my heart, and I long to lie down."

Traditional Ballads in New England.

199

6 " Oh, where shall I make it, Sweet Nelson, my son ?
Oh, where shall I make it, my sweet pretty one ? "
'* Yonder in the churchyard, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at my heart, and I long to lie down."

Contributed November 5, 1904, by M. L. J., Lynn, Mass.

-^-^-

:^:

Oh, where have you been to, Te - ron - to, my

son ?

b£| ^-tH=::^=q

— 1 —

—=^4-

3 H

— 1 —

LS^-^=i-t^

L*—

— 4. — lJ_

* ^

^si—

4 — '

Oh, where have you been to, my own dar - ling one ? I 've

down.

1 " Oh, where have you been to, Teronto, my son ?

Oh, where have you been to, my own darling one ? "
"I 've been to see Mary, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick in the heart, and I long to lie down."

2 "What d' she give you for supper, Teronto, my son ?

What d' she give you for supper, my own darling one ? "
" Eels, fried in batter, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick in the heart, and I long to lie down."

3 " You 're pizened, you 're pizened, Teronto, my son !

You 're pizened, you 're pizened, my own darling one ! "

4 " What '11 you give to your Mary, Teronto, my son ?_

What '11 you give to your Mary, my own darling one ? "
" A halter to hang her, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick in the heart, and I long to lie down."

Communicated July 11, 1903, by E. J. B., Winchester, Mass., and traced back for
three generations in Fredericton, N. B.

I " Where have you been, dear Willie, my son ?
Where have you been, my darling young one ? "

200 jfournal of American Folk-Lore.

" I 've been to see my sweetheart, mother make my bed soon,
As I 'm sick to my heart, and I fain would lie down."

2 " What did your sweetheart give you, dear Willie, my son ?

What did your sweetheart give you, my darling young one ? "
" Three little silver fishes, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick to my heart, and I fain would lie down."

3 " What will you leave your father, dear Willie, my son ?

What will you leave your father, my darling young one ? "
" My coaches and horses, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at my heart and I fain would lie down."

4 " What will you leave your mother, dear Willie, my son ?

What will you leave your mother, my darling young one ? "
" My best milch cows, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick to my heart, and I fain would lie down."

5 " What will you leave your sister, dear Willie, my son ?

What will you leave your sister, my darling young one ? "
*' Many rings and diamonds, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick to my heart, and I fain would lie down."

6 " What will you leave your sweetheart, dear Willie, my son ?

What will you leave your sweetheart, my darling young one ? "
" A rope for to hang her on yonder green tree,
'T is more than she deserves, for she 's poisoned me ! "

Recited to me December 22, 1904, by E. J. B., contributor of F.

1 " Where was you last night, dear Willie, my son ?

Where was you last night, my fond-hearted one ? "
*' I have been a-courting, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

2 " What did your sweetheart give you, dear Willie, my son ?

What did your sweetheart give you, my fond-hearted one?"
"Three little silver fishes, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick to the heart, and I fain would lie down."

Recited to me November, 1903, by J. M., Boston, Mass., who heard it over forty years
ago in Ireland.

I " Where were you all day, my own pretty boy.
Where were you all daj', my comfort and joy ? "
" Fishing and fowling, mother make the bed soon.
For I 'm sick to the heart, and I fain would lay down."

Traditional Ballads in New England.

2 " What will you leave your father, my own pretty boy ?

What will you leave your father, my comfort and joy ? "
" My hounds and my horns, mother make the bed soon,
For I 'm sick to the heart, and I fain would lay down."

3 "What will you leave your sister, my own pretty boy?

What will you leave your sister, my comfort and joy ? "
" My gold and my silver, mother make the bed soon.
For I 'm sick to the heart, and I fain would lay down."

4 ** What will you leave your brother, my own pretty boy ?

What will you leave your brother, my comfort and joy.?"
" My coach and six horses, mother make the bed soon.
For I 'm sick to the heart, and I fain would lay down."

5 " What will you leave your true-love, my own pretty boy ?

What will you leave your true-love, my comfort and joy ? "
" Three ropes for to hang her, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

20I

Communicated to me September i6, 1904, by J. E. W., Boston, Mass., as recollected
by G. B.

:l=:]=d=ri:

iMzit

■W—m-

Oh, where have you been, Ty - ran - te, my son? Oh,

• * — h'

:a^=^

:i=^:

-^-

z^-=it.

where have you been, my dear lit - tie one ? I have been to my

t=F:

grand moth - er's, moth - er make my bed soon,

For I 'm

W--

:F:

i=g

:=]=

sick at the heart, and would fain lay me down.

1 " Oh, w'here have you been, Tyrante, my son ?

Oh, where have you been, my dear little one ? " (poor ?) (sweet ?)
*' I have been to my grandmother's, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and would fain lay me doon."

2 " Oh, what gat you to eat, Tyrante, my son ?

Oh, what gat you to eat, my dear little one ? "
" Striped eels, fried in batter, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and would fain lay me doon."

202

yournal of Americajt Folk- Lore.

3 " Oh, where are your blood-hounds, Tyrante, my son ?

Oh, where are your blood-hounds, my dear little one ? "
" Oh, they swelled up and burst, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and would fain lay me doon."

4 " Oh, I fear you are poisoned, Tyrante, my son !

Oh, I fear you are poisoned, my dear little one ! "
" Oh, yes ! I am poisoned, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and would fain lay me doon."

5. " Oh, where shall I make your bed, Tyrante, my son ?
Where shall I make your bed, my dear little one?"
" Make my bed in the kirkyard, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and would fain lay me doon."

Recollected July 1903, by M. R. M., Newtonville, Mass., as heard sung more than sixty
years ago.

=1:

Oh, -where have you been to - day, . Te - ren - ce, my son ?

iii^

=1=

^=^

Oh, where have you been to -day, . my pret - ty lit- tie one.'

-x-^

1 — t

I have been to see

gran- dame, moth - er make my bed

:^=I^

^^^^3

soon, For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down.

1 " Oh, where have you been to-day, Terence, my son ?

Oh, where have you been to-day, my pretty little one ? "
" I have been to see my grandame, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

2 " Oh, what did she give you to eat, Terence, my son ?

Oh, what did she give you to eat, my pretty little one ? "
" Fresh-water potted eels, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would He down."

3 " Oh, what will you give your father, Terence, my son ?

Oh, what will you give your father, my pretty little one ? "
" One half of my fortune, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

Traditional Ballads in New England. 203

4 " And what will you give your mother, Terence, my son ?

And what will you give your mother, my pretty little one ? "
" Ten thousand sweet kisses, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

5 " And what will you give your brother, Terence, my son ?

And what will you give your brother, my pretty little one ? "
" 'T other half of my fortune, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

6 "And what will you give your sister, Terence, my son ?

And what will you give your sister, my pretty little one ? "
*' A thousand kind wishes, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

7 " And what will you give your grandame, Terence, my son ?

And what will you give your grandame, my pretty little one ? "
" A rope for to hang her, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

As sung for generations in the nursery in a family living in Pomfret, Conn., recorded
by H. E. K., New York, N. Y.

:feE

i^^i'

y=fc4=il-

Oh, where have you been, . Ta - ran - ty, my

Oh,

X--

^E=fe

one?

where have you been,

my dear lit - tie

1 " Oh, where have you been, Taranty, my son ?

Oh, where have you been, my dear little one ? "
"To see my grandmother, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and faint to lie down."

2 '* What had you for supper, Taranty, my son ?

What had you for supper, my dear little one ? "
" Eels, fried in batter, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at the heart, and faint to lie down."

3 " What was their color, Taranty, my son ?
What was their color, my dear little one? "
" Green striped with yellow, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and faint to lie down."

204

Journal of America7i Folk- Lore.

4 " What will you leave your mother, Taranty, my son ?

What will you leave your mother, my dear little one ? "
" A coach and six horses, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and faint to lie down."

5 " What will you leave your sister, Taranty, my son ?

What will you leave your sister, my dear little one ? "
" A box of rich jewels, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and faint to lie down."

6 " What will you leave your brother, Taranty, my son ?

What will you leave your brother, my dear little one ? "
"A suit of fine clothes, mother make my bed soon, \

For I 'm sick at the heart, and faint to lie down."

7 " What will you leave your grandmother, Taranty, my son ?

What will you leave your grandmother, my dear little one ? "
" A rope for to hang her, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and faint to lie down."

8 " Where shall I make it, Taranty, my son ?

Where shall I make it, my dear little one? "
" In a corner of the churchyard, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm so sick at the heart, and faint to lie down."

Contributed May 6, 1904, by R. P. U., Cambridge, Mass., who traces it back for half a
century in Cliarlestown, N. H.

^S=^^

*==):

What had you for sup - per, Or - Ian - do, my son? What

nfr

-t.

had

you

for

sup - per, my sweet lit

tie

one }

1 " What had you for supper, Orlando, my son ?

What had you for supper, my sweet little one ? "
" Striped eels, fried in batter, mother make my bed soon,
For I am so weary, I fain would lie down."

2 " You 're pizened, you 're pizened, Orlando, my son !

You 're pizened, you 're pizened, my sweet little one ! "

Traditional Ballads in New England. 205

Contributed by J. P. T., as recollected from childhood.

1 " Oh, where have you been, Taranty, my son ?

Oh, where have you been, my dear little one ? "
" I 've been to see granny, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and fain would lie down."

2 " What had you for supper, Taranty, my son?

What had you for supper, my dear little one ? "
" Fresh eels, fried in butter, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and fain would lie down."

3 " What will you leave father, Taranty, my son ?

What will you leave father, my dear little one ? "
" A purse full of money, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at the heart, and fain would lie down."

4 " What will you leave mother, Taranty, my son ?

What will you leave mother, my dear little one ? "
" A box of fine jewels, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at the heart, and fain would lie down."

5 " What will you leave sister, Taranty, my son ?

What will you leave sister, my dear little one ? "
" A coach and six horses, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and fain would lie down."

6 " What will you leave granny, Taranty, my son ?

What will you leave granny, my dear little one ?"
" A rope for to hang her, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and fain would lie down."

Contributed January, 1904, by G. T. A., Boston, Mass., as sung many years ago by an
Irish serving-man.

^fcfe

^Se^S^=3

^j==E

^— •

:^==1=

What d' you have for your break-fast, Ty - ran - ting, my

-k

son ? What d' you have for your break-fast, my dear lit -tie one?

I *' Oh, what did you have for your breakfast, Tyranting, my son ?
Oh, what did you have for your breakfast, my dear little one ? "
" Striped eels, fried in butter, will you make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at heart, and I want to lie down."

VOL. xviir. — NO. 70. 1 5

2o6 Journal of American Folk- Lore.

2 " Oh, what did you leave to your mother, Tyranting, my son ?

Oh, what did you leave to your mother, my dear little one ? '
" A bag full of money, will you make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at heart, and I want to lie down,"

3 " Oh, what did you leave to your father, Tyranting, my son ?

Oh, what did you leave to your father, my dear little one ? "
" The cottage he lives in, will you make my bed soon,
For 1 'm sick at heart, and I want to lie down."

Communicated July ii, 1903, by L. W. H., Cambridge, Mass., in whose family it has
been traditional for three generations.

-a

JfH^Z

-» ^ 1 ^ s

=]:

=1=

Oh, where have you been, Ty

•— ^— •— P^

ran - ty, my son?. Oh,

where have you been, . my sweet Ut

■^-

tle

one ? Oh, I 've

been

=t:

my grand moth - er's, moth - er make my bed

-t^

-»—m—m-

:}--

:=1=1:

soon, For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down.

1 " Oh, where have you been, Tyranty, my son ?

Oh, where have you been, my sweet little one ? "
" Oh, I 've been to my grandmother's, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

2 " Oh, what did you have for breakfast (supper), Tyranty, my son }

Oh, what did you have for breakfast (supper), my sweet little one ? "
" Striped eels, fried in batter, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

3 " Oh, what will you leave your father, Tyranty, my son ?

Oh, what will you leave your father, my sweet little one ? "
" My houses and lands, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

4 " Oh, what will you leave your mother, Tyranty, my son ?

Oh, what will you leave your mother, my sweet little one .'' "
" A purse of red gold, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie down."

Traditional Ballads in New England. 207

5 " Oh, what will you leave your grandmother, Tyranty, my son ?
Oh, what will you leave your grandmother, my sweet little one ? "
" A halter to hang her, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I fain would he down."

Contributed to me by E. W., Boston, Mass., as a " haunting memory of childhood."

1 " Oh, where have you been, Tyrajity, my son ?

Oh, where have you been, my sweet little one ? "
" I 've been to grandmother's, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I want to lie doon."

2 " Oh, what did she give you, Tyranty, my son ?

Oh, what did she give you, my sweet little one ? "
" Striped eels, fried in butter, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I want to lie doon."

3 " Oh, what '11 you give to your granny, Tyranty, my son ?

Oh, what '11 you give to your granny, my sweet little one ? "
" A halter to hang her, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at the heart, and I want to lie doon."

Taken down by me October ii, 1904, from the recitation of J. G. M., Newbury, Vermont.

1 " Oh, where have you been, Fileander, my son ?

Oh, where have you been, my sweet pretty one ? "
" I 've been to see grandmother, mother make my bed soon,
For I 'm sick at my heart, a^nd I want to lie down."

2 "And what did you have for supper, Fileander, my son ?

And what did you have for supper, my sweet pretty one?"
" Eels, fried in fresh butter, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at my heart, and I want to lie down."

3 "Oh, what did you will your grandmother, Fileander, my son?

Oh, what did you will your grandmother, my sweet pretty one ? "
" Hell-fire and damnation, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick at my heart, and I want to lie down."

XL THE DEMON LOVER.

"The House-Carpenter," Broadside, printed about i860, by H. DeMarsan, 60 Chat-
ham Street, New York, N. Y. Transcribed by me, May 21, 1904, from a copy in the col-
lection of the American Antiquarian Society at Worcester, Mass.

I " Well met, well met, my own true love,
Well met, well met ! " cried he,
" For I 've just returned from the Salt Sea,
And all for the love of thee ! "

2oS your7ial of American Folk-Lore.

2 " I might have married the King's daughter, dear, — "

" You might have married her, — " cried she,
" For I am married to a House-Carpenter,
And a fine young man is he ! "

3 " If you will forsake your House-Carpenter,

And go along with me,
I will take you to where the grass grows high,
On the banks of old Tennessee !"

4 "If I forsake my House-Carpenter,

And go along with thee,
What have you got to keep me upon,
And keep me from misery ? "

5 Says he, " I 've got six ships at sea,

All sailing to dry land,
One hundred and ten of your own countrymen,
Love, they shall be at your command ! "

6 She took her babe upon her knee

And kissed it one, two and three,
Saying, — " Stay at home, my darling sweet babe,
And keep your father's company ! "

7 They had not sailed four weeks or more,

Four weeks, or scarcely three.
When she thought of her darling sweet babe at home,
And she wept most bitterly.

8 Says he, — " Are you weeping for gold, my love.

Or are you weeping for fear.
Or are you weeping for your House-Carpenter,
That you left and followed me ? "

9 " I am not weeping for gold," she replied,

" Nor am I weeping for fear,
But I am weeping alone for my sweet little babe,
That I left with my House-Carpenter."

10 " Oh, dry up your tears, my own true love.

And cease your weeping," — cried he,
*' For soon you '11 see your own happy home,
On the banks of old Tennessee ! "

11 They had not sailed five weeks or more,

Five weeks, or scarcely four.
When the ship struck a rock and sprang aleak,
And they never were seen any more.

Traditional Ballads in New E^igla^id, 209

12 A curse be on the sea-faring men,
Oh, cursed be their lives.
For while they are robbing the House-Carpenter,
And coaxing away their wives.

XII. YOUNG BEICHAN.
A.

" Lord Bakeman, who was taken by the Turks and put in prison, and afterwards released
by the jailor's daughter, whom he married." Printed by Nathaniel Coverly, jun., Milk-
Street, corner Theatre Alley, Boston.

Transcribed by me, October 15, 1904, from a copy in the Isaiah Thomas collection of the
American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass.

1 In India lived a noble Lord,

His riches were beyond compare,
He was the darling of his parents,
And of their estate an only heir.

2 He had gold and he had silver.

And he had houses of a high degree,
But still he never could be contented,
Until a voyage he had been to sea.

3 He sailed east and he sailed west.

Until he came to the Turkish shore,
Where he was taken and put in prison,
Where he could neither see nor hear.

4 For seven long months he lay lamenting,

He laid lamenting in iron bands.
There happened to be a brisk young lady.
Which set him free from his iron chains.

5 The jailor had one only daughter,

A brisk young lady gay was she, —
As she was walking across the floor.
She chanced Lord Bakeman for to see.

6 She stole the keys of her father's prison,

And said Lord Bakeman she would set free.
She went unto the prison door.
And opened it without delay.

7 " Have you got gold, or have you got silver,

Or have you got houses of a high degree,
What will you give to the lady fair.

If she from bondage will set you free ? "

2 1 o Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

8 " Yes, I 've got gold, and I 've got silver,

And I 've got houses of a high degree,
I '11 give them all to the lady fair.

If she from bondage will set me free."

9 " It 's not your silver, no nor gold,

Nor yet your houses with a high degree,
'T is all I want is to make me happy,
And all I crave is your fair body ! "

10 " Let us make a bargain, and make it strong.

For seven long years it shall stand,
You shall not wed with no other woman,
And I '11 not wed with no other man ! "

1 1 When seven long years were gone and past,

And seven long years were at an end.
She packed up all her richest clothing,

Saying, " Now I '11 go and seek my friend."

12 She sailed east, and she sailed west.

Until she came to the India shore,
And there she never could be contented.
Till for her true love she did inquire.

13 She inquired for Lord Bakeman's palace.

At every corner of the street.
She inquired after Lord Bakeman's palace.
Of every person she chanced to meet.

14 And when she came to Lord Bakeman's palace.

She knocked so loud upon the ring,
There 's none so ready as the brisk young porter,
To arise and let this fair lady in.

15 She asked " if this was Lord Bakeman's palace,

Or is the Lord himself within ? "
'* Yes, yes," reply'd the brisk young porter,
" He and his bride have just entered in."

16 She wept, she wept and wTung her hands,

Crying " Alas ! I am undone !
I wish I was in my native country.
Across the sea, there to remain."

17 "Ask him to send me one ounce of bread,

And a bottle of his wine so strong,
And ask him if he 's forgot the lady,
That let him free from his iron chains."

Traditional Ballads in New Encrland. 2 1 1

18 The porter went in unto his master,

And bowed low upon his knee, —

" Arise, arise, my brisk young porter.

And tell me what the matter is ? "

19 "There is a lady stands at your gate,

And she doth weep most bitterly,
I think she is as fine a creature,
That ever I wish my eyes did see.

20 " She 's got more rings on her forefingers,

And round her waist has diamond strings.
She 's got more gold about her clothing.
Than your new bride and all her kin.

21 " She wants you to send her one ounce of bread,

And a bottle of your wine so strong,
And asks if you have forgot the lady,

That set you free from your iron chains."

22 He stamped his foot upon the floor,

He broke the table in pieces three,
" Here 's adieu to you, my wedded bride,
For this fair Lady I will go see ! "

23 Then up bespoke the new bride's mother.

And she was a lady of a high degree,
" 'T is you have made a bride of my daughter, — "
" Well, she is none the worse for me,

24 " But since my fair one has arrived,

A second wedding there shall be.
Your daughter came on a horse and saddle.
She may go home in her coach and three."

25 He took this fair lady by the hand.

And led her over the marble stones.
He changed her name from Susannah fair.
And now is the wife of Lord Bakeman.

26 He took her by her lily-white hand.

And led her through from room to room,
He has changed her name from Susannah fair,
And is called the wife of Lord Bakeman.

21:

yournal of American Folk-Lore.

XIII. THE ELFIN KNIGHT.
A.

'* Blow ye winds, blow." No. 3, in " Family Songs," compiled by Rosa S. Allen, in
whose family it has been traditional for many generations.

-F

P=*=t^F

V -I ^

You must make me a fine Hoi - land shirt : Blow, blow,

::^

blow, ye winds blow. And not have

i^^l

stitch of nee - die- work ;

Blow, ye winds that a - rise, blow, blow-

1 You must make me a fine Holland shirt :

Blow, blow, blow, ye winds blow.
And not have in it a stitch of needle-work :
Blow, ye winds that arise, blow, blow.

2 You must wash it in yonder spring.
Where there 's never a drop of water in.

3 You must dry it on yonder thorn,
Where the sun never )'et shone on.

4 My father 's got an acre of land,
You must dig it with a goose quill.

5 You must sow it with one seed,

You must reap it with your thumb nail.

6 You must thrash it on yonder sea,
And not get it wet, or let a kernel be.

7 You must grind it on yonder hill,
Where there yet has ne'er stood a mill.

8 When you 've done, and finished your work,
Bring it unto me, and you shall have your shirt.

Traditional Ballads in New England.

213

Recorded about 1875, by S. A. F., rrovideiice, R. I., from the singing of an aged man,
born in the year iSoo.

:3:

-X

^==t

I want you to make me

3=«t

brie shirt,

Pars - ley and sage, rose

ry and thyme, With

}-=\ — j — i-

die

:=1:

ny fine work, And

5^^^=

then you shall be

true lev - er

1 I want you to make me a cambric shirt,

Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme,
Without any needle or any fine work,

And then you shall be a true lover of mine.

2 Go wash it out in yonder well,'

Where there 's never no water nor drop of rain fell.

3 Go hang it out on yonder thorn,

Where there 's never no blossom, since Adam was born.

4 Now, since you have asked me questions three,
I pray you would grant me the same liberty.

5 I want you to buy me an acre of land,
Between the salt water and the sea sand.

6 Go plough it all up with one cuckold's horn,
Go sow it all down with one peppercorn.

7 Go reap it all up with a sickle of leather,
And bind it all up with one cock's feather.

Contributed March, 1904, by I. L. M., Vineland, N. J., formerly of Lynn, Mass.

I You go and make me a cambric shirt,
Let every rose grow merry in time,

2 1 4 Jourtial of American Folk-Lore.

Without any seam or needlework,

Then you shall be a true lover of mine.

2 Go wash it out on yonder hill,

Where rain never was, and dew never fell,

3 Go hang it out on yonder thorn,

That never was budded since Adam was born.

4 And now you have asked me questions three,
I hope you '11 answer as many for me.

5 You go and buy me an acre of land,
Between the salt water and the sea sand.

6 Go plough it all o'er with an old ram's horn,
Go sow it all o'er with one peppercorn.

7 Go reap it all down with a peacock's feather.
Go thrash it all out with the sting of an adder,

8 And when you have done, and finished your work,
Come unto me, and I will give you the shirt.

" Love's Impossibility." From " Songs for the Million," printed in this country about
1844. Contributed by J. E. W., Boston, Mass.

1 Canst thou make me a cambric shirt, —

Savory, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Without e'er a needle, or one stitch of work,
And I will be a true lovier of thine,
And I will be a true lovier of thine.

2 Canst thou wash it at yonder well,

W'hose water ne'er sprung, nor rain ever fell ?

3 Canst thou dry it at yonder thorn,

Where blossoms ne'er blew, since Adam was born ?

4 Canst thou buy me an acre of land.
Betwixt the salt water and the sea sand ?

5 Canst thou plough it with a cow's horn.
And sow it all over with one peppercorn.^

6 Canst thou reap it with straps of leather,
And tie it all up in a peacock's feather ?

Phillips Barry.
Boston, Mass,

Aleutian Stories, 215

ALEUTIAN STORIES.

I. THE SAD WOMAN.

Both the natives of Atka and Attu tell the following story, which
was related to me by Mrs. C. A. Anderson, a native of Attu.

Many, many years ago the people of Atka and Attu were continually
at war with each other, frequently surprising each other with fatal re-
sults. At this particular time, the Atka warriors gathered a large fleet
of bidarkas, and one dark night fell on the Attu inhabitants, of whom
but three escaped, two boys and a woman. The boys were soon dis-
covered in the cave where they were hid and killed, but the woman
was not found. After the victors had departed, the woman came
out, and was painfully surprised to know that she was the only human
being on the island. For seven years she lived in this solitary state,
and during all this time neither smiled nor laughed. She lived mostly
on sea-lions and sea-otters, which she killed with clubs while they were
on the rocks. In the eighth year her sadness came to an end in the
following manner. She had as companions a young duck and sea-
gull whom she had befriended ; one day, as she was fishing along
the beach, these two birds began to fight, which so amused her that
she laughed out. Not long after, some suitable driftwood came
ashore, and she set about building a new home. While busily en-
gaged with her stone hatchet in trimming a log, she thought she
heard a noise behind her, and on looking around saw a man. This
so frightened her that she cut off one of her fingers. A little later
some more Atka people came over and settled in Attu, and they are
the ancestors of the present inhabitants of that island.

Another ending of this same story is that this man and woman
married, and that from them all the people of Attu are descended.

II. THE WOMAN WHO WAS FOND OF INTESTINES.

Once there lived an Aleut with his wife and little boy. The wife
was very fond of intestines, and early each morning the husband
would go out in his bidarka hunting, and return in the evening with
a boat full of intestines which he gave to his wife, telling her to keep
what she wanted for herself, and distribute the rest among her neigh-
bors.

The wife was somewhat puzzled by the husband's actions ; she
could not understand why he went so early in the morning, where he
got so many intestines, or his reasons for wishing to have them dis-
tributed among the villagers. She, of course, did not know that her
husband had a mistress in the village whom he went to see while his
wife was asleep, and that he desired the intestines distributed in

2 1 6 yournal of Anie7dcan Folk-Lore.

order that his wife's rival might have a share. All of a sudden, with-
out explanations, the man ceased going out early, and when he did
go, he came back but lightly loaded. This did not in the least clear
up the mystery to the wife. But one day, when he had gone some-
what later than usually, his mistress called on his wife, whom she
found busy sewing a kamalayka out of the intestines her husband
brought. The two got into a conversation, and, among other ques-
tions, the mistress asked : —

" Does your husband love you ? "

"Yes."

" Do you love him } "

"Yes."

" Do you know where he gets all the intestines ? "

" No."

" Can you guess why he has them distributed over the village ? "

"No."

" I will tell you," said the mistress, " but you must not tell him I
told you. Every day your husband goes to the village where your
parents and relatives live and where you lived before your marriage,
and kills the people there and brings their intestines to you. Yes-
terday there were but five people remaining in the village : your
mother, your two sisters, and two brothers. He killed your mother
and sisters yesterday, and to-day he went to bring the intestines of
your brothers. He is in love with another woman of this village,
whom he visits nightly when you have fallen asleep."

With this parting shot she left the house, leaving the poor wife
weeping so bitterly that the kamalayka was hot from her tears. For
the rest of the day she did not stir from the house, but sat lamenting
and sewing. Towards evening her little boy rushed in announcing
the approach of his father, which she generally anticipated with plea-
sure, and always went down to the beach to meet him ; but this time
she neither answered nor made the least motion. A few minutes
later the little son came again saying, "Father is here," but all the
reply he got was a new outburst of weeping.

Missing the usual meeting and greeting of his wife, the father
asked the little boy where his mother was, and when told of the state
she was in, he hastened to the house, where he found her on the floor
shedding bitter tears and sewing the kamalayka.

" Why do you weep } has some one offended you } "

"No one has offended me."

" Why then this lamentation } "

"I was thinking of my mother, sisters, and brothers, and my other
relatives in my native village, and I wondered how they were getting
along, and this made me weep."

Aleutian Stories. 217

He did not attempt to cheer her, but after a pause he said, " I did
not kill many animals to-day — two only." This enraged her so that
she jumped up from the floor, picked up the little boy, who was near
her, and threw him at him, saying, " If my two brothers do not satisfy
you, take him also." The boy's forehead came in contact with the
edge of a sharp knife on the father's breast, making quite a gash
from which the blood flowed freely. This the mother noticed before
escaping out of the house.

Putting aside the boy, the man made a dash for the woman, but
she got out of his reach, and being the better runner of the two he
did not succeed in laying hands on her. She would let him come up
quite close to her, and then dash away again until he saw the hope-
lessness of the chase and gave it up.

In a short time the boy's wound healed, but it left a very notice-
able scar. Now that his mother was gone, his father placed him in
the care of his sister, with instructions that he should under no cir-
cumstances be allowed to go very far from home. In this manner
he passed a few years longer, until he became the proud possessor of
a bow and arrows, with which he often amused himself. One day,
while indulging in his favorite sport, he began to wonder why his
father and aunt forbade his going far from the house ; and the more
he thought about it the more anxious did he become to go, until he
finally concluded "to go just a little distance beyond that hill to see
what is there." On the way he noticed a hillock just ahead of him,
at which he discharged his arrow, then ran and got it, aimed at
another and another, and became so absorbed in this amusement
that he did not observe how far from home it was taking him. One
hillock somewhat different from the others especially attracted his
attention as offering a good mark. He took aim and sent his arrow
flying right into the centre of it ; but what was his surprise on
approaching the supposed hillock to discover that it was a barrabara,
and that the arrow had gone inside through the hole in the top. When
he peeped in, he was frightened at the sight of a very wild-looking
woman who stared at him, and he began to cry. " Why do you cry.? "
the woman asked. "I want my arrow." " Come in and get it," the
woman invited. But he was too scared to do that ; he however got
up courage enough to stick his foot in, hoping to draw it out that
way, and he had nearly succeeded when he heard the woman move.
At this he ran away in tears. The woman called him back, saying :
" Do not be afraid of me. I am your mother. It is I who threw
you at your father, making the scar on your forehead. Come in, I
will not harm you." When he saw that it was really his mother, he
went to her and remained with her two days. During that time
she told him his father's wicked deeds, how he mistreated and neg-

2 1 8 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

lected her for another, and finally wrought on him so that he swore
he would revenge her wrongs. She bade him go home, but attempt
nothing for the present, and make no mention of what he had seen
and heard.

During the boy's absence the father was away hunting, but the
aunt was quite worked up over the long absence, and ran about the
fields looking for him. When he returned she asked him all sorts of
questions as to his whereabouts, but all the satisfaction she got from
him was that he had lost his way and could not get back. She
offered him food, which he refused to touch, and finally refused to
answer her when spoken to. Toward evening of the same day his
father returned, and, when told that the boy would neither eat nor
drink, asked what was the matter with him ; but for an answer
the boy turned his back on him and went to sleep. The father then
inquired of the aunt whether anything unusual had occurred and
whether the boy had been far from home, and to all this she replied
that all during his (father's) absence the boy's life had gone on as
ordinarily, and that he was not out of sight of the house the whole
time.

As the boy grew older he avoided his father more and more, and
when he reached early manhood the father lost control over him and
actually feared him. One day, while the older man was away hunt-
ing, the young man took his bow and arrows, some food and water,
and set out to see his mother. Before going, he told his aunt that
he intended going quite a distance from home, and not to be, there-
fore, uneasy over his long absence. He went to the place where he
had last seen his mother, and, as she was not there, he wandered on
until on the following day he came in sight of some barrabaras and
two men. They answered him when he spoke to them, but when he
wished to enter into one of the barrabaras they barred his way.
While they were thus disputing, his mother appeared on the scene
and motioned to the men to let him pass. When he came inside he
was greatly surprised at the quantity of furs that was lying about in
great disorder, and at the abundance of meats and other eatables that
he found there. He was certain he had never seen anything like
it before. After eating, his mother told him to spend the night
there, and in the morning take as many of the best furs as he could
carry and go back to the village of his father, in order to tempt
him and his relatives to come hunting in this neighborhood, which
would offer an opportunity to repay him for what he had done. The
boy did as he was told, took with him a heavy load of precious furs,
and started back.

In his absence, the mother and the people with whom she was
living made elaborate and crafty preparations for the reception of the

Aleutian Stories. 219

expected guests. In the large barrabara, where the feasts and dances
were always held and where visitors were generally received, quanti-
ties of oil were sprinkled about and covered up with grass. Along
the walls seal-bladders full of oil were concealed, and screened with
straw mats. And in this place the visitors were to be received.

The young man's father was home on his return, and received the
present of furs which his son made him with much pleasure, for the
boy seemed so kindly disposed that the father hoped that his natural
affection for his parent had returned. He inquired the whereabouts
of the hunting grounds where the son had secured these skins, and
the latter told him that it was not very far, and that it was very rich,
and that he planned to go back the next day to the same place, and
if he and his men cared to accompany him, he would be glad to show
them the way. His offer was accepted, and the following morning
a large party left the village for the hunting ground.

Some of the people of the mother's village had been on the look-
out, and when they saw the large party approaching, they changed
themselves into wild beasts, — bears, wolves, foxes, etc. The hunters
marked them and shot at them, but it had no other result than to
drive the beasts nearer and nearer to the village. These tactics the
men-beasts repeated until the hunters were decoyed into the village.
Seeing so many barrabaras, the men asked the boy who the people
were that lived in them. "They are friendly people," he replied,
" with whom I spent the night the last time I was in this neighbor-
hood. To-morrow morning we will go to the other side of the vil-
lage, where there is a great deal of game." The people of the village
greeted them very cordially, and assigned a place for the night to
each one of them ; the father and son were given the barrabara
where the latter had been entertained on his previous visit. Al-
though the mother was in the same room with them they were not
aware of it, for she had concealed herself. Everywhere about them
were scattered the richest furs, and the food before them was the
choicest and best, and so much of it that it rather made the older
man uneasy, for, though an old hunter, he had never seen anything
like it before. In the evening all the people of the village, includ-
ing the guests, went to the large dance-hall, where the formal recep-
tion was held and the guests entertained as was customary. One
by one they descended through the hole in the roof, the only en-
trance there was. The interior was lighted up by two rows of stone
lamps filled with oil, and grass wicks. On one side of the room sat
the local men, while the visitors faced them from the other ; the
centre was occupied by the women, and on the two sides sat seven
or eight men with drums in their hands, on which they played and
accompanied their singing. They would take turns ; first the local

220 journal of American Folk-Lore,

men would sing their local songs, and then the visitors sang theirs.
To this music the women danced with men whom they invited from
either side.

Everything moved along smoothly and joyfully until the father
recognized his wife among the women. She was dancing and mov-
ing towards him. At this sight he turned pale and looked for away
to get out, but the ladder had been removed. The woman moved up
to him, grasped his hand, and dragged him to dance ; but he resisted.
The boy, who sat near, urged him and pushed him on, but all in vain.
Then the woman began to sing him a song in which she went over
all his misdeeds, his unfaithfulness, his cruelties, his falsehoods, as
well as many of his other shortcomings, and concluded with these
words, " You and your men shall never leave this place alive." When
she had said this, all the local people, including the mother and son,
were turned into birds or flying insects and flew out through the hole
in the roof. The visitors, unable to follow them, remained behind.
On the outside grass and wood were ignited and thrown in, which
set on fire the grass and oil inside. Then the smoke hole was stopped
up ; and in this way all those who were inside were smothered to
death. A few days later the son went to his father's village, de-
stroying it as completely as his father had destroyed his mother's.
He spared, however, his aunt, whom he brought back with him.

IV. THE MAN AND \VOMAN WHO BECAME SEA-OTTERS.

This is also an Attu story told to me by Mrs. Anderson. With
some few changes it is told everywhere among the Aleuts, and runs
as follows : —

Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a married couple ;
and one day the husband told the wife, " We are going to make a
feast, and we are going to invite your brother-in-law. Go and gather
some herbs and roots, and then go to the beach and bring some
moss from the rocks." He himself went to get some seals or ducks.
On his return he busied himself preparing the dishes. This done, he
sharpened his knives, and commanded his wife to call the expected
guest. She knew that her husband was jealous of her brother-in-law
and planned to kill him, but was forbidden by her husband to say
anything to him about it. She went and called him ; and as they
were coming toward the house she, walking behind, thought con-
tinually of the fate that was awaiting him, yet fear of her husband
prevented her from saying anything.

When they came into the house she looked at the two men and
saw how much the handsomer of the two the brother-in-law was.
The husband turned to the invited guest, and said : " I prepared a
feast for you ; I have planned it for many years. Come and cat with

Aleutian Stories. 221

me." They sat down on the floor, having the food before them in
a hollowed rock. In the mean time the woman was outside, weeping
because the man she loved more than her husband was about to be
killed. The meal started off pleasantly, but the husband was watch-
ing his chance, and once when the brother-in-law had an unusually
full mouth and could not defend himself he jumped on him, seized
him by the throat, cut his head off, and said : " Now you have your
feast."

This done he left the house and sat down among the rocks, wait-
ing to see what his wife would do. She went in and picked up the
head, washed it, put it into an intestine bag finely trimmed with sea-
otter fur, and, after observing the whereabouts of her husband, started
off with it towards the cliff near the house. She went quite a dis-
tance before her husband noticed her and started in pursuit, calling
to her, "Where are you going.?" She answered: "You will see
which way I am going ; you killed him and you will never see me
again." As he increased his speed she began to run until she
reached the top of the cliff, from which she threw herself into the
water below. The husband arrived just in time to see her disappear.
He stood there watching the spot, believing her drowned ; but to his
great surprise there emerged two sea-otters, and one went west while
the other went east. He went back to the house, where he took his
hunting gear and his bidarka and said, " I will end their lives and
mine too." Saying this he launched his skin boat, got into it,, and
paddled away from the shore, while singing to himself : —

" I will end their life,
And I will end mine.
I hear the birds singing
That sing in the spring-time,
So I am going," etc.

And he upset his bidarka and drowned himself.

V. A SEA-OTTER STORY.

This story differs but little from the one before it, and was told
me by an old Aleut of Belkofsky (Alaska Peninsula). I give all the
versions I have of this same story in order to show how it differs from
village to village.

In a certain place there lived a man with his wife and nephew.
One day the man went away, and on his return learned that the two
had dishonored him during his absence. When he went away a
second time the woman said to the boy, " I will die when you die."
On his return the man noticed a number of sticks (used as tools) and
asked his wife, "Who made these for you .-'" "Your nephew," she
replied, "made them." Observing some wooden clamps, he inquired

VOL. xvni. — NO. 70. 16

2 2 2 journal of A mericaii Folk- Lore.

once more, " Who made these for you ? " Again she answered, " Youi?y
nephew made them." Then the man began to prepare some roots
for eating, and when he had finished he called to his wife and nephew
to eat. The boy tried to eat the food, of which he was generally
fond, but somehow he could not swallow it. This was so funny that
it made the man and woman laugh. The man then upbraided the
boy and his wife with their criminal conduct, and ended by cutting
the boy's head off and giving it to the woman. She turned to it and
said, " I promised that I would die with you and I will." Putting on
her parka, she took the head and started for the bluff close to the
sea. The husband, seeing the way she was going, started in pursuit,
but she was already on the summit before he could come up to her.
She waited until he was quite close and then turned to the head and
repeated, "I said I would die with you and I will." This said, she
threw herself off the bluff and disappeared in the water. The man
stood there watching, and very soon he saw emerging two sea-otters
who went out to sea.

VI. THE BROTHER AND SISTER WHO BECAME HAIR-SEALS.

This story was told me by the chief of Unga Island.

In a certairt family there were twelve brothers and one sister. She
lived in a hut away from the rest of the family. There were no
other men living in the neighborhood, and so she was somewhat
surprised when some man came to see her at night. She did not
know who it was, but suspected that it was one of her brothers, and
in order to find out which one of them it was, she prepared some red
paint, and when the man was about to leave she dipped her hands
into the paint and put them on his shoulders. The next day, as all
her brothers were outside playing, she went among them and de-
tected marks of paint on the shoulders of the oldest. Going back
to her barrabara, she sharpened her knife and placed it alongside of
her. That night, as usual, the man came and slept with her, but as
he started to leave she threw her knife at him and cut the sinews of
one of his legs. The following morning she went about her work as
customary, when some one came to announce that her oldest brother
was sick, the sinews of one of his legs being cut.

She went to him, got him out of bed, and set off with him. Their
mother, learning the state of affairs, said, " We reared them that
they might be a help to us and work for us ; but now they have
gone and ruined themselves." The two went a long distance until
they arrived at the bluff, over which they threw themselves, and a
short time after they appeared as hair-seals.

F. A. Colder.

Cambridge, Mass.

Caingang Deluge Legend, 223

CAINGANG DELUGE LEGEND.^

In times past there was a great flood which submerged all the land
inhabited by our ancestors. Only the top of Mt. Crinjijinbe emerged
from the waters. The Caingangs, Cayurucres and Games swam
towards the mountain carrying in their mouths burning wood. The
Cayurucres and the Games became tired and were drowned, — their
souls went to live in the centre of the mountain. The Caingangs
and a few Curutons (Ares) reached with difficulty the top of Crinji-
jinbe, where they remained, some on the ground, and others (by rea-
son of lack of space) clinging to the branches of trees. There they
passed several days without food, for the waters did not subside.

They expected, indeed, to die, when they heard the song of the
saraatra birds, who came carrying earth in baskets and threw it into
the waters, which slowly subsided. They cried out to the saracm-as \.o
make haste, and the birds did so, repeating their song and asking the
geese to help them. In a short time they reached the top with the
earth, so that the Caingangs who were on the ground could get away.
Those, however, who clung to the branches of the trees were trans-
formed into macaques and the Curutons into biigios. The saracuras
did their work on the side where the sun rises, and thus our waters
all run to the west and flow into the great Parana.

When the waters dried up, the Caingangs established themselves
close to Crinjijinbe. The Cayurucres and Games, whose souls had
gone to dwell in the centre of the mountain, began to open roads in
the interior. After much labor they succeeded in getting out by two
paths. In the Cayurucre opening broke forth a beautiful valley, very
level and without stones, wherefore to this day they have kept their
small feet. It was different with the Games, whose path opened
through stony ground, bruising their feet and causing them to swell in
walking, — hence, to this day, they have kept their feet large. In
the path which they opened there was no water, and, being thirsty,
they had to beg it from the Cayurucres, who allowed them to drink
what they needed. When they got out from the mountain, they or-
dered the Curutons to bring the baskets and gourds which they had
left below, but the latter, through laziness, remained there and never
joined the Caingangs again, for which reason, we, when we meet
them, lay hold of them as our escaped slaves.

The night after leaving the mountain they kindled fire, and with
ashes and coals made tigers {ming), and said to them : " Go, eat people

1 This legend was told by the chief Arakxd. For the English version the
Editor is responsible. The Portuguese original will be found in Rev. do Mus.
Paul., 1902.

224 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

and hunt." And the tigers went about roaring. As they had no
more coal to paint with, they could only make with ashes the tapirs
(pyoro), to which they said : " Go, eat and hunt," But these had not
come out with perfect ears, and, for that reason, did not hear the
order, and asked again what they were to do. The Cayurucre, busy
making other animals, said to them in an ill mood : " Go, eat leaves
and twigs of trees." This time they heard, and that is the reason
why tapirs eat only leaves, twigs of trees, and fruits. The Cayurucr6
was making another animal. The teeth, tongue, and some nails were
lacking, when it began to grow daylight. Since nothing in the way
of making could be done in the daytime, he put into the animal's
mouth, in haste, a fine rod, and said : " Since you have no teeth, live
by eating ants." That is why the tamandica, or ant-eater {iSti), is an
unfinished and imperfect animal. The next night they continued
and made many animals, among them the bees. At the time these
animals were made, the Cayurucre made also others to combat them,
e.g. the "American lion," venomous snakes, wasps, etc.

After these labors, they set out to join the Caingangs, but found
that the tigers were bad and ate many people. In passing a deep
river, they made a bridge of a tree trunk, and, when all had crossed,
the Cayurucre said to one of the Cam6s that, when the tigers were
on the bridge, he was to push it off so that they would fall into the
water and be killed. The Came did so, but of the tigers some fell
in the water and dived, and others leaped on the bank and clung
there by their claws. The Came wanted to throw them back into the
river, but, when the tigers roared and showed their teeth, he was
seized with fright, and let them get away. This is why we have
nowadays tigers on land and tigers in the water.

They reached a great plain, where they joined the Caingangs and
considered how to marry the youths and maidens. First they mar-
ried the Cayurucrd to the Games, (girls), and then, as there was a
superfluity of men, they married these to the Caingangs (women).
Hence the Cayurucres, Games, and Caingangs are relatives and
friends.

Then they wanted to have festivals, but knew neither how to sing
nor how to dance. One day some Cayurucres, who were out hunting,
saw, at the edge of a clearing in the wood, by the trunk of a great
tree, a little clear spot. Against the trunk of the tree were some
rods with leaves, and one of them had a gourd stuck on end. They
departed and told the Cayurucre about it. He made up his mind
to go there the next day and verify the matter. So he went to the
clearing cautiously and hid near the trunk. After awhile the little
rods began to move slowly from bottom to top and a feeble voice be-
gan to sing : Eminotim ve, c, e, e: Andb xb c'a e vo, a, ha, ha, ha, and

Caingang Deluge Legend 225

the little gourd, with a cadenced movement, produced this sound :
Xii, xii, xii. . . . The Cayurucre approached the trunk, when sud-
denly all song and movement of the rods ceased, but they contitiued
on the same trunk. He withdrew, and returned the next day with
several friends. They cautiously approached the same spot and saw
and heard the same things as on the day before. After the first
song a voice sang this other : Do carndm coroj^, cajianibang, cbiyojigdd,
emi no tim give que matin . . . e que matin. They learned the song,
approached the trunk, but saw only the rods. Then they brought
them with them, made others like them, and prepared to have a great
festival. On that day the Cayurucre opened his mouth and sang the
songs which he had heard in the clearing, making with the rod with
the gourd on it and with his body the movements he had seen. His
companions imitated him, and this is why we learn to sing and dance
without knowing who is the teacher.

After some time the Cayurucr6 met on the road a mirim ant-eater
{kakrekin) and lifted his stick to kill him. The ant-eater began to
dance and to sing the songs heard in the clearing. Then the Cayu-
rucre knew that this was his dancing-teacher. The ant-eater asked
for his stick, and after having danced with it, gave it back and said
to him : " The child that your wife has within her womb is man, and
let this be established between us, that when you or yours meet me
and mine and give their sticks and would fain dance with them, it is
a sign that your wives will give birth to male children. If they would
leave without dancing, the children will be girls." The Cayurucre
returned much pleased, and we, when we meet the mirim ant-eater,
always renew this experience, which almost always gives certain re-
sults. The mirim ant-eater knows many other things we are igno-
rant of, and we think that they are the first people who through
magic took on the form which they now have.

Telemaco M. Borba.

Note. This legend of the Caingang Indians of the Province of S. Paulo, Brazil,
is interesting, apart from the immediate question of the deluge, by reason of the
number of other things for which it endeavors to account : Westward course of
streams of the country, origin of monkeys, small feet of Cayurucr^s and large feet
of Cam^s, origin of tigers and tapirs and their food-habits, ant-eaters, imperfections,
origin of song and dance, foreknowledge of sex of children, etc. — Editor.

226 jfournal of American Folk- Lore.

CADDO CUSTOMS OF CHILDHOOD.

The following brief and imperfect notes on Caddo customs of
childhood were obtained from an old man named White-Bread.

The lodge is always placed so that it faces the east. This is done
that the sun, as it arises out of the east to shine upon another day
and bless all things, may bless the inmates of the lodge. When a
child is born it is carried to the door of the lodge and held there as
the sun rises that it may see the child and bless it. Then, if the
child be a boy, the father places a tiny bow and arrow in his hands
that it may grow to a good hunter and ward off dangers. Before the
child is born a bright fire is kindled and kept burning for ten days
and nights after the birth to keep away evil. There is a great animal
with wings who eats human beings, especially babies, but the animal
cannot come near the light. A greater monster than this is the can-
nibal person. In every tribe there are some of these wicked people.
They look like any one else, but at night, when it is dark, they set
forth and steal human children to eat. Like the animal who eats
human beings, they cannot go near the light, and so people keep the
fire kindled to frighten them away. Then, too, the fire is related to
the sun, because it gives heat and light, and so it gives a blessing to
the child.

At the end of the tenth day the mother and father carry the child to
the river, and all bathe. After that the fire is allowed to smoulder, but
it is not put out entirely until after the child is two years old. From
that time until the child is eight or ten it is allowed to play and grow
in its own way. Then the grandmother, or some old person, calls the
child into the lodge and, telling it to sit still and behave, she teaches
it. If the child is a boy, she tells him how to take care of himself so
that he will grow up to be a strong man. She tells him how to act
that he will gain the good will of the tribe, and she tells him stories
about boys who would not listen to the teachings of their grand-
mothers, and the trouble that they caused when they grew to be men.
And she tells him about boys who have listened to their grandmothers,
and how they grew up to be great and wonderful men. Then she
tells the boy to go to the river every morning to swim and bathe, no
matter how cold the water is. He is taught to say this prayer to the
water : " Grandfather, make me strong to endure all things, that heat
and cold, rain and snow may be as nothing to my body." As he re-
turns to the lodge he is taught to pick up a stick and carry it to the
fire, saying : " Grandfather, help me to live and become a good man,
and to help others to live." To the rising sun he is taught to pray :

Caddo Customs of Childhood, 227

" Grandfather, protect me, keep me from dangers and give me a long
life and success."

At another time the boy is taught that there are many bad and
dangerous places on the road leading to the spirit-land, and that he
will be caught in some of these places if he does not heed what is
taught him. She says, " There are six bad places on the way to the
spirit-land. The first place is where the dogs stay. If you whip or
mistreat or kill a dog, the dog, when it dies, goes to its people and
tells what you have done. When you die, you have to pass the place
of the dogs, and the chief of the dogs goes and sits by the road and
waits for you. When you come he tells you to look for fieas on his
head, and when you find one he tells you to bite it. When you bite it,
you become a dog. Then he takes you to where the dogs stay, and
there they mistreat you as you mistreated them on earth. They
keep you there and never let you get away, so that you cannot
continue your journey. For this reason we place a bead on the little
finger of a dead person, so that he may bite it instead of the flea and
so fool the dog and escape him. Along the road there is another
place where you hear some one calling you. If you form the habit
during life of standing about talking about people, you will turn your
head and wait for the person who is calling. Then you will stand
and say mean things about some one until you forget that you are
going on a journey and become a tree by the roadside. If you learn
to go through life attending to your own affairs, you will not pay any
attention to the voice, but go straight ahead. Soon you will come
to a place where there are two large rocks pounding each other. You
will have to pass between these rocks. If you listen well to all that
you are told, and remember that you were told about the rocks, you
can pass through. If you forget what you have been told, you will
be crushed by the pounding rocks. Next you will come to a stream
of water that looks very small ; but it is not small, for the banks
stretch away, and it becomes a great river. If you are quick to do
all that you are told in this world, you will reach the stream when
the banks are close together and you can jump across ; but if you are
slow to do what you have to do on this earth, you will reach the river
after the banks have spread and you will be too late to jump across,
but will fall into the water and become a fish. As you journey on
the other side of the river, should you get across, you will come to
persimmon-trees. If in this world you want everything you see and
always try to get things that you do not need, just because some one
else has them, you will stop under a tree to gather persimmons. Then
you will wander to the next tree and the next, until you lose your
way and forget that you are on a journey. Then you will become a
raccoon and live forever among the trees. Should you escape the per-

228 Journal of American Folk- Lore.

simmon-trees, you will soon meet a person along the road. He will
ask you to help him to do some work. If you are forgetful in life
and begin one thing and do not finish it, but go off about something
else, you will forget that you are on a journey and you will stop and
help this man. You will work until you are nothing but skin and
bone. Then you will die, but you will soon come to life only to work
yourself to death again. Then you will come to life again, and so on.
There is no end. This is the last danger that you meet on the
way."

After the boy has been taught about all the dangers that beset him
on the way, and entreated to follow closely the teaching of his elders
that he may escape those evils, he is taught what is in store for him
when at last he reaches the end of his journey. All this is done to
encourage him to lead a good life and grow up to be a good man.

George A. Dorsey.

Superstitions from Louisiana, 229

SUPERSTITIONS FROM LOUISIANA.

The following items of superstition have been obtained from negro
informants ; they include, as will be observed, many which are uni-
versal among white people also, and have been recorded in collec-
tions : —

1. If one plants a cedar-tree, he will die when the tree is large
enough to shade a grave.

2. To sweep out a room after dark will cause some of the family
to leave home.

3. If a child sweeps the floor, a stranger will come.

4. If a garment is cut on Friday, it must be finished the same day
or its owner will not live to wear it out.

5. It is bad luck to start on a journey or to make a move on
Friday.

6. It is bad luck to move a cat.

7. It is good luck to put on a garment, accidentally, wrong side
out.

8. To find a pin with the point towards you gives good luck : the
other way, bad luck.

9. If friends use the same towel at once, their friendship will be
broken.

10. "Wash together, friends forever."

11. If a bird puts one's hair in her nest, that person will suffer
from headache while the bird is sitting.

12. If one feels a breath of warm air, it comes from a ghost. Turn
the pocket wrong side out and the spirit does no harm.

13. A rooster's crowing at the front door brings company.

14. Breaking a mirror means seven years' bad luck.

15. If a girl spills dish-water, she will lose her sweetheart.

16. If a baby is allowed to look in a mirror, it will be cross-eyed.

17. If an empty cradle is rocked, the baby will die.

18. Rocking an empty chair will cause a death in the family.

19. If one sleeps with his head to the foot of the bed, he will soon
be carried from the house feet foremost.

20. If a screech-owl is heard near the house of a sick person, it is
a sure sign of death.

21. If a cow is milked on the ground, she will go dry.

22. It is bad luck to pass through the house with a bucket of
water on the head.

23. If, when going from home, one hears an owl hoot, he must go
back, or evil will befall him.

230 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

24. If a rabbit crosses the road in front of one, he must walk
backward beyond the place where the rabbit crossed.

25. If one has to turn back after starting, he must make a cross
mark to prevent bad luck.

26. If the nose itches, company is coming, and sneezing before
breakfast means the same thing.

27. Telling a dream before breakfast makes it come true.

28. Drop a dish-rag, and some one will come home hungry.

29. Spilling salt will bring a family quarrel, unless some of the salt
is burned.

30. If the right eye twitches, it means laughter ; the left, tears

31. If the right palm itches, one shakes hands with a friend; the
left, with a stranger.

32. Transplanting parsley will cause the death of one's children.

33. If one sprinkles mustard seed round his bed, he will not be
troubled by witches.

34. Any one who refuses to step over a broom is a witch.

35. It is bad luck to move a broom from one house to another un-
less the end is sawed off.

George Williamson.
Grand Cane, La.

Record of A merica n Folk-L ore, 231

RECORD OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

NORTH AMERICA.

Algonkian. General. To the " Proceedings of the Thirteenth
Session of the International Congress of Americanists," New York,
1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905), Dr. A. F. Chamberlain contributes (pp.
5-8) a brief paper on "The Algonkian Linguistic Stock," pointing
out its importance for the student of the Indian. — Cheyenne. In the
same volume (pp. 135-146), Mr. George B. Grinnell has a valuable
article on the " Social Organization of the Cheyennes," in which he
describes briefly the clan system of this people, consisting of eleven
and perhaps fourteen gentes. In olden times "the rule forbidding
marriage within the clan was absolute, and not to be violated," De-
scent was in the mother's line. The children of a foreign woman be-
long to the father's clan ; a captive woman to the clan of the husband
she takes. Captive boys who marry Cheyenne girls belong to the
wife's clan. Each clan had its special tabus, ceremonies, medicines,
etc. The Suh'-tai section of the Cheyenne are, perhaps, recent mi-
grants from the north, — the other section is the Tsistsis'tas, some-
times called " Sand-hill People." The Cheyennes used to say that
the Suh'-tai were Crees. A few notes on the Suh'-tai language are
given (pp. 142, 143), — it is harsh and guttural. The readiness with
which nicknames grow up (p. 144) will interest the "nickname"
school of totemism. The young people have little or no knowledge
of the things of ancient times. — In the " American Anthropologist "
(n. s. vol. vii. pp. 37-43) Mr. Grinnell describes "Some Cheyenne
Plant Medicines." Seventeen species of plants and two dyes are
recorded, but this by no means includes all the Cheyenne remedies.
Among the plant medicines are Balsamorrlnsa sagittata, Mentha
Canadensis, Arctostaphylos nva-iirsi, Acorns calamus, Anaphalis mar-
garitacea. Among the diseases prescribed for are stomach and head
troubles, vomiting, nose-bleed, bowel-cramps, sores, fever, plant-
poisoning, paralysis, sore throat, etc. Herb-healing " is practised by
men and women alike." Medicine-bundles are carried about the per-
son. — Ojibwa. In the same journal (pp. 69-73) D. I. Bushnell, Jr.,
writes of "An Ojibway Ceremony," describing the dances and other
ceremonials in connection with "a reunion of the Kingfisher people "
at Basswood Lake on the international boundary, in October, 1899.
A chippee::ung (or " apron ") was a prominent object in these rites. A
feast of moose meat and rice and blueberry stew followed. The in-
terior of the largest wigwam is described ; also the drum, its covering
and their symbolism, etc. — Textile Fabrics. To the same journal
(pp. 85-93) Dr. C. C. Willoughby contributes an article on "Textile

232 Jour^ial of American Folk-Lore.

Fabrics of the New England Indians," in which the conclusion is
reached: "The textile products of the New England Indians were of
a relatively high order; baskets, bags, matting, and twined woven
cloth were made of a quality probably not excelled by any of the Al-
gonquians, and, so far as we can judge by existing examples, it is
doubtful if embroidered cloth of any North American tribe exceeded
in workmanship or artistic merit that produced by the natives of New
England and their neighboring kindred." Beautiful garments were
made of the iridescent feathers of the wild turkey, — usually the work
of old men, but sometimes made by women for their children, —
Mohican. In the same journal (pp. 74-84) Professor J. Dyneley Prince
has an article on "A Tale in the Hudson River Indian Language."
Phonetic text, English translation, and word-analysis are given of a
tale of adventure and murder {a woman is the chief — passive —
figure) obtained from the Mohicans now resident on the so-called
Stockbridge Reservation at Red Springs, Wisconsin. The relations
between Mohican and Munsee are " about the same in degree as those
which exist between Dutch and High German." In this text, accord-
ing to Professor Prince, " we probably have the last specimen of the
tongue which was heard for centuries in the neighborhood of New
York city and along the banks of the great Maikaneti'ik, or ' Mohican
river,' as the aboriginal inhabitants called the great Hudson."

Athapascan, Navaho. In the " Proceedings of the Interna-
tional Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902
(Easton, Pa., 1905), Mr. Alfred M. Tozzer writes about "A Navajo
Sand Picture of the Rain Gods and its Attendant Ceremony " (pp.
147-156), describing with some detail the making a sand-picture in
Chaco Canon, New Mexico, in 1901, in connection with the ceremony
known as the "Night Chant," "held primarily to cure two Navajo
Indians," both suffering from violations of tribal law. The actual
painting of the picture took about six hours. The strictness with
which these pictures are traditionally transmitted is shown by Mr.
Tozzer's statement : " Mr. Matthews collected the material for his
memoir twenty years ago, and still the sand-picture which he calls
' the gods with the fringe mouths,' and which came on the eighth day
of the ceremony, is the identical picture, even in many minor details,
which was made on the eighth day of the ceremony which I wit-
nessed twenty years after and a hundred miles east of where he
worked." The star-lore of the Navaho, in connection with these
ceremonies, is of considerable interest — the grouping is indicated
by the holes in the gourd rattle.

Caddoan. In the " Proceedings of the International Congress
of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
Dr. Geo. A. Dorsey has an article (pp. 67-74) on " One of the Sa-

Record of American Folk-Lore. 233

cred Altars of the Pawnee." The ceremony described is that of the
"skull bundle" altar, held in the spring through the desire of some
woman of the tribe, who has had a dream, had Tirawa speak to her,
or has " had it in her heart " to give it. Besides the more or less
public rites there is a secret performance, confined to one or two men.
At a certain point the " owner " of the altar " makes a speech and
says they are ready to begin, and virtually turns the ceremony over
to the priests," — these act now for him, and " the owner has no longer
control of the ceremony." The whole ceremony "prepares the fields
for the planting of the corn." After the ceremony comes the plant-
ing, and while the corn is growing comes the buffalo-hunt, the success
of which proves the favor of Tirawa. Dr. Dorsey observes concern-
ing the rather high idea of a "great spirit" found among these In-
dians : " That the Pawnee obtained any of their ideas concerning
Tirawa, or, in fact, concerning any forms of their religion from the
whites, I do not for a moment believe." Within the last three or
four years the altar ceremonies, which have been largely given up
since the Pawnee left Nebraska for Oklahoma, have been revived,
and " I think they are themselves surprised at the amount of know-
ledge which they retain of the old rituals."

Eskimo. In the " Proceedings of the International Congress of
Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
Mme. Signe Rink publishes (pp. 279-304) "A Comparative Study
of Two Indian and Eskimo Legends." The tales compared, of,
which texts are given, are : " The Jelch Legend " of the Haidas and
the Greenlandic tale of " Ernisuitsok, or the Barren Wife," " Scan-
nagan nuncus. Legend of the Fin-back Whale Crest of the Haidas,"
and the Greenlandic tale of " Kagsagsuk, the Orphan." The author
concludes that "the Greenlandic ones are the versions or copies and
not the reverse," also, that "both of the stories treated here have
been appropriated by the Eskimo on the American coast between
California or Vancouver Island and the Aleutian chain."

Haidan (Skittagetan). In the "Proceedings of the International
Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton,
Pa., 1905), Dr. John R. Swanton has an article (pp. 328-334) on the
" Social Organization of the Haida." The essential points were
"the division into two great exogamous clans (Raven and Eagle), a
division reflecting itself in the terms of relationship," and the organ-
ization of each house under one house-chief, — " the organization of
families and towns was simply a larger application of that of each
household." A rigid distinction between the mother's and father's
sides existed, — " theoretically they could not have the same personal,
house, or canoe names, or wear the same crests, and only in a very
few cases was this rule infringed." Moreover, "a man was initiated

234 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

into the secret society by his opposites, and when he died they con-
ducted the funeral." Husband and wife were never buried together,
— Ravens lay with Ravens, Eagles with Eagles, Sometimes, even,
the wife " betrayed her husband into the hands of her own people
when they were at war with his family." The Haida, however, " had
no such thing as a clan government or clan ownership. Each Haida
household was complete in itself, and " all it required was a name
and a certain amount of isolation to develop into an entirely inde-
pendent family, and there was a constant tendency in that direction."
The chiefs power rested mainly on the amount of his property, and
often very largely with himself. The order maintained by war-parties
is noteworthy. — In the "American Anthropologist" (vol. vii. n. s.
pp. 94-103) Dr. Swanton writes of " Types of Haida and Tlingit
Myths." The article is based on the observation of more than 250
stories of the Haida and Tlingit Indians of the North Pacific coast.
The plots of 36 of these tales are briefly indicated. Borrowing has
taken place both ways. In the case of the legend of the brothers
who travelled about overcoming monsters, the story has been trans-
mitted from the Tlingit to the Haida without losing its Tlingit names
and atmosphere." The conventional expressions or " mythic for-
mulae " differ with these two stocks (a number of examples of such
are given). In Haida four "is nearly always the story or mystic
number; two appears quite as often in Tlingit."

KoLUSCHAN. In the "American Anthropologist" (n. s. vol. vii.
p. 172) Dr. J. R. Swanton has a brief note on the "Tlingit Method
of Catching Herring-eggs." During the herring run "hemlock
boughs were fastened together and laid down in rows for the fish to
spawn upon." — In the same journal Dr. Swanton discusses (pp.
94-103) "Types of Haida and Tlingit Myths." See Haidan.

Pueblos, In the " Proceedings of the International Congress of
Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
Professor William P. Blake discusses (pp. 203, 204) " The Racial
Unity of the Historic and Prehistoric Aboriginal People of Arizona
and New Mexico." Among the points emphasized are : Unity of
architecture, similarity of pottery, unity of decorative art, general
use oi cJialcJiiJiiiitl. — In the same volume (pp. 107-130) Mr. George
H. Pepper discusses in detail "The Throwing-stick of a Prehistoric
People of the Southwest," — a weapon "used in the southwestern
part of the United States, probably before the advent of the cliff-
dwellers." The nearest relative, outside this region, is in the Jalisco
country (Mexico). The fetish of the ceremonial throwing-stick, or
atlatl, was the snake. Ceremonial usages are connected with this
weapon, wherever it is found.

SiouAN. In the " Proceedings of the International Congress of

Record of A merican Folk-L ore. i2 3 5

Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N, Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
Dr. Clark Wissler has an article on " Symbolism in the Decorative
Art of the Sioux" (pp. 339-345), treating chiefly of moccasin-de-
signs, primarily the art of women. Dr. Wissler's monograph on
this subject has already been noticed in this Journal.

Southern United States. In the "Proceedings of the Interna-
tional Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902
(Easton, Pa., 1905), Mr. Clarence B. Moore writes of "Archaeologi-
cal Research in the Southern United States " (pp. 27-40), resumeing
the result of his investigations during the last eleven years, — the
full details having appeared in the author's monographs in the "Jour-
nal of the Academy of Natural Sciences," Philadelphia, vols, ix.-xii.
The most recent work was done on the northwest Florida coast,
where urn-burial occurs, although not in the peninsular part of the
State. In the latter region "bunched burial" is most prevalent.
The muck deposits of the southwest Florida coast yield little. The
mounds of the peninsular area contain many copper objects, —
native copper from Lake Superior, probably. The majority of the
mounds investigated " date from a period anterior to the coming of
Europeans." The shell-heaps "were dumping places for refuse."
The makers of some of the St. John's shell-heaps had no earthenware.

YuMAN. DicgHcTws. In the " Proceedings of the International
Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton,
Pa., 1905), Miss C. G. Du Bois has an article on "The Mythology of
the Dieguenos, Mission Indians of San Diego County, California, as
proving their status to be higher than is generally believed " (pp.
101-106), giving extracts from a version of the story of Chaup, "the
embodied principle of the great meteors of the crystalline California
sky." The Dieguenos "were star-gazers, perhaps, beyond other
Indians." The story was originally related in a nine-hour recital.

MEXICO.

AzTECAN (Nahuatlan). In "Globus" (vol. Ixxxvii. 1905, pp.
110-112), Dr. Eduard Seler writes briefly of " Mischformen mexi-
kanischer Gottheiten." Examples are given of the "mixed forms"
of deities, embodying in one person different qualities, not agreeing
with the priestly redaction of the to7ialamatl era. Tepeyollotli, Xipe,
and Ouetzalcoatl are some of the gods thus treated. — In the same
journal (pp. 136-140), Dr. K. Th. Preuss discusses "Der Kampf der
Sonne mit den Sternen in Mexico." The author considers that the
unitary idea in the evolution of ancient Mexican religion has been " the
combat of the sun with the stars." All the deities are conceived of
as having come as stars from heaven. The sun fights with the stars,
and the conquered are offered up in sacrifice. Star-swallowing is

236 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

necessary for the well-being of the sun. There is a complete parallel
between heavenly and earthly processes. The influence of the star
idea on ceremonies, etc., is noted. — In the "Proceedings of the
International Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y.,
1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905), Walter Lehmann discusses at some length
(pp. 249-264) "Tomoanchan und andere Bezeichungen des Westens
zur Erde in der mexikanischen Etymologic." Among the terms
studied are those for sunset, night, earth, west, maize, dawn, ball-play,
coitjis, etc. The earth, and particularly the west, where daily the
sun vanished, made a great impression upon the ancient Mexicans.
The west is the prototype of the earth. Tojnoanchan is the paradise
of the west, and, at the same time, the name of the mythic home of
the undivided Mexican people. — In the same volume (pp. 265-268)
Miss Adela Breton writes about " Some Obsidian Workings in
Mexico," treating of several in the states of Hidalgo, Michoacan, and
Jalisco. Near Tulancingo are "some small shady caves, to which
the workers brought their roughly-shaped pieces to finish." Out of
"cores" the Mexicans made burial objects. — In the same volume
(pp. 213-216) H. Newell Wardle discusses "Certain Clay Figures of
Teotihuacan." The author concludes that "the jointed clay images
from Teotihuacan are not foundations for mummy-bundles, but prob-
ably representatives of the goddess Cinteotl, such as were hung
across the fields to watch over the young seed and aid its growth."
Also, "with arms and legs rattling in the breeze, they served inci-
dentally as scarecrows." — In the same volume (pp. 171-174) Dr.
Eduard Seler has a brief article " On Ancient Mexican Religious
Poetry," in which he gives the native text and a translation of a
song to the god Xipe, — the real content of the song is sowing and
harvesting. This is " the song of the terrible god of the festival of
flaying men, of the god of the Sacrificio gladiatorio. It is one
of the chants found in Sahagun, and, previously to Seler, edited by
Brinton in his " Rig-veda Americanus." Says Dr. Seler in conclu-
sion : " It affords a strong argument that the religious sentiment and
the religious phantasy of these people ought not to be judged by the
bloody ceremonies of a highly developed superstitious cult alone ;
that there are lying at the bottom sources of a primitive pure feeling,
with which we too might easily conform."

Hieroglyphs. In the " Proceedings of the International Congress
of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
pp. 175-188, Professor Nicolas Leon has an article, "Data about a
New Kind of Hieroglyphic Writing in Mexico," treating of "a new
kind or mixed hieroglyphical writing," found on a clay statuette from
Mixtecan Cuilapan, an onyx vase from Tlalixtac, and many other
similar obj'ects from the Oaxaca valley (Monte Alban, etc.). The

Record of A merica n Folk-L ore. 237

author concludes that " there exists a hieroglyphical mixed writing,
seemingly developed all over the Mixtecan region, in the State of
Oaxaca, in which are found the elements and the fonn of the Maya,
and possessing signs of the Nahua writing." Many extracts from
literature relating to this region and their objects are given.

Oaxaca. In the " Proceedings of the International Congress of
Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
Francisco Belmar publishes (pp. 193-202) an article on "Indian
Tribes of the State of Oaxaca and their Languages." The pre-
Columbian chief inhabitants of this territory seem to have been the
Mixtecs and the Zapotecs, and the language of the latter " presents
signs of being one of the most archaic in the State." According to
Mr. Belmar, Zapotec and Mixtec have a common origin. In the
Zapotecan group he includes (besides minor and sub-dialects) : Zapo-
teca, Papabuco, Chatino, Chinantec ; and in the Mixtecan : Mixtec,
Amuzgo, Mazatec, Ixcatec, Cuicatec, Popoloco (Chocho), Trique.
The Zoquean (Zoque-Mixe) family embraces : Zoque, Ayook (Mixe),
etc. The Chontal is probably Nahuatl ; Huave, Mayan. Mexican
is also one of the languages of Oaxaca.

Zapotecan-Mixtecan. In the " Proceedings of the International
Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton,
Pa., 1905), Abraham Castellanos has an article on " Danni Dipaa,"
the fortified hill occupied by the Mixtecs at the coming of the Span-
iards, — Monte Alban. The dolmen, the pyramids and temple of
the sun, etc., are described, and the legends connected with these
edifices noted (the chief Cosijoeza, the princess Donaji, etc.).

CENTRAL AMERICA.

Indian Character. In "Globus" (vol. Ixxxvii. 1905, pp. 128-
131), Dr. Karl Sapper discusses "Der Charakter der mittelameri-
kanischen Indianer." Among the general traits noted are control of
emotion (noteworthy in children as a result of education and exam-
ple), temperance in all actions, subordination to those in authority.
The Indian is, of course, capable of violent emotions, acts, passion,
etc. At his festivals he gives way to himself, and drinks, dances,
talks ad libittim. The forcible imposition of European culture works
no good.

Mayan, In the same journal (pp. 2"]!, 271) Professor E. Forste-
mann has a brief article on " Die spatesten Inschriften der Mayas,"
in which he seeks to show that an inscription from Chichen-Itza and
one from Sacchana bear dates, respectively, 1581 and 1582. They
represent a brief, fleeting renaissance of Mayan hopes, in the last
half of the sixteenth century. Previous Mayan dates, according to
Forstemann, reach only to the first quarter of that century. — Dr.

VOL. xvni. — NO. 70. 17

2 38 yournal of American Folk- Lore.

Alfredo Chavero's paper on " Palemke Calendar, the Signs of the
Days," which appears in English in the " Proceedings of the Inter-
national Congress of Americanists," N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
pp. 41-51, with notes in Spanish, pp. 51-65, has already been noticed
in this Journal in its Spanish form (1902). — In the same volume (pp.
189-192) Mr. Edward H. Thompson has an article on "The Mural
Paintings of Yucatan," treating briefly of wall paintings at Chichen-
Itza, Tjula, and Chacmultun, those at the last two places being of
great importance. Mr. Thompson thinks that " evidence is slowly but
surely being brought forth to prove that these artists in colors played
a part among these people second only to their brothers, the sculptors."
Also that " in every one of the important groups there was at least
one building upon whose walls were depicted, in outline or colors, the
history of the group, or the record of certain important events during
a stated period." According to the author, "the principal colors in
use among these people were a deep and a brick red, a chocolate
brown, two shades of blue, a bright gamboge yellow, turning to a
tan yellow by age, two shades of green, and a color that may have
been a purple shading into brown." They had also white and black,
of course. Most of these pigments were " made by the natives from
plants by processes not entirely unknown to the Mayas of to-day.
The oxides of iron and certain earth, resembling yellow ochre,"
were also in use. — In the same volume (pp. 245-247) is printed an
abstract of a paper by Leon Douay, " De la non-parente de certaines
langues de I'Ancien Monde (en particulier du japonais) avec celles
du Nouveau et specialement, du groupe Maya." The author con-
cludes that " the Japanese radicals are totally unrelated to the Maya
monosyllables." The same holds with regard to Chinese and Maya.
Also with respect to the language of the Guanches. — In the same
volume (pp. 157-170) Dr. Eduard Seler has an article "On the
Present State of Our Knowledge of the Mexican and Central Amer-
ican Hieroglyphic Writing." After briefly noticing the two groups
of Mexican codices, — one confined to calendaric and astrological
purposes, the other represented by the Codex Nuttall and the allied
Vienna MS., the author proceeds to resume recent studies in Mayan
epigraphy, particularly the work of Forstemann (this laid open the
whole framework of the codices), Schellhas (names of deities), Thomas
(the discovery that Plates 25-28 of the Dresden Codex are to be
explained by the xma kaba kin ceremonies, as described by Landa),
Maudslay (initial series of Copan stelae), Goodman (" chronological
calendar," numeric value of "face glyphs, etc."). Dr. Selcr fails to
agree with Goodman that "all figures and all glyphs, and every detail
of figures and glyphs are nothing else than numbers ; the whole bulk
of the codices and the inscriptions is confined to arithmetic problems."

Record of A m eric a n Folk-L ore. 239

The Landa alphabet "is based on a misconception of the Maya
graphic system, and is, perhaps, no more than a Spanich fabrication,
or, at least, a development suggested to the Yucatec people by the
European method of writing." Dr. Seler's own discoveries relate to
the disposition of the glyphs in the codices, the nature of the glyphs
of the four cardinal points, the " intimate connection between the
day-signs of the Mexicans and the Maya day-signs," the real length
of the katim, the " infallible calendar," etc.

SOUTH AMERICA.

Argentine. Misiones. In "Globus" (vol. Ixxxvii. 1905, pp. 248-
254), Father F. Vogt describes " Yerba- und Holzgewinnung im Mi-
siones-Territorium." The article contains information concerning
the history of the cultivation of the famous mat ^ ox " Paraguay tea."
— Pre-Cobunbian Migrations. In the "Journal de la Societe des
Americanistes de Paris" (n. s. vol. ii. pp. 91-108), M. Eric Boman
has an article on " Migrations pre-Columbiennes dans le nord-ouest
de I'Argentine," in which are discussed the old Guarani burial grounds
in the valleys of San Francisco and Lerma, the " Calchaqui " chil-
dren's cemetery on the border of the Gran Chaco, etc. The special
burial ground for little children, discovered by M. Boman in i90i,at
Arroyo del Medio, extends farther north the range of " Calchaqui
culture." In the Chaco the Calchaqui were followed by the Guarani,
then by the Guaycuru. Urn-burial seems to have been employed by
the Calchaqui for little children only.

Brazil. Caiary-Uauapis Region. In " Globus " (vol. Ixxxvii. 1905,
pp. 281-283) is a brief account of Dr. Theodor H. Koch's travels
(January-December, 1905) in the region of the Caiary-Uauapes,
among various Indian tribes, speaking numerous languages and dia-
lects, — Tukano, Tariana, Pira-tapuyo, Uanana, Kobeua, Maku, etc.
The language of the Umana on a tributary of the Yapura is a pure
Cariban dialect, and the whole wide territory between Alto Uauapes
and Caqueta (Alto Yapura) is occupied by Cariban tribes, — really
one language. The unfair treatment of the Indians by the whites is
commented on.

Calchaquian. In the "Proceedings of the International Con-
gress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton,
Pa., 1905), Dr. Juan B. Ambrosetti discusses (pp. 9-15) the "Ressem-
blance entre les civilisations Pueblo et Calchaqui." Both are desert
cultures. The zoomorphic fetishes are strikingly similar in form
and ornamentation. Other rapprochements exist in picture-writings,
pottery and its ornament, decoration, etc., stone implements, urn-
burial, the chachins 2ind pahos, headdress of idols, terra-cotta pipes,
basketry, mythology, and ceremonies. The Calchaqui culture, now

240 Jou rna I of A merica n Fo Ik-Lore.

extinct, is thus very similar to that of the Pueblos of Arizona and
New Mexico.

Cariban. In the " Proceedings of the International Congress of
Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N.Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905), Mr.
L, C. van Panhuys has an article (pp. 205-208) on " Indian Words in
the Dutch Language and in Use at Dutch Guiana," in which he gives
a list of Indian words from De Martins' Galibi-Latin-French dictionary
in use in the Netherlands {e. g. kaaimau, karet, colibri, tapir, ajianas,
toekan, manioc), and in Dutch Guiana {e. g. casseripo, viarako, chico,
sagowyn, agami, piaimaji, azvarra, carapa, etc.), though in De Mar-
tins' dictionary a number of these words are not Carib, but Arawak, or
even Tupi. Other words not in De Martins', but used in Surinam or
the Netherlands, from Arawak, Tupi, Carib, etc. : hamaka {Jiangmat),
batatas, tapana, pagala, pirai, warappa, tanianoa, warimba. The In-
dian element in Surinam Dutch is evidently quite large. The Negro-
English, which " contains Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese,
French, Carib, Arawak, and African words," is deserving of thorough-
going study.

Peru. In the " Proceedings of the International Congress of
Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y,, 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
Professor Leon Lejeal has an article (pp. 75-83) on "La Collection
de M. de Sartiges et les 'Aryballas' peruviens du Musee Ethnogra-
phique du Trocad^ro." The home of the Peruvian " aryballe " is the
Inter-Sierras. The sea-shell ornamentation is sui generis. See Qui-
c/man.

QuiCHUAN. To the "American Anthropologist" (vol. vii. n, s.
pp. 49-68) Dr. A. F. Bandelier contributes an article on " The Ab-
original Ruins at Sillustani, Peru." This place was, at the time of the
conquest, in possession of the Colla, a people of Aymaran stock. The
name Sillustani, so far as known, does not appear in any Spanish
source, and " may be a Quichua term introduced subsequent to the
sixteenth century, when the Quichua Indians began to encroach on
the Aymara range." The ruins consist of towers, andenes, etc., and
the condition of the stone buildings " leads to the inference that work
on them was abandoned before completion," The architecture and
masonry at Sillustani bear the stamp of Inca work, and they resemble
structural remains at Huanuco, Coati, Kalaki, etc. Most of the pot-
sherds are of the Cuzco type. These ruins are probably the deposi-
tories, which, according to Cieza, the Inca erected at Hatun-Kolla,
— depositories for stores of potatoes, etc., received in tribute.

In the " Proceedings of the International Congress of American-
ists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905), M. Leon
Douay publishes (pp. 243, 244) a brief " Contribution a I'dtude du
mot Kechua Titicoca ou Titikaka," in which an impossible etymo-

Record of A merican Folk-L ore. 241

logy, based on Mayan resemblances, is put forth. — In the same
volume (pp. 217-225) Mr. Stansbury Hagar has an article on " Cuzco,
the Celestial City." The topography of the city, the names of the
wards and districts, their symbolism, etc., are discussed. According
to Mr. Hagar, " it is probable that every district, every square, and
every street in ancient Cuzco bore the name of some asterism or
heavenly object, with which many, or all of them, corresponded in
position." Also " Cuzco was not, properly speaking, an epitome of the
empire, but the sacred city and the sacred empire were planned to be
epitomes of the celestial world." At the basis of the Peruvian sym-
bolism lies " the system of mamas (mothers), a name given to the
spiritual prototypes (existing invisibly in the sky) of things, which
gave them birth. Imitation produced harmony with the object im-
itated and ** thereby obtained for the imitator participation in the
desired qualities and powers of that object."

GENERAL.

Early American Writings. In the "Proceedings of the Inter-
national Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902
(Easton, Pa., 1905), Mr. Joseph D. McGuire has an article (pp. 17-
26) on "Anthropological Information in Early American Writings,"
containing a resum^ of such matter as indicatives of its importance :
Trade, government, art, weapons, implements, religion, food, agricul-
ture, clothing and ornament, hunting and fishing, industries, etc.,
are some of the topics touched upon.

Education. In the " American Anthropologist " (vol. vii. n. s.
pp. 1-16), Professor Edgar L. Hewett has an article on "Ethnic
Factors in Education," in which the author points out some of the
evils of the Indian and Philippine policies of the United States gov-
ernment, besides indicating the pronouncements of anthropology con-
cerning the treatment of primitive peoples. Ethnic mind and ethnic
traits are persistent realities, and the development of a race must be
from within, — "a civilization from without is usually harmful, often
destructive, and always undesirable." Anthropological sciences
should have a prominent place in normal schools and other institu-
tions for the training of teachers. The author well says : "A sound,
commonplace aim to keep in view in educating Americans is to make
better Americans ; in educating Indians, to make better Indians ; in
educating Filipinos, to make better Filipinos^ The teacher's art de-
mands "an understanding of the modifications effected by society or
individual psychic states " and a comprehension also of the environ-
mental influences which in the course of ages have created and main-
tained primitive life.

Jesup North Pacific Expedition, In the " Proceedings of the

242 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

International Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y.,
1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905), Dr. Franz Boas resumes (pp. 91-100) the
results of the investigations of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition,
1 897-1902. A mass of valuable somatic, linguistic, sociological, re-
ligious, and mythological information has been accumulated, which is
yet to be thoroughly examined. Among the conclusions indicated
are : In a broad classification of languages, the languages of north-
western Siberia should be classed with the languages of America.
The Chukchee, Koryak, Kamchadal, and Yukaghir must be classed
with the American race rather than with the Asiatic race (so prob-
ably also some of the other isolated tribes of Siberia). In British
Columbia and parts of Alaska the investigations have shown exten-
sive migrations to have taken place, particularly on the coast.

Petroglyphs. In the " Proceedings of the International Con-
gress of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton,
Pa., 1905), Prof. W. J. Holland describes (pp. 1-4) "The Petroglyphs
at Smith's Ferry, Pennsylvania." Among the figures are those of
an eagle carrying away a papoose, deer and panther tracks, " thunder-
bird," fighting buffalo, turkey-foot, etc.

Popular Fallacies. To the " American Anthropologist " (vol.
vii. n. s. pp. 104-113), Henry W. Henshaw contributes an article on
"Popular Fallacies respecting the Indians," treating of absurd and
unfounded ideas concerning the origin of the Indians, their languages,
alleged nomadism a Votttrancc, ownership of land, ideas of royalty,
knowledge of medicine, " Great Spirit," " Happy Hunting Grounds,"
division of labor, population, degeneracy of mixed bloods, pygmies
and giants, mound-builders and cliff-dwellers, stolidity and taciturnity.
The Indians are neither descended from the ancient Israelites nor do
any of them hark back to the mediaeval Welsh : the speech of all
Indian tribes is not mutually intelligible ; all Indians are not and
were not excessively nomadic ; neither individual nor family had ab-
solute right to land ; they had, for the most part, simple chiefs, whom
the Europeans magnified into kings ; the medical art was rooted in
sorcery ; no belief in a single, unitary, overruling " great spirit "
existed ; "the happy hunting ground " implied future existence, but
not our heaven and hell ; the position of woman was fairer than is
generally believed, and often high ; the pre-Columbian Indian popu-
lation of America has been much exaggerated ; the mixed-blood has
been miscredited with degeneracy not his own ; pygmies and giants
are mythical here as elsewhere ; mound-builders and cliff-dwellers
were alike Indians ; the Indian "has a fair sense of humor, and is by
no means a stranger to jest, laughter, and even repartee."

Pygmies. In a brief article, entitled "Are there Pygmies in
French Guiana ? " in the " Proceedings of the International Congress

Record of American Folk-Lore. 243

of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905,
pp. 131-133), Mr, L. C. Van Panhuys prints some notes concerning
the alleged existence of the Maskalilis, a pygmy race of troglodytes,
" dwarfs, smaller than the Akkas in Africa ; redskins with long black
hair." They are naked noctivagants, kidnappers, plantation-thieves,
and are much feared by the Indians and the Negroes. " Is it a truth
or a legend ? " asks the author. It may be simply folk-lore.

Wampum, etc. In the " Proceedings of the International Congress
of Americanists," Thirteenth Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905),
Mr. L. C. Van Panhuys has a brief article (pp. 273-275) on " Ways
of Paying in the New Netherlands, at Dutch Guiana, and in the
former Dutch colonies of British Guiana," — zcewaiit, wampum^
beavers^ sugar, etc.

A. F. C. and /. C. C.

244 Journal of American Folk-Lore,

RECORD OF NEGRO FOLK-LORE.

Bush Negroes. In his article " About the Ornamentation in Use
by Savage Tribes in Dutch Guiana and its Meaning," in the " Pro-
ceedings of the International Congress of Americanists," Thirteenth
Session, N. Y., 1902 (Easton, Pa., 1905, pp. 209-212), Mr. L. C, Van
Panhuys treats of the ornaments and ornamental viotifs of the
Bush-Negroes, "the most original, remarkable, and interesting people
in the present Guiana," as Professor Joest has called them. They
are "the descendants of runaway slaves brought from Africa, and
have established themselves in several tribes, under chiefs or 'Gram-
mans,' with a kind of republican form of government." Their chief
tribe, the Aucaners (Djoecas) still make use of a "drum language,"
for purposes of warning. The ornaments of the Aucaners (Djoecas)
and of the Saramaccaners (of the Upper Surinam) differ markedly.
The most characteristic ornament of the Aucaners is the eye of the
iguana. In Bush-Negro ornamentation, "each artist has his own
individual work and makes his own combinations, yet the ornaments
are strongly under the same (tribal) style." The male sex is dis-
tinctly marked (arrow sometimes = phallus). Snake and bird de-
signs are numerous and represented in connection with religious ideas,
while plants are very rare. Tattooing designs " are the most conven-
tional and seem to have been copied from each other." As carv-
ing gourds and tattooing are woman's work, there are " special female
ornaments;" needle-work ornaments are made by men and women
in company. Concerning the relations of these Negroes with Indians,
the author observes : "Coast Indians paint ornaments on hammocks
made by Bush-Negroes, and given to them for that purpose. Further,
we have Indian ornaments in ' Kivejus ' and feather-work." Also :
"As far as my knowledge of Indian ornaments permits, I should say
that their ornaments have undergone no influence, neither from the
Bush-Negroes, nor from the more civilized." The coast Indians,
who cling strongly to their own primitive customs, may have adopted
some superstitions from the Bush-Negroes. Some of the Indians
have learned "the'lingoa geral' of the colony, the so-called negro-
English." In his article on " Indian Words in the Dutch Language,"
in the same volume, Mr. Van Panhuys states that the language of
the Bush-Negroes contains words from eight different languages.

A. F. C.

In Memoriam : JVashingto7t Matthews. 245

IN MEMORIAM: WASHINGTON MATTHEWS.

To the many losses suffered by this Society is to be added the
beloved name of Washington Matthews, who passed away in Wash-
ington, D. C, April 19, at the age of sixty-two.

Dr. Matthews was born in Killiney, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland,
July 17, 1843. In infancy he lost his mother, and was brought to
America by his father, a physician, who settled at first in Wisconsin
(still a territory), and afterwards in Iowa. In i860 the young man
undertook the study of medicine, and in 1863 received a medical
degree from the State University at Dubuque. In the same year
he entered the United States service, and through the remainder of
the civil war did duty as acting assistant surgeon. In 1868 he was
commissioned as assistant surgeon, in 1871 captain and assistant
surgeon, in 1889 major and surgeon. In 1865 he served as post
surgeon at Fort Union, Montana, and about this time became inter-
ested in the study of Indian tribes, for which he had opportunities at
various posts, coming into contact with the Arickarees, Hidatsas,
and Mandans. In 1871, at Fort Buford, his quarters and all his
manuscripts were consumed by fire. In 1872 he published in New
York a " Grammar and Dictionary of the Hidatsas," of which a
second edition, entitled " Ethnography and Philology of the Hidatsa
Indians," was issued from the Government Printing Office in 1877.
For the five succeeding years he was employed in California, Nevada,
Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, particularly in campaigns against
hostile Indians. In 1880 he went to New Mexico, where he became
intimately acquainted with the Navahos. During the subsequent
time he made his home in Washington, and in his latter years be-
came subject to painful infirmities, especially lameness and deafness,
difficulties trying to an active temperament, but which he endured
not merely with resignation, but with the most exemplary courage
and equanimity.

Dr. Matthews was a member of this Society from the year of its
organization (1888). He was elected vice-president in 1894, and
president in 1895. To this Journal he has contributed several
articles: " Noqoilpi, the Gambler, a Navajo Myth," 1889, ii. 89;
"The Gentile System of the Navajo Indians," 1890, iii. 89; "The
Study of Ceremony," 1896, x. 257; "The Study of Ethics among
the Lower Races," 1899, ^ii. i. His " Navaho Legends" made the
fifth volume of the Memoirs of the Society (1897). Here may also
be mentioned papers entitled : "A Part of the Navajo's Mythology,"
American Antiquarian, April, 1883; "The Mountain Chant, a Na-
vajo Ceremony," Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,

246 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

1887 (noticed in this Journal, ii. y6) ; "Prayer of a Navajo Shaman,"
American Anthropologist, April, 1888 (i. 166) ; and his complete
account of the "Night Chant," American Museum of Natural His-
tory Memoirs, vol. vi. 1902 (reviewed in this Journal, xvi. 61).

The writings of Dr. Matthews represent the new method in the
study of aboriginal mythology, according to which legends are treated,
no longer as mere curious tales, but as an essential part of the racial
life, illustrated and interpreted by abundant notes and illustrations.
It has been said that " Navaho Legends " was the best tribal study of
the sort made ; nor to this day can it be affirmed that the corre-
sponding material of other continents has been edited in a mat-
ter equally satisfactory. Among minor papers may especially be
mentioned the beautiful " Study of Ethics " above noted ; this arti-
cle, translated in " L'Humanite Nouvelle," dealing with a field still
imperfectly explored, finely shows the intimate relations existing
between the author and the race with which he deals. Seldom has
it happened that any investigator has brought to his task so valuable
a combination of qualities, or been equally able to penetrate the
mentality he examines. When we consider his career, regret mingles
with admiration ; had he been assisted with the necessary means, he
might have perfected the study of Navaho thought and accomplished
an equally brilliant account of Mandan beliefs. For the lack of such
perception, a chapter of mental history, to the end of time, will ex-
hibit sad lacunas. Yet the gifts of the gods are usually recognized
too late, and it is well to rejoice in what we possess.

If the private life of Dr. Matthews could be fully set forth, it
might be judged to outweigh even his public services. Delightful
simplicity and frankness, combined with such knowledge of the world
and extensive acquaintance as an active experience must needs be-
stow, gentleness and compassion united to fearless courage, a shrink-
ing modesty unaffected by the intimacy with primitive life, joined to
accuracy and clarified by knowledge, aversion to vulgar publicity not
exclusive of pleasure in the recognition of worthy praise ; a broad
and massive nature, neither desiccated by erudition nor hardened by
experience ; a character which, had its light chanced to have set on
an eminence, might have illuminated a whole community.

Dr. Matthews was poet as well as artist ; the quality of his verse
reflects delicacy and tenderness. It is to be hoped that Mr. Loomis,
who is to prepare a biographical account,^ will include at least some
of his few pieces. Before the writer of this inadequate tribute lies
one such composition, from which an extract may properly be added.

1 A preliminary notice has already appeared in Out West, May, 1905. Physi-
cians and Surgeons of America also furnishes a "Biographical Sketch" to which
the writer is indebted for facts and dates.

hi Memoriam : Washington Mai thews. 247

Its title is " The Pagan Martyrs ; " the author describes a visit to
the mesa of Zuiii, ascent to its terraces, entrance into the estufa
in which are intoning

learned priests who hold
A law as ancient as the code Mosaic,
A cult as that of Baal or Indra old,

notes the arrival of the Spaniards, with ensuing persecutions, and
proceeds : —

So, not for images with pallid faces

Would Zuni's sons their swarthy gods despite,
Nor take the proffered bargain which replaces,

With feast of saint, a day of pagan rite, —
(Such saint as they of Acomk believe in;

For there the Indian sings his song of praise,
Where the fair statue of the Royal Stephen

Supplants the war-god of the ancient days).

Though well they knew the doom of death was meted

To him who in idolatry was found.
They oft, in stealth, to deserts far retreated,

Or met in Nature's temples underground;
And there they taught their children tales of wonder.

And all the secrets of the priestly line ;
On high Toyalani, the Mount of Thunder,

They laid the gifts at Ahayuta's shrine.

But Faith, long suffering, is at last victorious ;

And praise, to-day, to old-time gods they sing,
No more in trembling, but with voice uproarious,

Safe 'neath the shelter of the Eagle's wing.
Bright are the fires in the estufas lowly.

Quenched are the tapers in the Christian fane,
Where now the stranger spoils the altar holy.

No longer guarded by the arms of Spain.

W.W.N.

248 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

RECENT FOLK-LORE MEETINGS IN CALIFORNIA.

The first regular meeting of the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club, founded
May 3, 1905, was held in the evening of August 18, at the Univer-
sity of California.

The Committee appointed to draft an organization reported as
follows : —

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE.

The Committee appointed May 3, 1905, by unanimous vote of the
charter members of the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club to report on a
scheme of organization for the Club, beg leave to submit the fol-
lowing : —

CONSTITUTION OF THE BERKELEY FOLK-LORE CLUB.

1. This Society shall be called the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club.

2. Besides the fifteen charter members, to wit : Messrs. Lange,
Mitchell, Goddard, Dresslar, Hart, Setchell, Merriam, Richardson,
Fryer, Gayley, Miller, Ritter, Keeler, Noyes, and Kroeber, members
shall consist of such men members of the Academic Senate of the
University of California, and such men members in good standing of
the American Folk-Lore Society, as are unanimously elected by the
Club ; and of such only.

3. The officers shall be a President, Vice-president, and Secretary,
who shall constitute an Executive Committee which shall arrange
for all meetings and transact all business of the Club.

4. Four or more meetings annually shall be held, at the first of
which in each academic year the officers shall be elected.

5. Five shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

6. Amendments to this constitution may be proposed at any meet-
ing of the Club and adopted by a two thirds vote of those present at
the next meeting.

The Committee recommend the adoption of this constitution and
the immediate organization of the Club under its provisions.

Signed : A. L. Kroeber,

Charles Keeler,
G, R. NoYES.

The report of the Committee was discussed and accepted, the
proposed constitution being thereby adopted.
The following officers were then elected : —
President, A. F. Lange.
Vice-president, Charles Keeler.
Secretary, A. L. Kroeber.

Recent Folk-Lore Meetings in California. 249

New members elected were : Professor F. W. Putnam, Dr. B. P.
Kurtz, and Professor H. K. Schilling.

The Committee on the establishment of a California Branch of
the American Folk-Lore Society reported as follows : —

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE.

The Committee appointed May 3, 1905, on vote of the charter
members of the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club to report on the feasibility
of the establishment of a California Branch of the American Folk-
Lore Society, beg leave to submit the following recommendations : —

That the formation of the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club provides an
opportune basis for the establishment and successful development of
a California Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society, which will
extend the work undertaken by the Berkeley P'olk-Lore Club to a
wider sphere of influence and bring it before a larger body of persons,
thus enhancing the promotion of folk-lore interests on the Pacific
coast. Be it resolved therefore,

That a California Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society be
hereby organized by such of those present as signify their willing-
ness ; and ^

That a committee of five be appointed to arrange for a meeting,
including a programme, in Berkeley, on the evening of August 28 ;
said committee to submit at this meeting a formal draft of organiza-
tion, with nominations for officers, for the California Branch of the
American Folk-Lore Society.

Signed : A. L. Kroeber,

Charles Keeler,
G. R. Noyes.

This report was adopted, and the following Committee appointed
under its provisions to report at the first meeting of the California
Branch on August 28 : J. C. Merriam, G. R. Noyes, A. L. Kroeber,
W. C. Mitchell, and Charles Keeler.

250 Jour7ial of American Folk- Lore,

NOTES AND QUERIES.

A Louisiana Legend concerning Will o' the Wisp. — The follow-
ing tale was obtained, about 1890, from Aunt Cindy, a very old negress,
who could remember events that happened some seventy years ago, and
who had at her tongue's end the history of every family and plantation.

" Mr. Ivey " was supposed to have died and been interred in a vault under
an oak-tree ; however, the vault was afterwards found open, and the coffin
discovered to contain nothing but " mourners," or the bands worn by pall-
bearers, and thrown on the coffin before the bricking up of the vault. The
ground in the vicinity, also, was seen to be marked with tracks made by
cloven feet; it was known, therefore, that the devil had carried off the
corpse. The crime which had occasioned such seizure was explained in
connection with a neighboring cabin, in a corner of the garden, provided
with one small window and a strong door ; here it was said that Mr.
Ivey had formerly immured his brother. According to the narrator : —

"Well, Mr. Ivey done had dat built for Mr. Jakey, his brother, what
owned dis place afore I was born, I 'spects. Dey say how Mr. Jakey war
a powerful good master, but he was tuk outen his mind, an' it wan't safe
ter go nigh him, so Mr. Ivey built dat little house, an' shut him up fer years
an' years. Now dis is what I done heard talked among der white people
in der big house, how Mr. Ivey got tired er waitin' fer his brother ter die
so he could git der place, kase Mr. Jakey ain't never married an' Mr.
Ivey would git it all. No one ever seed Mr. Jakey a'ter he was put in dar,
'cep'n jest Mr. Ivey, an' so nobody did n't know ter trufe of it when Mr.
Ivey told how Mr. Jakey was daid all of a sudden, an' he was a gwine ter
bury him under der oak in a bran new brick vault. Well, dey suttenly
did have some kind of er funeral, but dar was n't no preacher an' no
mourners, an' dem niggers what toted dat coffin say how it was powerful
light. You see, chile, dat coffin was plum empty, kase Mr. Jakey was seen
a'ter dat, an' alive too. Yes, alive — as sure as yer here.

" Out dar in der brule'e was a poor white what had a little place on der
aidge of der swamp, an' dey do say how Mr. Ivey done give it to him.
Well, it was out in dat turruble place where Mr. Jakey was seen by more 'n
one 'liable pussen. An', pore cretur, he was chained ter a stump an' gwine
on all fours like a dum' beast, an' a eatin' grass jes like dat ole man what
Miss useter read about in der Bible. Well, one day he done broke his
chain an' wan'ered off in ter de swamp an' no one never seed him a'ter dat,
an' no one never found his poor ole bones. An' dat coffin was jest left
empty dar in der brick vault. An' Mr. Ivey took der place an' all Mr.
Jakey's money an' made big craps an' bought er lot of new niggers, an' den
dar was high doin's in der big house, an' den in de midst of der feastin' an'
drinkin' an sinnin' Mr. Ivey was done called ter his account. Oh, I remem-
bers right well dat time an' der big funeral, an' der pall-bearers wid crape
mourners what jes clear der ground — dem same mourners what I tole yer
about — an' dey open der vault an' put Mr. Ivey in erlong wid Mr. Jakey's

Notes and Queries. 251

empty coffin, but bless yer, chile, der devil would n't let Mr, Ivey rest dar
while his brother's 'mains was a-bleachin' out in der sun an' rain, so he
was jes natch'ly sont down in der swamp ter find Mr. Jakey's poor ole
bones, an' dar he hunts an' hunts wid a lighted pine knot, all in ermong
der cypress knees. Unc' Jim he 's done seed him lots er times when he 's
been runnin' der drain wheel dark rainy nights. Yes, he 's done seed him
a-tearin' an' a-lopin' over dem ridges, his pine knot a blazin' an' a flamin'
spite of der rain, an' he can't stop nor rest kase he 's druv all der time by
dem bad sperits following him an' tormentin' him.

" Dem trashy young niggers do say as how dat light dancin' an' bobbin'
in der swamp 'round der drainin' wheel an' un'er de ole oak is er Jack-
lantern — but me an' Unc' Jim, we knows it's Mr. Ivey a-huntin' fer Mr.
Jakey's bones."

Mrs. C. V. Jamison.

New Orleans, La.

The Cottonwood-Tree : Louisiana Superstition. — The perpetual
movement of the cottonwood-tree was explained by the same narrator as
follows : —

" Well, chile, yer see dis was what my ole Miss useter tell me. Dem
same kind er trees growed in dat garden whar der blessed Lord prayed der
night afore he was crucified, an' when Judas cum dar along 'er dem sol-
diers ter 'tray der Lord an' take him erway ter nail him on der cross, dey
done chop down one of dem trees and made der Saviour ob der world tote
it up ter Calvery. An' dey made der cross outen it, an' dem trees sensed
how it was der blessed Lord what was gwine ter suffer an' die on one of
'em, and dey jes tuk ter tremblin' an' shiverin' with fear. An* dey never
stop yit, an' never will while one of dem grows, kase dey is der kind er tree
what der cross of Calvery were made of."

De Witch-'ooman an' de Spinnin'-Wheel. The Witch prevented
FROM reentering HER Skin : A Tale FROM LOUISIANA. — One time dey
wuz a man whar rid up at night ter a cabin in de eedge o' de swamp. He
wuz dat hongry an' ti'd dat he say ter hissef : " Ef I kin git a hunk o'
co'n-pone and a slice o' bakin', I doan kur what I pays ! " On dat here
come a yaller-ooman spankin' out'n de cabin. She wuz spry on her foot
ez a catbird, an' her eyes wuz sof an' shiny. She ax de man fer ter light
an' come in de cabin, an' git some supper. An' Lawd ! how he mouf do
water when he cotch a glimpst er de skillet on de coals ! He luk it so well
dat he stay ; an' he sot eroun' in dat cabin ontwel he git so fat dat de
grease fa'r run out'n he jaws when he look up at de sun. De yaller-'ooman
she spen' her time cookin' fer him, an' waitin' on him wi' so much oberly,
dat at las' de man, he up an' marry dat yaller-'ooman.

At fus' dey git erlong tollable well, but a'ter erwhile he gin ter notice
dat sump'n curus 'bout dat yaller-'ooman. She ain' never in de cabin when
he wake up in de night time ! So, he mek up his min' fer ter spy on her.
He lay down one night on de fo' pos' bed in de cornder, ten' luk he sleep.

252 yournal of A merican Folk-L ore.

De yaller-'ooman watch him out'n de een o' her eye, an' when she hear
him gin a sno' (caze cose he 'ten luk he sno') she jump up an' pat a juba in
de middle o' de flo'. Den she reach down a big gridi'on fum de wall, an'
rake out some coals, an' haul de big spinning-wheel close ter de ha'th.
Den, she sot herse'f down on dat gridi'on, an' soon ez it wuz red-hot she
'gin ter spin her skin off'n her body on de spinnin'-wheel. " Tu'n an'
spin, come off skin, tu'n an' spin, come off skin." An' fo' de Lawd, de
skin come off'n dat witch-'ooman's body, berginning at de top o' her head,
ez slick es de shush come off de ear o' corn. An' when it wuz fa'r off, dan
she wuz a gret big yaller cat. Den, she tuk her skin an chuck it onder de
bed. "Lay dar, skin," she say, " wi' dat fool nigger sno'in' in de bed,
ontwel I come back. I gwine ter ha' some fum, I is."

Wi' dat she jump out'n de winder an' lope off. Soon ez she wuz gone
de man, he jump out'n de bed an' tuk out skin an' fill it plum full o' salt
an' pepper, un' th'ow it back onder de bed. Den he crope out an' watch
thro' de key-hole ontwel de witch-'ooman come home. She laugh whilse
she wuz rakin' out de skin fum onder 'de bed, an' shakin' herse'f inter it.
But when she feel de salt an' pepper, she laugh on de yether side her mouf.
She moan an' groan so you kin hear her a mile ! But she ain able ter git
out'n dat skin, an' de man watch her thoo de key-hole twel she fall down
an' die on de flo'.

Mrs. M. E. M. Davis.

New Orleans, La.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

BOOKS.

Publications of the Folk-Lore Society LIII. [1903]. County Folk-Lore.
Vol. IV. Printed Extracts No. 6. Examples of Printed Folk-Lore con-
cerning Northumberland collected by M, C. Balfour and edited by
NoRTHCOTE W. Thomas. Published for the Folk-Lore Society by David
Nutt, 57-59 Long Acre, London, 1904. Pp. xv, 180.

Publications of the Folk-Lore Society LI. [1902]. Folk-Lore of the
MusQUAKiE Indians of North America and Catalogue of Musquakie
Beadwork and other Objects in the Collection of the Folk-Lore Society
by Mary Alicia Owen. With eight Plates and figures in the text.
Published for the Folk-Lore Society by David Nutt. London, 1904.
Pp. ix, 147.

The President of the Society, in his preface to this book of Northumber-
land folk-lore, observes that its smallness, as compared with previous vol-
umes, " is due, not to the paucity of Northumberland Folk-Lore to be
recorded, but to the fact that so much of it has already seen the light in
the publications of the Society." The topics considered are : Superstitious
beliefs and practices (superstitions relating to natural objects, trees and
plants, animals ; goblindom, witchcraft, leechcraft, magic and divination,
superstition generally), traditional customs (festival, ceremonial customs,

Bibliographical Notes. • 253

games, local custom), traditional narratives (tales, ballads and songs,
place legends and traditions, drama) folk-sayings (jingles, nursery-rhymes,
etc., proverbs, nicknames, place-names, and sayings). There are recorded
here many quaint and curious items " about the old-fashioned country-life
of the Northumberland Border, its rough gaiety, its bonfire festivals, its
harvest-homes, its boisterous weddings," etc. As an example of cure by
cumulative qualification the following item (p. 56) may be cited : " If a
child be ill, seven men, whose fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers
have been blacksmiths, collect in a circle, at the centre of which the indis-
posed child is laid upon an anvil, and'the circle wave their hammers over
its head and utter with great force the stroke-groan, ' hegh ! ' If the child is
terrified, the symptom is favorable ; if it be regardless of their menaces, life
is supposed to be in its socket. To secure the charm each smith has 6d.,
ale, and bread, and cheese." In some parts of northern England " May
goslings " (p. 73) were once as common as " April fools." Among the
children's games are : All-in-the-well, chucks and marvels, neivy-neivy-nick-
nack (guessing hand game), London Bridge, T\ko old Jews, Johnny Lingo,
etc. The corn-baby has the names Keney, corney-doll, kern-doll, kern-
babby, mell-doll ; and in Morpeth " a Mell supper followed the Harvest
Home, and the Kern, or Churn Baby is said to take its name from the
rich cream that forms part of the repast " (p, 125). The cumulative song
on pages 138, 139 begins with

and runs to

The first day of Christmas my true love sent to me
One partridge on a pear tree,

The twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Twelve lords a-leaping, etc.

The "Noah Play" (pp. 160-167) is from an ancient play belonging to
the Company of Shipwrights in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Miss Owen's monograph has been considered at some length elsewhere
in this Journal.

Naturgeftjhl und Natursymbolik bei Heinrich Heine. Ein Beitrag
zur Wiirdigung seiner Kunst und Personlichkeit von Dr. phil. Alexan-
der Pache. Hamburg und Leipzig : Leopold Voss, 1904. Pp. 164.

The four sections of this work treat Heine as nature-poet, the nature-
symbolic element in Heine's works, the literary-historical position of
Heine's nature-symbolism, forms and peculiarities of Heine's nature-sym-
bolism (esthetico-critical). Heine is noteworthy among nature-poets as
"uniting a pronounced Germanic and an innate Oriental nature-feeling."
This he does charming and naively, as no other German poet. He halts
also often between the classic and the romantic. Added to these qualities
are his humor and irony. Part of his position towards nature is seen from
the phrase he applies to her : " O Natur ! du schone, stumme Jungfrau !
Ich verstehe Deine Sterne, und Du verstehst meine Tranen." He sees the
momentary and is, therefore, realistic and true. He is " the father of mod-

voL. XVIII. — NO. 70. 18

254 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

ern impressionalism." As compared with Goethe, the Oriental element in
Heine, by reason of his half-Asiatic blood, is much more at home and
usable for his own purpose, while with the former the loosely cast mantle of
Oriental stuff seems still foreign and lets the German form peep betrayingly
through again and again. The first and earliest teacher of Heine was the
German folk-song (pp. 99-105), traces of whose influence crop out every-
where. Like the folk, the poet has " an overpowering love for lindens, night-
ingales and moonshine," and for him as for them blood and tears have a
secret productive power. Both use, too, the parallel between the life of
nature and the life of man. Equally great is the love of both for the rose.
The influence of Wilhelm Miiller, which Heine himself acknowledged, was
also great. It enabled him to make the old folk-song into the new poet-
song. To Brentano and Tieck he also owed not a little, — the latter in his
second romantic period. The flower-symbolism of Heine is particularly
interesting in its relations with folk-song and with the works of those poets
who influenced him. The statistics of comparisons with flowers, animals,
natural objects, etc., given on pages 139-140, include starry eyes, pearly
teeth, rosy mouth, lips, and cheeks, violet and sapphire eyes, golden locks,
ruby mouth and lips, pitik mouth and lips, lily hands, fingers, arm, bosom,
nose, foot, ears, swan arm, hand, neck, bosom, etc. Characteristic of Heine
is the introduction of cnlinxe-motifs into the poetic and classic. His re-
action to the Orient is good, although he never saw it. As an example of
his mingling of diverse things may be cited this phrase, " Siisze Ananasduft
der Hoflichkeit." While Heine feels and uses the elves, nixes, fairies, and
goblins of Teutonic folk-thought, he never takes over into his poetry the
real gods, Wodin, Baldur, Donar, etc. This notably marks his treatment
of the old nature-myth as compared with the classical. Being at once
Oriental and German, Heine is a poet who lends himself remarkably well
for comparison with the genius and creations of the folk.

A.F. C.

RECENT ARTICLES OF A COMPARATIVE NATURE IN FOLK-
LORE AND OTHER PERIODICALS.

Art. Groos, K. : " Die Anfange der Kunst und die Theorie Darwins," Hess.
Bl.f. Volksk. vol. iii. (1904), pp. 98-112. Groos does not accept Darwin's view of
the origin of art in the sexual life of primitive man. Social-religious life is more
powerful as a factor in the higher development of art than is courtship. The need
of self-representation is one of the autonomous motifs of artistic production, and
although unmistakably in relation with courtship, is, even in the animal world, not
limited to it alone, but shows its artistic significance most clearly where it is freed
from sexuality, and takes on an individualistic or a social character.

Child-Mythology. Chamberlain, A. F. and I. C. : " Studies of a Child,"
Pedag. Sam. vol. xi. (1904), pp. 264-292, 452-483. Besides other linguistic and
psychological material, contains data concerning the obiter dicta, imagination,
nature-observations, poetry and song, stories, analogy-lore, etc., of a three-year
old girl.

D ay-Dreams. Smith, T. L. : " The Psychology of Day-Dreams,'M ;«<-;-. Jonrn.

Bibliographical Notes, 255

of Psychol, vol. XV. (1904), pp. 465-488. Gives results of investigation of school-
children. The dreams of the youngest children who could write (7 to 8 years)
were " almost entirely of play and good times with a sprinkhng of the fairy story
type of dream." For girls from 8 to 10 "the fairy-tale form of day-dream pre-
dominates above all others," and the deus ex machina " is most frequently a fairy
godmother, though wishing caps, a magic lamp or ring, also figure."

Father and Son Combat. Potter, M. A.: "Additional Variants of the
Father and Son Combat Theme," Folk-Lore (Lond.), vol. xv. 1904, pp. 216-220.
Cites examples from Hawaii, New Zealand (Maori), Balkan countries, etc.

FoLK-LoRE IN School. Lamieri, V. : " Folk-lore e pedagogia," Riv. di.
Psicol. appl. alia Pedag. ed alia Psicopatol. Bologna, 1905, vol. i. pp. 26-31.
Author describes the results of the introduction into the school for the feeble-
minded of a game of "proverbs." When the repertory of known proverbs is at
an end, the children invent them.

FoLK-SoNG. Bockel, O. : " Das Volkslied derpolnischen Oberschlesier vergli-
chen mit der deutschen Volkspoesie," Mitt. d. Schles. Ges. f. Volksk. (Breslau),
1904, pp. 40-65. Compares as to material and form the folk-songs of the Poles of
Upper Silesia, as recorded by Rogers, with German folk-poetry.

Hearing. Chamberlain, A. F. : " Primitive Hearing and ' Hearing Words,' "
A7ner. Joiirn. Psychol, vol. xvi. (1905), pp. 1 19-130. Treats briefly lore about
acuteness of hearing, folk-conception of deafness, "earmindedness," ear and hear-
ing in folk-lore and mythology.

" Hog-faced Daughter." Bookenoogen, C. J. : " Het meisje met het var-
kenshoofd," Volkskjtude (Gent), vol. xvi. 1904, pp. 1-17. Cites Dutch fly-sheet of
1 641 describing the hog-headed girl born in Amsterdam ; a song on this topic
from a collection of songs printed in 1805 related doubtless to the fly-sheet ac-
count; a print (dated 1640) in the Bodleian library, Oxford, about a " Hog-faced
Gentlewoman" born at Wirkham in Holland; a song, "The Long-Nos'd Lass,"
printed at London, 1 672-1 695, etc. Dr. B. considers the tale to belong to folk-
lore rather than history. More or less related are the legends of the origin of the
families Porcelet and Trazenies, of the Guelphs, the tale of the Knight and the
Swan, the Sicilian Re Porco, etc.

Juridical Folk- Lore of Children. De Cock, A. : " Rechtshandlingen
bij de Kinderen," Volksktcnde {G^ni), vol. xvi. 1904, pp. 54-59, 104-106, 151-156.
The third, fourth, and fifth sections, treating of laws of exchange, " barring," and
oaths of children. In the oath and exchange formulas the devil, hell, beheading,
etc., appear. The "barring" for seats, places, etc., are very interesting.

Kava-drinking. Hough, W. : " Kava-drinking as practised by the Papuans
and Polynesians," Smiths. Misc. Coll. (Quart. Iss.), vol. xlvii. (1904), pp. 85-92.
Author thinks that the Papuans invented kava, " because among this people its use
was prevalent, and the plant was systematically cultivated for the purpose of mak-
ing the drink. The use of kava cannot be traced to New Zealand. Its introduc-
tion into Samoa from Fiji is of historic record. The Easter Islanders also do
not know it. Other arts may be due to " the progressive, woolly-haired peoples."

"Milk-drinking" BY Snakes. Olbrich, C. : " Das Milchtrinkender Schlan-
gen," Mitt. d. Schles. Ges.f. Volksk. (Breslau), 1904, pp. 67-72. Author considers
the " milk-drinking " of snakes as " an example of the strong influences exerted
upon natural history tradition by ancient idea preserved in folk-belief."

Paradise. Gunkel, H. : T>\e:Vz.rdi6.i&sts&rzzh\nng,''DtscheRndschau(Btr\in),
vol. xxxi. 1904, pp. 53-58. The legend hails from Mesopotamia, but Paradise
itself had no local habitation.

Phonograph and Music. Abraham, O. und von Hornbostel, E. : " Ueber
die Bedeutung des Phonographen fiir vergleichende Musikwissenschaft," Z. f.

256 journal of A merican Folk-L ore.

Ethnol. (Berlin), vol. xxxvi. 1904, pp. 222-236. Emphasizes need of more exact
investigation of music as a psychological and culture character of human races,
the relation between text and music, etc. The phonograph is a great help here.

Position of Woman. Farnell, L. R. : " Sociological Hypotheses concerning
the Position of Women in Ancient Religion," A^xh. f. Religsw. (Lpzg.), vol. vii.
1904, pp. 70-94. Author argues that "the matriarchate has not left so clear an
impression on classical religion as has been supposed." Other causes than matri-
archy or gynaeocracy explain many of the facts involved.

Prayer. Marett, R. R. : " From Spell to Prayer," Folk-Lore (Lond.), vol. xv.
1904, pp. 132-165. Treats of the evolution of the prayer from the spell, of the
relation of incantation to invocation, Frazer's ideas as to religion and magic, etc.
The spell belongs to magic, according to the author, the prayer to religion. The
spell passes by easy gradations into the prayer, the imperative into the optative.

" Prophets." Mitchell, H. W. : " Nineteenth Century Prophets," Hist. Mag.
and Notes and Queries (Manchester, N. H.), vol. xxiii. 1905, pp. 29-38. Gives a
list of 105 men and women in various parts of the world, self-styled prophets,
founders, interpreters of "new" religions. To these the editor adds nine more.
Of these America furnished more than one half.

Proverbs. De Cock, A. : " Spreekwoorden en Zegswijzen, afkomstig van
oude Gebruiken," Voikskunde (Gent), vo]. xv. 1903, pp. 221-227, vol. xvi. 1904,
pp. 40-50, 77-89, 145-150. Comparative Study of Nos. 483-485 of Dutch pro-
verbs relating to money; 486-493 to measures of distance, length, land; 494-501
to measures of contents ; 502-508 to weighing and weights ; 509-524 to knighthood
and chivalry.

" Thoughts in Common." Mason, O. T. : " The Ripening of Thoughts in
Common. ' Common Sense is Thoughts in Common,' " Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc.
vol. xliii. 1904, pp. 148-155. Treats topic in relation to biology, speech, indus-
tries, fine art, social life, learning and lore, and religion. The lore-thoughts of a
people are the most deep-rooted and persistent, because indigenous to their minds.
The most overpowering thoughts in common have belonged to the realm of reli-
gion. Telepathic influences, if such exist, are not the cause, but the effect of
striking coincidences.

Tree of Life. Peet, S. D. : "The Tree of Life among all Nations," Atner.
Anti'q. vol. xxvi. 1904, pp. 1-16. Discusses this symbol in Asia and America
(Mayan peoples and Aztecs). The symbolism of the tree of life and the tree of
good and evil " have been embodied in the religions of nearly every land."

Women. De Cock. A. : " Spreekworden en Zegswijzen over de Vrouwen, de
Liefde en het het Huwelijk," Volkskiinde (Gent), vol. xvi. 1904, pp. 59-65, 107-1 13,
157-166. Nos. 262-352 of proverbs and sayings relating to women, love and
marriage, also Nos. 1-70 relating to brides and weddings, with comparative notes.

A. F. C.

THE JOURNAL OF

AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

Vol. XVIIL — OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1905. — No. LXXL

THE WHIRLWIND AND THE ELK IN THE
MYTHOLOGY OF THE DAKOTA.

Several years ago, while engaged in making a collection for the
American Museum of Natural History illustrating the art of the Da-
kota, the writer whiled away the tedious hours of long journeys over
the open plains of the reservations and the leisure moments around
the camp-fires by confidential discussions with a few old men who
seemed to live entirely in the past. These discussions always turned
to those phases of life known to us as ethics, philosophy, and religion.
The quick subjection of the Indian, with its consequent destruction
of his native economic and political life, has rather intensified his re-
flective and religious activities than otherwise, by restricting all other
outlets to individual aspirations and emotions. I have heard expres-
sions from them which among us would be regarded as evidences
of those cynical scepticisms toward the ultimate moral and religious
sanctions for social practices which an extensive acquaintance with
the ways of different orders of man begets among many of our
associates. It seems clear that mere contact with our civilization has-
increased the breadth of the view of the Indian and made him more
critical in his attitude toward his own traditions and more liberal in
his attitude toward ours. At the same time this condition has sharp-
ened his interest in speculation and observation as to the true state
of affairs in the unseen world. For these reasons we may expect the
religious ideas now current among these people to be modified forms
of their ancient beliefs, but the mode of thought and the method of
speculation by which these ideas are realized seem to be a survival
of the past. It is for the purpose of illustrating this method and men-
tal attitude that two of the philosophical conceptions of the Dakota
are discussed in this paper. If the reader finds the account vague and
unsatisfactory, the writer will feel that he has in a measure succeeded
in presenting the ideas in their true relation as they stand before the
minds of the Dakota.

258 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

THE WHIRLWIND MOTH.

The Dakota believe that there is a close relation between the
whirlwind and the fluttering wings of a moth. The cocoon is
regarded as the bundle or mysterious object from which a power
similar to that of the whirlwind emanates. I was told that the
observed facts as to the emergence of the moth from this bundle
were in themselves evidences of the sacred character of the moth
because it had power to escape from an inclosure. Like the wind it
could not be confined. It represents, from this point of view, the
kind of power desired by the Indian : viz., to be intangible, invisible,
and destructive like the wind. The relation of this insect to the
whirlwind is vague and nai've like most primitive ideas. Some individ-
uals said specifically that the whirlwind was caused by the fluttering
wings of the moth. On the other hand, some of the best informed
men explained the case differently. They took the view that it was
the wind that was the real power. There was a deep mystery in the
wind, since it was intangible and visible only in its effects. The
moth by its wings reproduced the phenomenon of the whirlwind, or
received from it power to rise in the air, etc. Then all the other
mysterious acts of the moth were explained by its rapport with this
power.

The idea of the power of the whirlwind as expressed by the Dakota
is an interesting psychological fact. The whirlwind to which they
refer is always the harmless little whirl that one sees upon the plains
every clear day. The long slender column of dust betraying its
presence makes a profound impression upon the Indian. In the
whirlwind somehow and somewhere resides the power to produce
confusion of mind. How this idea arose is not known, but the
Indian seems to see a resemblance between the visible aspect of the
whirlwind and the subjective experience in a confused state of mind.
When a man loses his presence of mind he is said to have been over-
come by the power of the whirlwind. As this misfortune often befell
a man in battle, it became the prayer of the Indian that the minds of
his enemies should be confused.

The buffalo bull is said to pray to the power of the whirlwind
before going into a fight. The proof of this is again in observed
phenomena, since as a preliminary to an encounter the bull paws the
earth, every now and then deftly scooping up the dust with his hoof
and driving it straight up into the air. From a distance this bears a
striking resemblance to the effect of a whirlwind. The interpreta-
tion placed upon this act by the Indian is that the buffalo is praying
to the power of the whirlwind to give him power over his enemies.
According to this conception the praying is really an imitation, an

The Whirlwind and the Elk. 259

outward duplication of the visible part of the effects of the power.
The assumption in this case would be that the Indian would pray to
the whirlwind in the same manner : that is, throw up a handful of
dust in imitation of the whirlwind. But we must not forget that our
primitive philosopher is proceeding by deduction, or rather following
out a traditional line of thought for the interpretation of observed
phenomena.

As previously indicated, the same interpretation is placed upon
the moth. It seeks to secure the aid of the whirlwind by imitating it.
The symbol of the prayer to this power is the cocoon from which the
moth comes. The cocoon was often taken with a portion of the twig
or surface upon which it was found, wrapped in an eagle plume, or
down, and worn on the head. This was regarded as a perpetual
prayer to the power of the whirlwind. It was also the custom to carve
the image of the cocoon in wood, to model it of buckskin and decorate
it with beads, or to represent it graphically. John G. Bourke reports
such an object on a war shirt taken from a Sioux, in his paper on the
Apache medicine-men.^ The graphic symbol is found in the decorative
art of the Dakota. In Mallery's paper on sign writing is a drawing
representing Whirlwind Bear in which the symbol is placed over the
head of a bear.^ This author is slightly mistaken, however, in the sig-
nificance of the symbol.

By some individuals it is believed that the bear has the power of
the whirlwind. In some cases the assertion is made that it is the
bear that controls this power, and that one must pray directly to the
bear for aid of this kind. Sometimes a person will receive power from
the bear in a dream or vision and thus come to have the aid of the
whirlwind because of the conceived relation between the two. This
will change the symbolic acts of the warrior, as he will now paint his
face with the symbols of the bear and then appeal to the power of
that animal that the confusing whirlwind may place his enemies at
his mercy.

As noted by Mr. Mooney, the mystic character of the whirlwind
is a conception common to the Indians of the Plains.^ This writer
quotes three songs in which the following occur: —

I bring the whirlwind with me.
' Our father the whirlwind.

There is dust from the whirlwind.

The same author mentions that in the affair at Wounded Knee,
Yellow Bird, a prominent man among the hostiles, stooped, and

^ N^inth Report of the Bureati of Ethnology.

^ Tenth Report of the Bureati of Ethnology, fig. 962.

• James Mooney, Fourteenth Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.

26o Journal of American Folk-Lore.

scooping up a handful of dust, threw it up into the air. By the
soldiers this was said to have been a signal for battle, but the writer
has been informed from several sources, both Indian and white, that
a companion of Yellow Bird, seeing that trouble was about to occur
between them and the soldiers, said to him : " Now is the time to
work your power, if you have it." The act was a symbolic appeal
to his medicine for aid.

A Blackfoot myth contains the following incident : —

A woman went out after water. She saw a small whirlwind com-
ing towards her. As she watched it she saw a little boy running
along in the centre of the dust whirl. He spoke to her, saying:
" Mother, I know what you said about having more children, but it
will be different with me. I shall be your next." After this she
was with child.

In other myths of the same tribe occurs the incident of the buffalo
either shaking or pawing dust straight up into the air "like a whirl-
wind."

Among the Blackfoot we find the idea that there is a relation
between the moth and sleep, but the psychological conception of its
power as found among the Dakota is wanting. ^ The moth is appealed
to when the Blackfoot desire to have dreams. With them power is
always conferred in a dream. The medicine-men claim to use the
power of the moth in making childbirth easy, producing abortion,
preventing conception, etc. Sometimes if a medicine-man wishes a
woman to have children, he prays to the power of the moth and slyly
sits upon the woman's blanket. Among the Dakota the power of
the whirlwind is appealed to in case of misplaced love. Even in
such cases it is believed that the mind of the female is confused
to such a degree that she cannot resist the pleadings of the lover.

The most effective love charms and formulae among the Blackfoot
are spoken of as Cree Medicine, and are regarded as having origi-
nated with the Crees. In the mind of the Blackfoot, at least, these
are associated with the idea of the power of the moth. The image
of a moth is sometimes worn on the head of a man in the belief that
the power will pass into any woman the wearer may fix his mind
upon and cause her to become pregnant.

The Arapaho use the same word for whirlwind and caterpillar, be-
lieving the latter to cause the former.^ Among the Gros Ventre, a
division of the Arapaho, the writer found an axe ornament worked in
quills. On one side of it was the head of the buffalo. A ray extended
upward from the tip of his horn connecting with an insect hovering
about. The owner explained it as representing a rapport between the

1 G. B. Grinnell, American Anthropologist, vol. iii. No. 4.
* Kroeber and Dorsey, Traditions of the Arapaho.

The Whirlwind and the Elk. 261

buffalo and the moth. He explained that these were two great pow-
ers and that they were in sympathy with each other. The whole
represented a dream or vision by one of their ancestors in which the
ancestor was given power by these mythical creatures. The Gros
Ventre decorate the backs of their tents with a cross representing
the Morning Star. The Blackfoot use the same decoration but are
confused as to its significance. Some of them claim that it represents
the moth and is the symbolic prayer for sleep and mystic dreams,
others that the symbol is the Morning Star. The latter is doubtless
correct because it figures in the Blackfoot myths as such. Yet the
same symbol is often used to represent the moth. However, the cor-
rect way to use the moth, or sleep, symbol is to cut from raw hide an
image of the insect and hang it from the back pole of the lodge by a
thong.

Unfortunately the writer has not sufficient material for a compar-
ative discussion of the conception of the relation between the moth
and the whirlwind. That it anywhere takes the peculiar psychologi-
cal form as found among the Dakota is doubtful. As is well known,
the dragon-fly figures in the symbolic art of the Plains, but among
the Dakota, at least, it is not connected with the idea of the whirl-
wind. With them it is venerated as a being possessed of the power
to escape a blow. They say it cannot be hit by man or animal,
neither can the thunder injure it. Hence, this dragon-fly is also in
touch with a power the Indian covets.

THE POWER OF THE ELK.

In the days of their prosperity the young men of the Dakota
prayed for power over the sexual passions of women as much as for
power over the arms of the enemy when on the war-path. Their
ideals and ambitions as revealed in myth and ritual lead to the
impression that they gave far more than half their energy to the for-
mer. Love and sexual desire were interpreted, after their mode, as
manifestations of the working of some magic or supernatural power.
When one young person was drawn toward one of the opposite sex
by a power too strong to be resisted, it was considered certain that
the object of this passion had the use of some charm or the aid of
some unseen power that produced the desired result. On the other
hand, it was regarded as almost useless to resist such a power. The
psychological effect of the consciousness of this idea in the mind of
the woman, at least, must have made the lover's conquest easy. A
number of mythical creatures were supposed to manifest similar
powers over the sexes. The chief of these was the bull elk.

The Dakota have observed the influence of male animals over the
females of their kind. When pairing, the bufifalo bulls are said to

262 your7tal of American Folk- Lore.

have rounded up the cows, approached them with pawing and other
manifestations of anger. Then a bull would throw up dust with his
forefeet, producing an effect similar to that of a small whirlwind,
and, having summoned to his aid the power of the whirlwind, would
turn away. As he moves away a cow leaves the bunch and follows
him. Likewise, the stallion is said to have power to herd the mares,
lead them about, and subject them to his will. His power is sup-
posed to have been given by the thunder horse, or the thunder. The
spider was also regarded as a power in influencing women because
of his cunning. Yet above all stood the male elk. He travelled
alone. At times he would stand on a hill and call or whistle in tones
similar to those of the Indian flageolet. This call would bring the
females to his side. From the Indian's point of view he seemed to
draw them from afar in some mysterious manner. They say that he
draws them with his flageolet. The flageolet thus becomes a court-
ing charm, but it is the power of the mythical elk that is appealed
to and symbolized by the music. It is well to note that while the
elk is taken as the incarnation of the power over females, the real elk
is regarded only as the recipient of such power. The power itself is
conceived of in the nature of an abstraction similar to our conception
of force. The fact that the elk seems to act in conformity with the
laws governing this power is taken as evidence of its existence.
Then the idea of the Indian is that the elk possesses the knowledge
necessary to the working of the power. Thus a mythical, or hypo-
thetical elk, becomes the teacher of man.

In the following account it is to be understood that the dream
man who confers the power of the flageolet is the mythical elk him-
self.

In the Minnesota Lake country a long time ago, near the falls of
the Mississippi, was a Sioux camp. In this camp there was a young
man who, as an orphan, had been reared by his grandmother. The
family was poor. The young man fell in love with the daughter of a
wealthy man. She refused him. One day she ridiculed him and
said, " You are too poor to have a sweetheart ; go lie with your
grandmother."

The young man returned to his grandmother's tipi, put his robe
over his head, and grieved. When his grandmother came in with
wood she saw that he was in trouble.

" Why so sorry .'' Come, eat some meat," she said.

The young man explained his misfortune to her.

" Well," she said, " I told you not to approach that girl. Why did
you not listen to me .'* You are poor. You have no good clothes.
You do not make a fine appearance."

As the young man continued to grieve, the old woman said to him,

The Whirlwi7id and the Elk. 263

"Now you must fast. Send out for some one to make a sweat
house."

The sticks were brought and a sweat house fixed up. The young
man was requested to gather some sage grass and spread it all around
inside of the sweat house. Then the stones were heated, the young
man entered, and took the sweat.

When he came out his grandmother told him to cut four sticks,
forked at the end and as long as he was tall. When the sticks were
brought the grandmother opened a square raw hide bag, took from it
some buffalo hide, some deerskin, some red cloth and tobacco. She
tied up some tobacco in little pieces of the red cloth, and fastened
them on each of the sticks. Then she took two pieces of thong of
raw hide and cut them in halves, making four cords in all.

To her grandson she said, "Wait, have you a friend }"

"Yes."

"Call him."

When the young man's friend came, the grandmother requested
him to accompany her grandson to a high hill far out from the camp.
She directed him to set up the four sticks in the form of a square,
place her grandson in the centre, make two cuts in the skin of his
breast and two in the skin of his back, to thrust small sharp sticks
through the cuts and tie the ends of the cords to them. The grand-
son was to face the east, and the ends of the cord were to be tied to
the four sticks set up in the ground.

The friend did this. The young man was directed to stand there
during the day. At night he was to untie the pins in front and lie
down upon his breast. His grandmother had given him a filled pipe
which he was to place in front toward the east. Before lying down
he was to look once to each of the four directions and pray for a long
time. The substance of this prayer was to be that he might seduce
many women, receive many horses, and kill many enemies.

This trial was to be endured for four days and nights.

During the second day of this ordeal, while looking toward the
east, the young man heard something above him say, " Young man,
what do you wish that you torture yourself in this way t "

The young man looked up. He saw a man, scarcely visible. The
man looked old, and his hair was white.

Again the young man heard the words, " Do you want some-
thing ? "

" Yes," said the young man. " I want many women, many horses,
and to kill one enemy. I have suffered much because of my poverty,
now I want something."

"Very well," said the man, as he gave him a thick red stick
wrapped in sage grass. " Now, go home. When there, take this bun-

264 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

die and tie it up high among the poles of the tipi where it will not be
seen. Go into the sweat house every morning for four days. You
must always sleep with your head directly beneath the bundle that
hangs above. When you have done this you will learn what the thing
is which the bundle contains."

The young man did as directed. After the fourth day when he
awoke, he saw the same old man, who said, pointing at the bundle,
"To-morrow night the whole tribe must hear this. In the night
you are to go out and circle around the camp blowing upon this
flageolet. You are to pass around the camp four times. Then go to
the lodge of the girl you desire, strike upon the pole to which the
cover of the lodge is fastened, and the girl will come out to you."

The flageolet was inside of the grass bundle. This is the way they
got the flageolet.

After a few days the young man called in his friend and invited
him to share in the fruits of the new medicine. The young man told
his grandmother that he would try that same girl again. The grand-
mother laughed at him for being so foolish about this one girl. The
young man retorted, "I will bring all the women into this tipi, all
the women I want." He requested her to go outside of the tipi,
close the door, and allow no one to approach the place.

When they were alone the two boys began to lay plans for sedu-
cing girls. They were both poor. The young man showed his
friend the secret bundle. He took it down and began to open it,
saying, " Now, we shall steal many girls." He laid the bundle on
some sage grass and burned some sweet grass. The bundle was held
over the smoke four times and then unwrapped. The young man
took out the flageolet and played softly.

"Now, my friend, we can get any woman in the camp," he said.

Then the flageolet was put back into the bundle and the grand-
mother called into the tipi. Her grandson told her that he intended
to steal a girl that she did not like, bring her to their tipi, and keep
her four days. During that time she was not to speak to the girl.

When night came the two boys took the flageolet, went out upon
the hills, and circled the camp in the direction of the sun, praying
for power over the women of the camp. They played the flageolet
as they circled the camp. The people in the tipis heard the noise
and wondered at it. The dogs barked and followed the sound around
the edge of the camp. The women went out to listen and to beat off
the dogs.

The boys returned to their tipis and hung up the flageolet in the
top of the tipi as before. Then they went out among the tipis and
each led a girl away. These were the finest girls in the whole camp.
The next day their relatives were looking for them in the camp but

The Whirlwind and the Elk. 265

could not find them. They never thought of looking in the tipis of
the poor boys, for, of course, they were so poor and insignificant that
no girl would go away with them. Finally the people concluded that
the girls had gone to another camp.

Some of the women went to visit at the grandmother's tipi. They
talked to her about the missing girls. When they expressed the
opinion that they had gone off to another tribe the old woman
laughed. She said, "My children brought them home."

" Oh, no ! that is not possible," they all said in a chorus.

"Well," said the grandmother, "look and see for yourselves."

When they raised the door flap and looked they saw the two boys
and the two girls together,

" Have you stolen the girls .-' " the women called to the boys.

"Yes," was the reply.

The visiting women hastened to the mothers of the girls and
spread the news. The families talked it over, and the fathers of the
girls gave their consent to the double marriage. They sent an old
woman over to invite the girls and their lovers to live with them.

When the boys received the message they said, " No, we will live
here."

After four days they sent the girls home.

Then they took the flageolet again, determined upon two other
girls, circled the camp four times as before, and led them away to the
grandmother's tipi.

After the boys had repeated this feat four times the people of the
camp discovered how they worked their medicine. The first to find
it out were two young men. These called upon the young man, whose
name by the way was Shoots-at-the-mark, and asked him for help in
securing girls for themselves. Each of them gave Shoots-at-the-mark
a horse. Now four boys went out with the flageolet, circled the camp,
and all got girls. This state of affairs went on until nearly all of the
girls in camp had spent four nights in the tipis with various young
men.

One girl in the camp boasted that no one could steal her away. An
old woman reported what she said to Shoots-at-the-mark. He worked
his charm again and took her that very night. Then he drove her
away in disgrace. He made a song which he sang about the camp
in derision. The words were : —

" Shoots-at-the-mark is no good.
Then why do you come ? "

In course of time Shoots-at-the-mark had received many horses
from the young men. He was rich now. He had four wives and a
very large tipi. The dream man who had given him the flageolet

266 Journal of Ajneric an Folk- Lore.

warned him that after being four nights with a girl he must cleanse
himself in the sweat house and take the flageolet with him. If he
failed to do this, he would be punished. At last he forgot. The next
time he started out to work his charm and circled the camp for the
fourth time, something went wrong. Shoots-at-the-mark rose in the
air, circled around, playing as he went. The people watched him go
up. At last he went out of sight. All the women in the camp were
crying, the dogs were howling, and the grandmother cried too. There
was some great power at work.

The young friend of Shoots-at-the-mark explained to the people
that there was a penalty for neglecting the injunctions pertaining to
this power, and that Shoots-at-the-mark must have made a mistake.

A long time after this happened a young man fasted in the same
place where Shoots-at-the-mark had received his power. He dreamed
about the man and the flageolet. In the dream he was told to make
his own flageolet and to take an owl for a charm. He did so, but did
not have the power of the first man to use the flageolet.
This was the beginning of the flageolet.

Another version of this tale is that the young man first seduced
all the girls of the camp. Then he exercised his power on the mar-
ried women until he had led all of them astray. At last he ran away
with his grandmother. This seemed to have been the limit, for the
men came together in council and agreed that something must be done
about it. So they formed a plot, and when the young man returned
he was set upon and killed. His spirit went away, circling through
the air playing on the flageolet. For four nights they heard him
circle the camp in the air. At such times the women were very much
excited. Then he was heard no more.

These myths are regarded as expositions of the methods for work-
ing the charm.

The flageolet of the Dakota, referred to in the above, is usually
one with five holes. The end is often carved to represent the head
of a bird or an elk. The figure of a nude woman is often placed near
the vent. Among the Blackfoot these instruments usually have four
holes. The Ojibway seem to prefer six holes.

Another powerful charm was made from a mirror. In a small mir-
ror was drawn the figure of an elk and around the edge a zigzag line
to represent the lightning. Through the middle of the mirror a broken
line was drawn to represent the trail of the elk, and sometimes his
tracks were drawn along the trail line. In use the mirror was flashed
so that the beam would fall upon the girl. The trail in the drawing
implies that the girl must follow the footsteps of the owner of the
mirror like the females of his kind follow the male elk. The lightning
symbol is added to represent the thunder, or, according to some ac-

The Whirlwind and the Elk. 267

counts, to imply that this is a charm object. The flashing of the beam
of light upon the girl is supposed to have something like a hypnotic
effect and to put her into a state of submission. It is of interest to
note that the mythical elk who figures in this conception usually ap-
pears with a hole through his body in the region of his heart. When
he appears the observer can look through the opening and see the
landscape beyond. Then this is represented in ceremonies by a mir-
ror hanging over the heart of the man who impersonates the mythical
elk. It must not be overlooked that this same mythical elk bears a
part in other ceremonies where a different motive moves the people.

The Dakota made use of a painted robe that may be called a court-
ing blanket. This usually bore the figure of an elk, a spider, and the
whirlwind. Sometimes the figure of a woman was the main part of
the design with zigzag lines extending from the nostrils of the elk
around the woman, connecting with the head of the spider. These
lines indicate the direction of the power toward the woman, and that
she is enveloped by it. In one specimen seen by the writer the woman
was depicted as bleeding at the nose from the stress of passion
aroused by the medicine power of the elk and his associates. The
right to such a robe is conferred in a dream. After such an experience
the dreamer goes out alone and paints the design in secret. When
ready to seduce the woman of his desire he puts on the robe with the
design inside. He takes a flageolet as described above and proceeds
as before with the formula for that instrument. When his purpose
has been accomplished he wears the blanket in public with the painted
side out. Usually a score is made for each conquest by drawing the
figure of a woman on the border. The wearing of the robe in public
is to herald the fact that the owner's medicine was strong. In talking
about the appearance of the owner with the robe the people would
remark that so-and-so has one more woman on his robe.

The courting robe may be used without the flageolet. The man
wearing his robe with the design inside goes among the crowd. The
image of a spider is painted upon the lower corner. The formula for
using this robe is to so manipulate things that the intended victim will
step upon the image of the spider. This is considered a sure catch.
The charm can be strengthened by the owner carrying a dead spider
in his mouth.

Another account states that, wearing the robe, the would-be se-
ducer goes out on the hills at night and plays. The women of the
camp will always come out to listen. As they listen they will become
excited and sometimes bleed at the nose. Under such stress they
. will be drawn out towards the sound away from the camp. Then one
of them would be caught by the would-be lover and forced away.
Often a confederate would lie in wait at the edge of the camp circle.

268 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

There seemed to be in the minds of the narrators a keen appreciation
of the fact that the knowledge on the part of the women as to the
purpose of the players and the uncertainty as to whom they had in
mind acted as a powerful suggestion tending toward erotic states.

It was related that a very powerful charm could be worked by
standing before the fire in the dance tipi and playing a flageolet with
an eagle feather tied to the end. It required great courage to do this,
as the whole assembly would look on and offer jests and ridicule.
However, it was believed to be an infallible formula.

When a young man desired a woman who was menstruating he
would go out at night in the direction from which the wind came and
play four nights. On the fifth night he would boldly take the woman
from her tipi out to the hills where he had prepared a sweat house.
Here a purification ceremony was performed before intimacy.

These few examples of the philosophy of the Plains have been
given to illustrate the type of thought that seems to have prevailed
among the natives. It seems quite clear that the psychological
aspect of these practices presents problems of imitation. The way
to realize a condition in nature according to this philosophy is to put
one's self in the attitude of the men or animals who do accomplish
what seems desirable. This is an idealism that seeks to make the
play so intense that it becomes a reality. In one respect the Indian
is passive, because he seems to assume that events result from causes
outside of his will and in practice seeks to put himself in the atti-
tude that pertains to the observed phenomena which results in imi-
tation. The philosophical ideas held by these people are in them-
selves interpretations, for, like man in general, they seem to have
developed formal practices first and afterwards devised systems of
philosophy to explain them. A review of the preceding pages will
show that the Dakota has a fair knowledge of what takes place in
the mind of an individual when confronted with certain conditions,
and that his interpretations are the results of keen psychological
introspection.

The accounts we get from the natives of the Plains are vague, and
often contradictory. A phenomenon is assigned to one cause in one
connection and another in a different association. Thus a literal
account of what one hears from the speech of these people will not
give us an idea of their philosophy. The interpretation must be
rendered by the vi^riter. In this case the writer has sought to give
literally the thoughts expressed by natives, but at the same time he
has given the whole an interpretation based upon all the information
at hand and not from the above illustrations alone.

Clark Wissler.

Columbia University, New York.

Who was the Medicine Man? 269

WHO WAS THE MEDICINE MAN?i

The real character of peoples is never fully known until there has
been obtained some knowledge of their religious ideas and their con-
ception of the Unseen Power that animates all life. It is not generally
credited by the white race that the tribes of this continent did not
differ from the other people of the earth, in the effort to understand
the meaning of life in all its infinite variety of forms, and the relation
of these forms to the great, mysterious Power that animates all life.
It is true, however, that the natives of this land had given these
themes much thought, and had formulated their ideas concerning
them long before the European set foot upon this soil.

The lack of intelligence as to this fact has been in part due to the
absence of a written literature among the tribes living within the
area of the United States, while such records as did exist have suf-
fered grave misapprehension and mistreatment on the part of the
observers. Moreover, the idea commonly entertained by the white
race that they alone possess the knowledge of a God has influenced
the mind of all those of that race who have come in contact with the
Indians. We find that most of the missionaries who have labored
among the Indians did not stop to inquire if the people had any idea
of a Power that made and controlled all things. These well meaning
and zealous men seem to have taken for granted that savages were
not capable by their own effort of conceiving the thought of such a
Power. So, when they happened to see the Indians worshipping
according to their own peculiar customs, using forms, ceremonies, and
symbols that were strange, they said, "Poor creatures, they are wor-
shipping the devil ! " when in truth the Indians never knew a per-
sonal devil until he was solemnly and religiously introduced by the
teachers. The Indians recognized that there were evil influences
that beset mankind, but these evil influences were never the centre
of religious ceremonials, much less of worship. It was not possible,
therefore, for the white people to gain, through the medium of these
teachers, any definite knowledge of the real thoughts of the Indian
concerning the Supreme Being.

Nor has the Indian fared much better at the hands of those who
have undertaken to study him as an object of ethnological interest.
The myths, the rituals, and the legends of the race have been fre-

1 This address was delivered before the Fairmount Park Association of Phila-
delphia, on tlie occasion of the presentation by that association, to the city of
Philadelphia, of Cyrus E. Dallin's statue of the Medicine Man, December lo,
1903. It is here reprinted, with the addition of introductory paragraphs, from the
Proceedings of the association, by kind permission of the board of trustees.

270 youriial of American Folk-Lore.

quently recorded in such manner as to obscure their true meaning,
and to make them to appear as childish or as foolish. This has been in
a large measure due to linguistic difficulties. The Indian tongues
differ widely from the English language, not only in the construction
of sentences, but in general literary form. Moreover, the imagery
of the Indian speech conveys a very different meaning to the mind
of the Indian from that which it conveys to the mind of the white
man. The Indian looks upon nature, upon all natural forms, animate
and inanimate, from a different standpoint, and he draws from them
different lessons, than does one of the white race. So when scholars
give a literal translation of an Indian 'story, both its spirit and its
form are lost to the English reader. Or when the myth is inter-
preted by an Indian who has picked up a scanty and colloquial
knowledge of English, even if by chance he has himself a compre-
hension of the meaning of the myth he translates, his rendition will
be one that no intelligent Indian can accept as a true presentation
of the mythic story. It is from translations such as these that the
mental capacity of the Indian has been judged and conclusions drawn
as to his conception of the Supreme Being, and the relation of that
Being to man and all other things, animate and inanimate.

Man is a religious being. Wherever he has been discovered upon
the face of the earth, in whatever climate or in whatever condition,
he has been found to have a religion, based upon some conception of
a Power that brought into existence all things, and put into them life
and motion.

A broad study of the human race has shown that the mind of man
is the same the world over. However widely the races of the earth
may have been separated from each other by geographic or other
conditions, all seem to have been inspired with the same idea — that
life in its infinite variety of forms comes from some mysterious Power
invisible to man. Moreover, all people seem to have been alike im-
bued with the belief that this Power possessed, in a supernatural
degree, qualities similar to those man was conscious of within him-
self, as a will to act, an intelligence to direct, and emotions that could
be moved to pity and to love, to anger and to hatred. Therefore,
this Power could destroy as well as create ; hence, it was something
to be feared, as it was equally to be adored.

When in the progress of time this fundamental idea concerning
the supernatural Power became more definitely formed in the mind
of primitive man, it followed as a natural sequence that he should
desire to know how to conduct himself towards this Power, and in
what manner he should worship it. There seemed at first to have
been but two ways by which man could satisfy himself upon these
questions.

Who was the Medicine Man? 271

One was by seeking to come into direct communication with the
supernatural. This he found to be impossible amid the disturbing
influences of the manifold activities of daily life; so, in order to
achieve this desired end, he secluded himself in the silent solitude
of the desert, or he wandered among the mountains, or in the deep
forests, where, undisturbed, he could listen for the voice of the
Mysterious One in the sighing of the winds through the trees, or
look for his actual presence in the storm-cloud, among the fires of the
lightning and the crashing of thunder. In the intensity of his feel-
ings he heard voices in the sky, he saw visions and had strange
dreams, all of which he believed to be the manifestations which his
soul craved. Yet these but partly satisfied his longings.

The other way by which he sought to approach the Mysterious
Power — a way which gave play to his imagination and also to his
reasoning faculties — was by seeking to fathom the secrets of nature
that surrounded him on all sides. With longing patience he watched
the sun, the moon, the stars. Their magnitude and the precision of
their movements stirred his soul with sublime thoughts. The air
that he breathed ; the rain that moistened the land ; the earth, with
its mountains and valleys, its seas and rivers ; the seasons, with their
unvarying succession of changes — all whispered to him of the pre-
sence of the Mysterious One. The mist that dimmed his mind's
vision drifted away, and lo ! he beheld in all these the foreshadowing
of Jehovah, Allah, Wa-kon-da.

This search for a knowledge of the Mysterious One meant to early
man the very life of his soul. The voices that he heard, the visions
that he saw, the dreams that came to him, when he fasted on the
mountains or in the desert, were all sacred to him ; while the thoughts
that were inspired by this search for a sign of the Divine Being in
the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth comforted his spirit, and
became more and more necessary to his inner life. He therefore
strove to perpetuate them in rites and ceremonies and mythic
stories, so that they could be transmitted to his children and to his
children's children, through the successive ages.

The task of preserving these rites and ceremonies, and of keeping
them before the people, naturally fell to men of character, who were
given to serious thought. Such men were regarded as peculiarly
favored by the Divine Power, and for that reason they themselves
became either the leaders in all interests, both secular and religious,
or they were closely associated as advisers with the men who were
rulers in temporal affairs. They were the Men of Mystery, the
Prophets, the Priests.

In such way began the religions of the people of the eastern con-
tinents, and in like manner the knowledge of the Great Spirit dawned

272 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

upon the tribes that dwelt in this land ages before the coming of the
pale-faces.

The Indians that lived within the borders of this country knew no
written literature. The record of their religious conceptions was
kept by means of rites, ceremonies, and symbols. Among many of
the tribes (as it was in the case of my own tribe) these symbols were
embodied in the organization of the tribe itself, and in the ceremonies
connected with the avocations of the people.

First, as to the symbolism embodied in the organization of the
tribe. The plan or order which was carried out when all the people
camped together was that of a wide circle. This tribal circle was
called Hu-dhu-ga, and typified the cosmos, the dwelling-place of the
Great Spirit. The circle was divided into two great divisions or
halves. The one called In-shta-sun-da, represented the heavens, and
the other, the Hun-ga-she-nu, denoted the earth. This symbolic
division of the tribal circle embodied the idea that the Great Spirit
pervades the heavens and the earth. Again, each of the two great
divisions was subdivided into clans, and each one of the ten clans of
the tribe had its particular symbol, representing a cosmic force, or
one of the various forms of life on the earth. The name of the clan,
and the personal names of its members, all have reference to its
symbol. The personal name was ceremonially bestowed upon the
child ; so within the tribe we have clan names that refer to the sun,
moon, stars, clouds, rain, and wind ; the earth, hills, lakes, rivers,
and all animals, from birds to insects. In this manner the Indian
recognized that all things were created by the Great Spirit.

The burden of memorizing and transmitting with accuracy, from
one generation to another, the rites and ceremonies common to the
tribe was divided among men selected from each of the clans. This
responsibility was not placed upon these men without a careful con-
sideration of each man's qualification and fitness to be so intrusted,
for the reason that the recognition of the Great Spirit as a ruler, and
the observation of the prescribed manner of worshipping him, was
believed to be essential to the continued existence of the people as
an organized body, that is, as a tribe.

Four requisites were demanded of the one who was to deal with
the mysteries enshrined in the rites and ceremonies of the tribe.

First, and most important, was the recognition of the sanctity of
human life. The man who was to mediate between the people and
Wa-kon-da must stand before his tribesmen and the Great Spirit with
hands unstained with the blood of his fellow man.

Second, he must be a man whose words never deviate from the
path of truth, for the Great Spirit manifests the value placed upon
truth in the regular and orderly movements of the heavenly bodies,
and in the ever-recurring day and night, summer and winter.

Who was the Medicine Man ? 273

Third, he must be slow to anger, for the patience of the Great
Spirit is shown in his forbearance with man's waywardness.

Fourth, he must be dehberate and prudent of speech, lest by haste
he should profane his trust through thoughtless utterance.

The men thus chosen were true to the sacredness of their office.
They protected it from the abuse of those having an hereditary right
to perform its duties. There are instances well known in my own
tribe where men have refused to instruct their own sons in the
sacred rites, because their character lacked some of these essential
requisites. The honor and sanctity of the office was paramount to
mere paternal feeling.

These were the prophets and priests, these were the men who were
termed, in the Indian languages, the Men of Mystery, and by the
Europeans the Medicine Men. The entire life of the Medicine Man,
both public and private, was devoted to his calling. His solitary
fasts were frequent, and his mind was apt to be occupied in contem-
plating the supernatural. His public duties were many, and often
onerous. His services were needed when the children were dedi-
cated to the Great Spirit ; he must conduct the installation of chiefs ;
when dangers threatened he must call these leaders to the council
of war, and he was the one to confer upon the warrior military
honors ; the appointment of officers to enforce order during the tribal
buffalo hunt was his duty ; and he it was who must designate the
time for the planting of the maize. Apart from these tribal rites,
he officiated at ceremonials which more directly referred to the
individual, as on the introduction to the cosmos of a newly born
babe.

The ritual in this particular ceremony is a supplication for the
safety of the child from its birth to old age. In it the life of the
infant is pictured as about to travel a rugged road, stretching over
four hills, marking the stages of infancy, youth, manhood, and old
age.

On the eighth day after the birth of a child the parents, through
certain prescribed forms, send for the Medicine Man. In due time
he comes, clad in his priestly garb, and stands at the door of the tent
wherein the child lies. Raising his right hand to the sky he calls :

Ho ! Ye Sun, Moon, Stars, all ye that move in the heavens ;

I bid ye hear me !

Into your midst has come a new life.

Consent ye, I implore !

Make its path smooth, that it may reach the brow of the first hill !

Ho ! Ye Winds, Clouds, Rain, Mist, all ye that move in the air;
I bid ye hear me !

Into your midst has come a new life.
VOL. xvni. — NO. 71. 20

2 74 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

Consent ye, I implore !

Make its path smooth, that it may reach the brow of the second hill !

Ho ! Ye Hills, Valleys, Rivers, Lakes, Trees, Grasses, all ye of the earth;

I bid ye hear me !

Into your midst has come a new life.

Consent ye, I implore !

Make its path smooth, that it may reach the brow of the third hill !

Ho ! Ye Birds, great and small, that fly in the air ;

Ho ! Ye animals, great and small, that dwell in the forest ;

Ho ! Ye insects, that creep among the grasses and burrow in the ground ;

I bid ye hear me !

Into your midst has come a new life.

Consent ye, 1 implore !

Make its path smooth, that it may reach the brow of the. fourth hill !

Ho ! All ye of the heavens ; all ye of the air ; all ye of the earth ;

I bid ye all to hear me !

Into your midst has come a new life.

Consent ye, consent ye all, I implore !

Make its path smooth, then shall it travel beyond the four hills !

From this fragment of an extended rite, you may be able to catch
a glimpse of the Indian's conception of the entirety of the universe.

There was another kind of Medicine Man very different in charac-
ter. He held no office of public trust, for he lacked one of the essen-
tial qualifications for such a responsibility, and that was truthfulness ;
he continually wandered in thought, word, and deed from the straight
path of truth. He was shrewd, crafty, and devoid of scruples. The
intelligent classes within the tribe held him in contempt, while the
ignorant of the community feared him. His bold pretensions enabled
him to carry on successfully his profession of deception upon the
simple. He was a " Healer," something similar to the healer known
to the civilized folk nowadays as " divine," only considerably more
so. (Laughter.) He was a keen observer of nature and human nature
and he used his acumen solely to his own advantage. Had he had
book learning added to what he gleaned from experience, and lived
in New York city, or Chicago, he would not fail of many followers.
(Laughter.) Or, he might have been useful in the Weather Bureau
at Washington (laughter), for when he said it would rain, it did rain.
These up-to-date tricksters were much in evidence in the tribes, and
they never failed to impress the stranger who travelled, and wrote
books.

The tribal religious rites were invariably observed, either annually
or at the beginning of a season. To go through the forms at any
other time would be sacrilege, so the Medicine Man who officiated on
these occasions never had the opportunity to become known to the

Who was tJie Medicine Man ? 275

stranger, as had the sorcerer, who could go through his incantations
whenever and wherever any inducements might offer. It can there-
fore be readily understood how this character became prominent in
the literature of the white race, and how his clever inventions were
believed to represent the religious beliefs of the Indians, to the
serious misunderstanding of my race.

The true religious ideas of the Indian will never be fully compre-
hended, for already many of the rites and ceremonies that kept alive
such conceptions as we have been considering are being forgotten in
the changes that are rapidly taking place in the life of the present
generation. The youths who might have carried on these teachings,
and perhaps further developed them, are accommodating their lives
to new conditions and taking up the avocations of the race dominant
in the land.

I cannot discuss, from the standpoint of an artist, the Medicine
Man as he is here portrayed by your sculptor, but, in the serious ex-
pression, the dignified bearing, the strength of pose, I recognize the
character of the true Medicine Man (applause) — he who was the
mediator between his people and the Great Spirit. The statue at
once brings back vividly to my mind the scenes of my early youth,
scenes that I shall never again see in their reality. This reopening of
the past to me would never have been possible, had not your artist
risen above the distorting influence of the prejudice one race is apt to
feel toward another and been gifted with the imagination to discern
the truth which underlies a strange exterior.

The representation of the Medicine Man as a nude figure is not a
mere fancy of the artist, for in many of the religious rites the priest
appeared in such manner. This nudity is not without its significance,
it typifies the utter helplessness of man, when his strength is con-
trasted with the power of the Great Spirit, whose power is symbolized
by the horns upon the head of the priest. With his best intelligence
and greatest skill in the use of his hands, man is powerless to bring
into existence even so much as the tiniest flower, while out of the
force of the will of the Mysterious One all things in the heavens and
the earth have come into existence with beauty, grandeur, and
majesty. (Applause.)

Francis La FlcscJie.

276 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

CUPID'S ARROW.i

Of a rich noble of late we do hear,
Who had one only daughter, most beautiful and fair,
And she being admired, this beautiful child,
Until by Cupid's arrow her love did be beguiled.

Her father being dead, one day for her ease
Went out to view her workmen and rode in a chaise;
A handsome young plow-boy she saw standing by,
And with rapture upon him she fixed her eye.

A flame in her bosom straightway there did glow,
All for to view his beauty to the fields she did go,
Where he whistled so sweet caused the valley to ring,
And his cheeks were like roses that bloom in the spring.

She said : " Noble plow-boy, come join our parade,
Be dressed like a soldier and wear a cockade ;
No longer at home for to plow nor to sow,
But away for a soldier with me you must go.

You 're proper and handsome, more fitting to shine
With lace cap and feather and scarlet so fine,
So you must go along with me and your captain I will be.
And a lady will court you of noble degree."

Then close in a room this young man was confined
Till she altered her clothing and told to him her mind.
He enfolded her in his arms, and he solemnly swore,
That the captain of love he would always adore.

Then down to the church this young couple went,
And joined their hands with mutual consent ;
Oh how happy the plow-boy when changed was he,
From a poor man's estate a rich noble to be.

Mrs. R. F. Herrick.

Eureka, Cal.

1 This traditional song was brouc;ht to America from England by Christopher
Gist, who came over with Leonard Calvert and settled in Baltimore. It has been
preserved by his descendants, of whom the contributor is one.

Sioux Games. 277

SIOUX GAMES. I.

According to the information given by the older men among the
Lakota, the games described in the following pages have been played
among them as far back as the memory of man goes. They all
believe them to be very ancient. These games are played but little
now, as they have been replaced by others, most of which have been
introduced by the white people. Owing to the paucity of their lan-
guage it is difficult for these Indians to give a differential description,
and to secure full and accurate information from them in regard to
any matter that is complex is a tedious process. It was necessary,
in order to get the correct rules of these games, to see them played,
and to question the players in regard to every step relative to them,
for no Indian was able to give the rules completely. But after they
were secured and written, all who were questioned about them, or to
whom they were read, agreed that they were correct.

The writer has used the word "Lakota" instead of "Dakota,"
because it represents the Teton dialect, while "Dakota" represents
the Santee and Yankton dialect, and because the information rela-
tive to these games was gathered among the Tetons. The spelling
of the Lakota words herein given is that adopted in the " Dakota-
English Dictionary, North American Ethnology, U. S. Geographical
and Geological Survey," vol. vii.

Apparently the original Sioux language was composed entirely of
words of a single syllable, and the vocabulary was very limited.
Things, conditions, and actions, not named in the original language,
were described by phrases composed of the original words. These
phrases became agglutinated, and formed compound words, and the
language as spoken at the present time is largely composed of these
compound or phrase words. Because of the primitive ideas ex-
pressed by the elements of these compound words it is difficult to
make an exact translation of them into English, and for this reason
the translations herein given are liberal.

The following is a list of the games, in Lakota and English.

LAKOTA WOSKATE EHANA. SIOUX GAMES, ANCIENT.

A. Wayekiyapi Woskate Wicasa. Gambling Games for Men.

Painyankapi. Wands and Hoop.

Takapsice. Shinney.

Canwiyusna. Odd Sticks.

Hehaka. Elk.

B. Wayekiyapi Woskate Winyan. Gambling Games for Women.

Tawinkapsice. Woman's Shinney.

Tasiha. Foot Bones.

2 y8 younial of A merican Folk-Lore.

Tanpan

Dice.

Icaslohe.

Bowls.

C. Woimagaga Woskata Wicasa.

Amusement Games for Men.

Tahuka Cangleska.

Webbed Hoops.

Hutanacute.

Winged Bones.

Pteheste.

Young Cow.

Canpaslohanpi.

Throwing Sticks.

Ogle Cekutepi.

Coat Shooting.

D. Woimagaga Woskate Hoksila.

Amusement Game for Boys.

Paslohanpi.

Javelins.

Canwacikiyapi.

Tops.

Titazipi Hoksila.

Boy's Bow.

Hohu Yourmonpi.

Bone Whirler.

Tate Yourmonpi.

Wind Whirler.

Ipahotonpi.

Popgun.

E. Woimagaga Woskate Wicincala.

Amusement Games for Girls

Hepaslohanpi.

Horned Javelins.

Hosingagapi.

Dolls.

Tipi Cikala.

Little Tipi.

Some of the Sioux dances could be included in a list of their
games, but as they are all accompanied with more or less of cere-
mony, they more properly belong in a list of their entertainments
and ceremonies. In describing the various implements used in the
games the measurements given are vague, because these Indians had
no fixed standard, and could give approximate measures only.

The only previous account of Sioux games is by Louis L. Meeker,
published in the "Bulletin of the Free Museum of Science and
Arts," University of Pennsylvania, vol. iii. No. i. In this publica-
tion the author gives most of his attention to the objects used in
playing the games, without giving very full information as to the
rules for playing. As the games played by the Sioux are known to
all of the Indians of the Plains, it seems advisable to have a complete
account of the rules governing them, for comparative purposes. As
the illustrations in the paper by Mr. Meeker are quite satisfactory,
the writer will dispense with illustrations in his own.^

I. WOSKATE PAINYANKAPI.
(Game of Wands and Hoop.)
Painyankapi is an ancient gambling game played by men. The
Indians took great interest in this game, and some became very
skilful at it. Sometimes a band of Indians would go a long distance,
taking with them their families and all their possessions, to gamble
on a game between expert players. Such games were watched by

1 The author made a collection of the objects described in this paper for the
American Museum of Natural History, New York city.

Sioux Games. 279

interested crowds, and, as they offer many opportunities for trickery,
fierce contests arose over disputed points, which sometimes ended
in bloodshed and feuds.

The implements used in the game are : cangleska, the hoop ;
cansakala, the wands.

The cangleska is made from one piece, as long as the tallest man,
taken from an ash sapling in the spring, while the sap is flowing.
This is held in the fire, with the bark on, until it becomes pliable,
when it is bent into the form of a hoop. It is then trimmed to a
uniform diameter of about one inch, the ends lapped about three
inches, and fastened together with thongs of rawhide.

Beginning near the lap, on each side of the hoop, four shallow
spaces are cut so as to divide the hoop into quadrants. These spaces
are about two inches long and half an inch wide, and those on one
side are exactly opposite those on the other. Three transverse
grooves are cut in each of the spaces nearest the lap, and these are
called ca)i/iuta, or the stump. Two oblique grooves crossing each
other at right angles are cut on each of the two spaces next the lap,
and these are called okajaya, or the fork. Six transverse grooves are
cut on each of the two spaces opposite the stump, and these are
called zvagopi, or the stripes. The two remaining spaces are black-
ened, and are called sapa, or black.

The cansakala are made of ash or choke-cherry wood, about four
feet in length and three fourths of an inch in diameter. One end is
flattened, or squared, for about ten inches. From the flattened por-
tion to within about eight inches of the other end they are wrapped
with a rawhide or buckskin thong, applied in a spiral manner. They
are held together in pairs by a buckskin thong about eight inches
long, fastened to each about one third of the length from their
rounded ends.

Any one may make these wands, but it is believed by these
Indians that certain men can make them of superior excellence, and
give to them magic powers which may be exercised in favor of the
one who plays with them. It is also believed that certain medicine-
men can make medicine over the wands which, if carried when play-
ing with the wands, will give the player supernatural powers in
playing the game. But if an opposing player has the same medicine,
they counteract each other, or if an opposing player has a more
powerful medicine, this will prevail in the game. It is also believed
by these Indians that if a player in any game has a talisman, pro-
perly prepared by ceremony and incantation, it will protect him
against the evil effects of any kind of medicine or form of magic.

The rules governing the game are : —

Before beginning the game the players must choose an umpire, a

28o yournal of American Folk-Lore,

hoop, and the wands, and agree upon the number of points in the
count.

The umpire must watch the game, decide all contested points, and
call aloud all counts when made.

One hoop must be used during the entire game.

Each player must use his own pair of wands during the entire
game.

If the hoop or a wand becomes unfit for use during a game, the
game is declared off, and a new game must be played.

If a player persistently breaks the rules of the game, the game is
declared off.

The players roll the hoop alternately.

To roll the hoop, the players stand side by side. One of them
grasps the hoop between the thumb and the second, third, and fourth
fingers, with his first finger extended along the circumference, with
the hoop directed forward, and by swinging his hand below his hips
he rolls the hoop on the ground in front of the players.

If a player rolls the hoop improperly, or fails to roll it when he
should, his opponent counts one, and rolls the hoop.

After the hoop leaves the hand of the player it must not be
touched or interfered with in any manner until after the umpire has
called the count.

After the hoop is rolled the players follow it and attempt to throw
their wands upon the ground so that the hoop will lie upon them
when it falls.

After the hoop has fallen the umpire must examine it and call the
count aloud.

The count is as follows : —

To count at all one of the marked spaces on the hoop must lie
directly over a wand.

One marked space lying over one wand counts one.

One space lying over two wands counts two.

Two spaces lying over one wand count two.

Two spaces lying over two wands count two.

Three spaces lying over two wands count three.

Four spaces lying over two wands count the game.

The first who counts the number agreed upon wins the game.

If at the end of a play both players count the number agreed upon,
the game is a draw, and a new game must be played.

Since this game seems to have important ceremonial associations,
the following narrative is added : ^ —

^ Contributed by Clark Wissler.

Sioux Gaines. 281

HOOP GAME.

A band of Sioux Indians were travelling in the lake country of
Minnesota. Game was very scarce, and they had little to eat for a
long time. When they were nearly exhausted their chief decided to
camp. One of his young men requested that he be allowed to fast
for four days. Permission being given, he went to the top of a high
hill in full view of the camp. After two days and two nights the
watchers from the camp saw a buffalo approach the man on the hill.
The buffalo circled around him, and then disappeared on the oppo-
site side. At midday the young man returned to the camp. He
stopped and sat down on the top of a small hill, and his younger
brother went out to him. The young man told his brother to stand
back and not approach him. He said, " I have a message for you
to deliver to my father. Tell my father to place a tent in the middle
of the camp circle. Tell him to scatter sage grass around the
inside, and that he must select four good men to enter the tent and
await me." Then the young brother returned to the camp and de-
livered this message to his father. Every one knew that the young
man had something important to tell the people.

The father did as requested. He believed the young man be-
cause the people of the camp had seen the buffalo on the hill with
him. When the tent was ready, and the four good men had entered,
the younger brother was sent to notify the young man. The young
man approached, walking slowly. He stopped near the entrance of
the tent, and after a few moments he moved still nearer and paused.
He then approached the door, walked entirely around the tent,
and entered. He produced a large pipe wrapped in sage grass. He
sat down at the back of the lodge and asked the four good men to
send for a good young man to act as his assistant. When the assist-
ant came, the young man said to him, " Go out and cut a stick for
me." When the assistant returned with the stick the young man
ordered him to peel it. When this was done, the young man asked
the four good men to make a sweat house.

When this was ready, the young man and the four good men
entered the sweat house, while the assistant waited outside. W^hen
the ceremony in the sweat house ended, the party returned to the
tent. Then the young man told them that a buffalo had come to
him on the hill, had given him a pipe, instructions, and a message
to deliver to his people. He ordered his assistant to bring a coal of
fire. With this he made incense with sage grass, held his hands in
the smoke four times, took up the bundle containing the pipe, un-
wrapped it, and took out the pipe. The stem of the pipe was red,
and the bowl was of black stone. "This pipe," said the young man,
"was given me by the buffalo that you saw upon the hill, and he
also instructed me as to its use."

282 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

The young man ordered his assistant to go out and cut an ash
sapling and four cherry sticks. When these were brought, he gave
a cherry stick to each of the four good men for them to peel. He,
himself, took the ash stick and began to remove the bark. This
done he bent it into a hoop and tied the ends with sinew threads and
buckskin strings. He held the hoop in the smoke from the sage grass,
then took red paint in his hands, held his hands over the smoke as
before, and painted the hoop. Then he placed his assistant at the
door of the lodge, himself at the rear, and two of the good men on
each side. He instructed the four good men to paint their cherry
sticks red in the same way that he painted the hoop. The assistant
then smoothed the floor of the tent, while the young man sang four
songs. The words of the songs were as follows : —

1. I have passed by the holy floor (earth, smooth and level like the

floor of a tipi).

2. I have passed by the holy robe.

3. I have passed by the holy shell.

4. I have passed by an eagle feather, it is good.

Then the young man said, " Now I shall roll the hoop. It will circle
the tent. You are to watch the tracks made by it. You will see
that it leaves buffalo tracks, returns to me, and lies down." So the
young man sang the four songs again and rolled the hoop. The
hoop circled the tent and returned to the young man as he had said.
The four good men saw in the trail left by the hoop the tracks of
buffalo. The young man said that, on the fourth day from this time,
there would be many buffalo. Then he took strips of raw hide and
wrapped them around the cherry sticks. He tied red cloth around
one and blue around the other. Then he put on a buffalo robe and
asked the men to follow him. The young man passed out of the
door, and the four good men took the hoop and the sticks and played
the hoop game, as they walked behind the young man. The people
of the camp watched them, and wherever the hoop rolled, buffalo
tracks appeared.

The young man requested his assistant to call a good old man.
The people of the camp were in a state of famine. When the assist-
ant brought the old man to the tent, the young man requested him
to harangue the camp, as follows : " J-fo, Ho, Ho, this young man
wishes the people to make arrows, to sharpen them, and to sharpen
their knives. He says that four buffalo will be here to-morrow
morning. Let no one bother them, let no dogs chase them, let them
go through the camp in peace. The four buffalo will come from
the west."

Early the next morning the four buffalo came as predicted. They
passed slowly through the north side of the camp and disappeared in

Sioux Gaines. 283

the east. Then the chief of the camp sent a sentinel to stand upon
the hill where the four buffalo were first seen. The sentinel looked
down into the valley on the other side of the hill, where he saw vast
herds of buffalo moving toward the camp. The chief had instructed
the sentinel to run back and forth when buffalo were visible. The
people of the camp who were watching saw him run back and forth
upon the hill, and began to prepare for the hunt. The young man,
who was still in his tent, sent out his assistant to call the people to
his door. He requested that they stand around and keep quiet.
The sentinel who had returned now addressed the people, telling
them of the buffalo he had seen, the direction in which they were
moving, etc. The young man then addressed the people, giving
them permission to chase the buffalo.

They had a great hunt. Buffalo were everywhere. They even
ran through the camp, and were shot down at the doors of the tents.
The people had meat in great abundance.

When the hunt was over the young man requested the four good
men to keep and care for the hoop and the sticks with which they
had played. A tent was always kept in the middle of the camp
circle, and the four good men spent most of their time in it. When-
ever the people wished to hunt buffalo, the four men played the
hoop game, and the buffalo appeared as before. In the course of
time all these men died, except one. This last man made the four
marks we now see upon the hoop. After his death, the game was
played by all the people, and became a great gambling game.

From this narrative it appears that the origin of the game was
ceremonial and that the hoop used here is the same as the sacred
hoop or ring so often used by the Sioux.

2. WOSKATE TAKAPSICE.
(Game of Shinney.)

Takapsice is an ancient gambling game played by men, and is
their roughest and most athletic game. They often received serious
wounds, or had their bones broken while playing it, but serious quar-
rels seldom resulted.

It may be played by a few or by hundreds, and formerly was
played for a wager. The wager on important games was often
very large; men, women, and children betting, sometimes all they
possessed, or a band of Indians contributing to abet to make it equal
to that offered by another band.

In former times one band of Indians would challenge another to
play this game. If the challenge was accepted they would camp
together, and play for days at a time, making a gala time of it, giving
feasts, dancing, and having a good time generally.

284 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

The implements used in the game are: cantakapsice, the club;
tapatakapsice, the ball.

The club was made of an ash or choke-cherry sapling, taken in
the spring when the sap was running, and heated in the fire until
it was pliable, when the lower end was bent until it stood at right
angles to the rest of the stick, or into a semicircular crook, about six
inches across.

The shape of this crook varied to suit the fancy of the maker.

After the crook was made the stick was trimmed down to a uni-
form diameter of about one and a half inches, and cut of such a
length that the player could strike on the ground with it while
standing erect.

Any one might make a club, but certain persons were supposed
to make clubs of superior excellence, and some persons were sup-
posed to be able to confer magical powers on clubs, causing the
possessor to exercise unusual skill in playing. These magic clubs
were supposed to be potent, not only in games, but to work enchant-
ment in all kinds of affairs, for or against a person, as the possessor
chose. The medicine-men sometimes included such clubs among
their paraphernalia, and invoked their magic powers in their incan-
tations over the sick.

Certain medicine-men were supposed to have the power to make
medicine over clubs, so that any one in whose favor this medicine
was made, by carrying it and the club during the game for which
the medicine was made, would be on the winning side.

One possessing a magic club boasted of it, and the matter was
generally known, but one who had medicine made over a club must
keep the matter secret, for a general knowledge of the existence of
the medicine would either destroy its potency, or others knowing of
the medicine might have a more powerful medicine made against it,
or the magic of a talisman could be exercised especially against it,
and defeat its power.

A player who possessed a magic club was feared by those who did
not, and the latter tried to avoid coming in contact with such a club
while playing the game. This gave the possessors of such clubs
decided advantages over others, and they were eagerly sought as
players, and heavy wagers laid on their playing.

The clubs were generally without ornament, but they were some-
times ornamented by pyrographic figures on the handle or body.
Certain clubs were highly prized by their owners, who took great
care of them, frequently oiling and polishing them.

When a club was held for its magic power alone, as by the medi-
cine-men, it was often highly ornamented with feathers, bead work,
porcupine quills, or tufts of hair.

Sioux Games. 285

The ball was made by winding some material into a ball, and cov-
ering it with buckskin or rawhide, or of wood. It was from two and
a half to three inches in diameter.

The game is played where two goals can be set up with a level
track of land between them.

The rules of the game are : —

Any number of men may play, but there must be an equal num-
ber on the opposing sides.

In a series of games the same persons must play in each game of
the series.

After the game begins, if any player stops playing, a player from
the opposing party must stop playing also.

The players of a game must fix the goals before beginning to play-
Each of the two goals must consist of two stakes set about fifty to
one hundred feet apart, and a line drawn from one stake to the other,
which must be nearly parallel to the line drawn at the other goal.

The goals must be from three hundred yards to one mile apart, as
may be agreed upon between the players, for each game.

After the goals are fixed the players choose their goal, either by
agreement or by lot.

After the goals are chosen the players arrange themselves in two
lines, about half way between the goals, all the players on one side
standing in one line, and each side facing the goal it has chosen, the
lines being about thirty feet apart.

After the players are in line the ball is placed as nearly as can be
half way between them.

After the ball is placed on the ground it must not be touched by
the hand or foot of any one until the game is ended.

If at any time during the play the ball becomes so damaged that
it is unfit for use, the game is called off, and another game must be
played to decide the contest.

The club may be used in any manner to make a play, or to pre-
vent an opponent from making a play

After the ball is placed on the ground, at a given signal, each side
attempts to put the ball across its goal in a direction opposite from
the other goal.

The side that first puts the ball across its goal in the proper direc-
tion wins the game.

3, WOSKATE CANWIYUSNA.
(Guessing the Odd Stick.)

Canwiyjisna is an ancient gambling game played by the Sioux men.
It may be played at any time, but was generally played during the
winter, and at night.

286 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

The wagers on the game were generally small.

The implements used in the game were cajiwiyawa, counting-
sticks.

These are a large number of rods of wood, about the size of an
ordinary lead pencil. They are of an odd number, and generally
ninety-nine. They may be plain, but they are generally colored, and
when so the color on all is the same, but applied differently, as some
may be colored all over, others half colored, or striped, streaked, or
spotted.

The rules of the game are : —

The game may be played by two or more men.

Before beginning the game the players must agree upon the num-
ber of counts that will constitute the game.

One player must manipulate the sticks during the entire game.

The one who manipulates the sticks must keep his count with each
of the other players separate from that of all the others.

To play, the player who manipulates the sticks hides them from
the other players, and divides them into two portions, and then ex-
poses them to the view of the other players.

After the portions are exposed to the view of the players they
must not be touched by any one until each has made his guess.

Each player may make one guess as to which portion contains the
odd number of sticks.

If a player guesses the portion that has the odd number of sticks in
it he counts one point, but if he does not the manipulator counts one.

The one who counts the number of points agreed upon wins the
wager.

4. WOSKATE HEHAKA.
(Game of Elk.)

Hchaka is an ancient gambling game played by the Sioux men.

It was usually played while hunting for elk, and was supposed to
give success in the quest for game.

The wagers were usually small, and but little interest was taken
in the game by others than the players.

The implements used in the game are: Jiehaka, the elk; caiigle-
ska, the hoop.

The hchaka is made of a round rod of wood about four feet long
and three quarters of an inch in diameter, one end of which is squared
or flattened for about ten inches. A small rod of wood about
eighteen inches long and one half an inch in diameter at the
middle, and tapering towards both ends, is fastened to the round
end, and bent and held in a semicircle by a string of twisted sinev/
or leather, curving towards the other end of the longer rod. This

Sioux Games. 287

string is fastened at or near the ends of the curved rod and to the
longer rod on about the level of the tips of the curved rod.

About eighteen inches from this two other rods are fastened
crosswise on the longer rod, on a plane parallel with the plane of the
curved rod at the end. One of these rods is similar to, but smaller
than, the curved rod at the end, but it curves at a right angle to the
longer rod.

The other is square or flattened, and about a half an inch wide at
its middle, tapering towards both ends.

About eighteen inches from these, towards the flattened end of
the longer rod, two other rods like those above described are fastened
in the same manner.

The longer rod is then wrapped with a buckskin or rawhide thong
applied in a spiral manner from the curved rod at the round end to
beyond where the cross rods are fastened to it, and all the curved
and cross rods are wrapped in the same manner.

A banner about two by four inches in size, made of buckskin or
cloth, and colored, is attached to the end where the curved rod is
fastened.

The ring is about six inches in diameter, made of rawhide or sinews,
and wrapped with a thong of rawhide.

The rules of the game are : —

Two persons play the game.

Before beginning the game they must agree upon the number of
points that shall constitute the game.

Each player must have one heJiaka.

One hoop must be used in a game.

The players must toss the hoop alternately.

The hoop must be tossed up in the air.

After the hoop is tossed and begins to descend the players may
attempt to catch it on the JieJiaka.

The hoop must be caught on the hehaka before it touches the
ground. If so caught after it touches the ground no count is made.

After it is caught on the hehaka, the hehaka must be laid on the
ground with the hoop on the point where caught, before a count can
be made.

An opposing player may, with his hehaka, take the hoop from a
hehaka at any time before the hehaka is laid on the ground.

After a hehaka is laid on the ground no one must touch the hoop,
either to remove or replace it.

If the hoop is caught on a hehaka, and the hehaka is placed on the
ground, the count is as follows : —

If the hoop is on the flattened end of the longer rod, nothing is
counted.

288 yournal of A merican Folk-L ore.

If the hoop is on one of the cross rods, one is counted.

If the hoop is on two of the cross rods, two are counted.

If the hoop is on the curved rod at the end of the JieJiaka, three
are counted.

If the hoop falls off the hehaka and strikes the ground it cannot
be replaced, and nothing is counted.

The count is made for the player whose hehaka holds the hoop.

The player who first counts the number of points agreed upon
wins the game.

5. WOSKATE TAWINKAPSICE.
(Game of Woman's Shinney.)
Tawinkapsice is an ancient gambling game played by the Sioux
women. The implements used and the rules of the game are pre-
cisely the same as those for takapsice, except that women only play
at this game.

The women play the game with as much vigor as the men, and in
former times at the meetings for playing takapsice the tawinkapsice
was interspersed with the other games.

6. WOSKATE TASIHE.
(Game with Foot Bones.)

Tasihe is an ancient gambling game played by the Sioux women.

Men, boys, and girls practised at manipulating the implement of
the game so that many of them became expert, but it was considered
beneath the dignity of men or boys to play the game in a contest for
a given number of points, or for stakes.

The game was played by two or more women who sat, after the
fashion of the Sioux women, on the ground.

Some women became very expert at the game, and others, men
and women, would bet heavily on their play.

The implements used in this game are : tasiha, foot bones ; tahi^i-
spa, bodkin.

The tasiha are made from the short bones from the foot of a deer
or antelope. There are from four to six in a set, which are worked
into the form of a hollow cone, so that one will fit over the top of the
other. The convex articulating surface is not removed from the top
bone. From four to six small holes are drilled through the project-
ing points at the wider ends of the cones.

A hole is drilled through the articulating surface of the top bone,
and all are strung on a pliable thong, which should be two and one
half times the length of the bones when they are fitted together. The
bones are strung on this thong with the top bone at one end, and each
with the apex of its cone towards the base of the cone next to it.

Sioux Games. 289

The apex of each cone should fit loosely into the hollow of the cone
next above it so that they will not jam, but will fall apart easily.

Four loops about one half an inch in diameter, made of some pli-
able material, are fastened to the end of the thong next to the top bone.

The tahiiispa was formerly made of bone, and should be of the same
length as the tasiha when they are fitted together. At one end a
hole is drilled, or a notch cut, for the purpose of fastening it to the
thong.

The opposite end is shaped into a slender point, so that it will pass
readily into the holes drilled about the lower borders of the tasiha.

Latterly the taJiinspa is made of wire of the same length as that
made of bone, and with one end looped and the other pointed.

The tahinspa is fastened to the thong at the end opposite the loops.

Formerly the implement was without ornament, but latterly the
loops are made of thread strung with beads.

The rules of the game are : —

Only women may play at the game.

Any number may play in a game.

Before beginning to play the players must agree upon the number
that shall constitute a game.

No player shall make more than one play at a time.

A player must hold the tahinspa in one hand and toss the tasiha
with the other.

The tasiha must be caught on the point of the tahinspa after they
have been tossed into the air.

If one tasiha is caught on the tahinspa this counts one.

If one or more tasiha remain on the one that is caught, this counts
as many as there are tasiha so remaining.

If all the tasiha remain on top of the one that is caught, this counts
the game.

If a tasiha is caught so that the tahinspa is through one of the holes
at its lower border, this counts two.

If, when a play is made, the tahinspa passes through a loop,, this
counts one. If through two loops, this counts two. If through three
loops, this counts three. If through four loops, this counts four.

7. WOSKATE TANPAN.
(Game of Dice.)

Tanpan is an ancient gambling game played by the older Sioux
women.

This is an absorbing game, on which some women became inveter-
ate gamblers, sometimes playing all day and all night at a single
sitting.

VOL. XVIII. — NO. 71. 21

290 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

The implements used in the game are : tanpan, basket ; kansti,
dice; canwiyawa, counting-sticks.

The tanpan is made of willow twigs, or some similar material,
woven into a basket about three inches in diameter at the bottom
and flaring to the top, like a pannikin, and about two and a half inches
deep.

The kansu are made of plumstones, one side of which is left plain,
and the other carved with some figure, or with straight marks.

The figures usually represent some animal or part of an animal,
though they may represent anything that the maker pleases to put
on them.

There are six stones in each set, and usually some of these have
only plain marks, and others figures on them.

The canwiyawa are rods of wood about the size of a lead pencil,
and may be of any number, but there were generally one hundred
in a set.

The rules of the game are : —

The game may be played by two, four, or six old women, who must
be divided into two opposing sides, with an equal number on each
side.

Before beginning the game the players must agree upon how much
each figure on the plumstones shall count, how many counting-sticks
shall be played for, and place the counting-sticks in a pile between
them.

After the game begins, no one must touch the counting-sticks,
except to take the number won at a play. No one shall play more
than once at a time. To play, the player must put all the kansu in
the tanpan, and cover it with the hand, shake it about, and then
pour or throw out the kansii.

After the kansu are thrown out of the tanpan, no one may touch
them until after the count is made and agreed upon.

If the plain side of a kansu lies uppermost, this counts nothing.

If the carved side of a kansu lies uppermost, this counts what has
been agreed upon.

When a player has played, and her count is made and agreed upon,
she takes from the pile of counting-sticks as many as her count
amounts to.

When the counting-sticks are all taken, the side which has the
greater number of sticks wins the game.

y. R. Walker.

Traditional Ballads in New England. 291

TRADITIONAL BALLADS IN NEW ENGLAND. III.

XIV. LORD LOVELL.

Probably derived from an early broadside, now lost, from which the ballad has been
transmitted in a large number of versions, differing from each other but slightly.

I. Communicated to me by I. L. M., Vineland, N. J., as derived from a resident of
Nantucket, Mass.

1 Lord Lovell he stood at his castle gate,

A-combing his milk-white steed.
When along came Lady Nancy Bell,

A-wishing her lover good speed, speed, speed,
A-wishing her lover good speed.

2 " Oh, where are you going, Lord Lovell ? " she said,

" Oh, where are you going ? " said she,
" I 'm going, my dear Lady Nancy Bell,
Foreign countries for to see."

3 " When will you be back, Lord Lovell } " she said,

" When will you be back } " said she,
" In a year or two, or three at most,
I '11 be back to my Lady Nancy."

4 He had been gone a year and a day,

Foreign countries for to see,
When languishing thoughts came into his head,
Lady Nancy he 'd go to see.

5 So he rode and he rode on his milk-white steed,

Till he came to London town,
And there he heard St. Patrick's bells.
And the people a-moaning around.

6 " Oh, what is the matter ? " Lord Lovell he said,

" Oh, what is the matter t " said he,
"There 's a lady dead," a woman said,
" And they call her the Lady Nancy."

7 He ordered the grave to be opened wide,

The shroud to be turned down low.
And as he kissed her clay-cold lips.
The tears began to flow.

8 Lady Nancy, she died the same as to-day,

Lord Lovell the same as to-morrow,
Lady Nancy she died of pure grief,
Lord Lovell he died of sorrow.

292

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

9 They buried them both in St. Patrick's churchyard,
In a grave that was close by the spire,
And out of her breast there grew a red rose,
And out of Lord Lovell's a brier.

10 They grew and they grew to the church steeple top,
And then they could grow no higher,
They twined themselves in a true lover's knot,
For all true lovers to admire.

2. Contributed August i, 1905, by I. L. M., Vineland, N. J., as derived from an aged
resident of Brooklyn, Conn.

:^j:

Lord Lov

ell,

he stood by his gar - den gate.

■^^^r

=F=F

comb -

ing his milk - white steed,

When a

- long

came

. dy

ytt

^ • A

a « . ^ L^

i(\ *

" •

«^

Nan

Bell,

wish

ig her lov

good

eee

speed, speed, speed, A - v^ish - ing her lov - er good speed.
VARIANTS.

I a Lord Lovell, he stood at his garden gate.

2a " Oh, where are you going, Lord Lovell ? " she cried.

3a " When will you be back, Lord Lovell ? " she cried.

4d Lady Nancy Bell he 'd go see.

5c And then he see such a mournful sight.
And the people all gathered around.

6 " Oh, what is the matter ? " Lord Lovell he cried,
"Oh, what is the matter?" said he,
" Oh, a lady is dead, and her lover is gone.
And they call her the Lady Nancy."

8b Lord Lovell he died as to-morrow.

9a They buried them both by the castle wall.

loa They grew, and they grew to the castle top.

Traditional Ballads in New England.

293

Communicated by M. L. S., Newport, R. I., from the recitation of a very aged woman,
native of Narragansett, R. I.

The Lady, she died of a broken heart,
Lord Lovell he died of sorrow.

2 The one was buried within the kirlc,

The other within the choir.
And out of the one there sprang a birk,
And out of the other a brier,

3 They grew and they grew to the tall church top,

Until they could grow no higher,
Then turned about in a true lover's knot,
For all true lovers to admire,-ire,-ire,
For all true lovers to admire.

" Lord Lovell and Lady Ounceabel," melody copied by me May, 1904, from a manu-
script in the Harvard University Library, presented by Miss Alice Hayes. Catalogued,
Mus. 401, 2.

tei^^^^^i^i^^i

294

Journal of American Folk- Lore.

XV. BONNIE JAMES CAMPBELL.

Taken down by me August 15, 1905, at Newbury, Vt., from the singing of R. J. P.
Bury, P. Q., who learned it a few years ago from a very aged woman.

:3:

Sad - died and bri - died and boot - ed rode he, Soon

i=^^=

-JH-

home came the sad - die, but nev - er came he.

XVL THE HUNTING OF THE CHEVIOT.

This ballad, one of the best in English, made famous by the appreciative essay of Addi-
son, and for centuries a favorite in England, had widespread currency in American
colonial times. Interesting in this connection is the following anecdote of the battle of
Lexington, recorded by Dr. Gordon, at that time minister of the church at Jamaica Plain :

" The brigade marched out, playing, by way of contempt, ' Yankee Doodle,' a song com-
posed in derision of the New Englanders, commonly called Yankees. A smart boy,
observing it as the troops passed through Roxbury, made himself extremely merry with
the circumstance, jumping and laughing to attract the attention of His Lordship, who, it is
said, asked him at what he was laughing so heartily, and was answered : ' To think how
you will dance by-and-by to " Chevy Chase." ' "

Broadside printed about 1810, by Nathaniel Coverly, Jr., Boston, Mass., of which two
copies are known to me, one in the Isaiah Thomas collection of the American Antiquarian
Society at Worcester, Mass., the other in the Boston Public Library.

Differs only in eccentric spelling from the textus receptus of the Percy MS.

Melody from a Newburyport, Mass., MS. of 1790, contributed by B. O., Cambridge,
Mass.

m^^^^^^^^^^^

-^^^^^^^^mi

XVII. OUR GOODMAN.

Recited to me March 30, 1905, by D. D. B., Cambridge, Mass., in whose family it has
been traditional for over a century.

I I went into my parlor, and there I did see
Three gentlemen's wigs, sir, without the leave of me !

Traditiojial Ballads in New England.

295

I called it for my Goodwife, — " What do you want ? " said she,
" How came these gentlemen's wigs here without the leave of me ? "

2 " You old fool, you blind fool, can't you very well see ?

They are three cabbage heads which my mother sent to me ! "
" Hobs nobs ! Well done ! Cabbage heads with hair on !
The like I never see ! "

3 I went into my stable, and there I did see

Three gentlemen's horses, sir, without the leave of me.

I called it for my Goodwife, — " What do you want ? " said she,

" How came these gentlemen's horses here without the leave of me ? "

4 You old fool, you blind fool, can't you very well see ? "
They are three milking cows, which my mother sent to me ! "
" Hobs nobs! Well done ! Milking cows with saddles on!
The like I never see ! "

XVIII. YOUNG HUNTING.

Melody to a version of this ballad traditional for many years in Bury, P. Q. Sung at
Newbury, Vt., August 15, 1905, by R. J. P.

ft=*

a=zi

f==^£^^

^g?^

i ^H^^ ^^il^-^^a

XIX. THE BROWN GIRL.

Melody to a version of this ballad, traditional for many years in Bury, P. Q. Sung at
Newbury, Vt., August 15, 1905, by R. J. P.

g=g^^^

±=tt

i^^5

---^

XX. SPRINGFIELD MOUNTAIN.

This ballad, edited by Mr. W. W. Newell, in No. 49 of this Journal, enjoys the distinc-
tion of being the only known traditional ballad based upon an American incident.
Absurd in itself, it has a unique interest for the collector of folk-songs, as illustrating the
genesis of a ballad in our own time.

Fragment of a ballad sung by my grandfather, T. L. S., from my mother's recollection.
I As I was mowin' in the field,
A viper bit me on the heel.

296 yournal of America7i Folk-Lore.

Contributed by L. W. H., Cambridge, Mass., in whose family it has been traditional for
three generations.

1 On Hoosic Mountain there did dwell
A hawk-eyed youth I knowed full well.

Ri too ral loo, ri too ral lay,
Ri too ral loo, ri too ral lay.

2 One day this John he did go
Down to the meadow for to mow.

3 He had not mowed nigh half a field,
When a pesky sarpent bit his heel,

4 He riz his scythe, and with one blow,
He laid that pesky sarpent low.

5 He took it up into his hand.
And kerried it to MoUy-i Bland.

6 " Oh, Molly-i, Molly-i, here you see
The pesky sarpent what bit me."

7 " Oh, John ! " said she, " Why did you go
Down to the meadow for to mow ? "

8 " Oh, Molly-i, Molly-i," John he said,

" 'T was Father's hay, which had got to be mow-ed ! "

9 He riz his heel into her lip,
The pesky pizen for to sip.

10 And heving there a hollow tooth,
The pizen took upon them both,

1 1 Their bodies now are 'neath the sod.
Their souls, I trust, are jined to God.

Recollected June 17, 1904, by a very aged lady, and recorded by E. E. D., Cambridge,
Mass,

^4==f=i^==^=i=^=p=5^

On Spring- file Moun - ting there did dwell A like - ly youth as

Traditional Ballads in New Engla^id.

297

3i:ibiz=-

-JP----

I've heern tell, A like- ly youth,just twen- ti one, Lef - ten - ant Cur - tis's

1^ r7\

Sid:

Ii^=5

on - li son,

li son, Lef-ten-ant Cur-tis - 's

li son.

1 On Springfile Mounting there did dwell
A likeli youth as I 've heern tell,

A likeli youth, just twenti-one,
Leftenant Curtis's onli son,
Onli son,
Leftenant Curtis's onli son.

2 This likeli youth to the field did go.
And took his scythe all for to mow,
But as he went, he chanced to feel
A pison sarpent bite his heel.

3 He threw his scythe upon the ground.
And with his eyes he look-ed around
To see if he could anyone spy,

To take him away, where he might die.

4 Then this dear youth gin up the ghost,
And to Abraham's bosom quickli did post,
Crying all the way, as on he went,

" Cru-el, cru-el, cru-el sarpent."

5 Now all good people assembled here,
O'er this poor youth to shed a tear,
From his example warning take.
And shun the pison of a snake.

Contributed by A. M., as sung half a century ago.

On Spring-field Moun - ting there did dwell A like - ly youth as

E=^^^M^_^=pi^ii^

I 've heerd tell, A like - ly youth of twen - ty one, Lef - ten - ant Cur - tis'

=J=Ft

gj^gJI

:t:

FJ==tL-=|

on - lie son, on - li son, Lef - ten - ant Cur - tis' on

298

y ournal of American Folk- Lore.

1 On Springfield Mountain there did dwell
A likely youth as I 've heerd tell,

A likely youth of twenty-one,
Leftenant Curtis' onlie son,
Onlie son,
Leftenant Curtis' onlie son.

2 On Monday morning he did go
Down to the meadow for to mow, —
He mowed around till he did feel
Some pizen sarpent bite his heel.

3 He laid his scythe down on the ground.
And with his eyes he looked around.
To see if he could anyone spy,

To carry him home, where he might die.

4 This young man soon gin up the ghost,
And away from this carnal world did post
Crying all the way, as on he went,

" Cru-el, cru-el, cru-el sarpent."

" Springfield Mountain " contributed by M. L. J., Lynn, Mass., as sung fifty years ago.

On Spring - field Moun - tain there

dwell

^ \—^

-=1 — (V

fet:

no - ble youth, I knew him well.

Lef - ten - ant Da - vis'
r7\

m^.

=)==!:

-Z5l-

son,

A like - ly youth just twen - ty one.

1 On Springfield Mountain there did dwell
A noble youth, — I knew him well,
Leftenant Davis' only son,

A loveli youth just twenti one.

2 He went upon a summer's day
Out to the field to cut the hay,
But ah ! alas ! he soon did feel
A peski sarpint bite his heel.

Traditional Ballads in New England.

299

" On the Springfield Mountains ! " Broadside, printed about 1850, now in the Boston .
Public Library.

1 On the Springfield Mountains there did dwell
A noble youth I knew full well.

Ki tiddle linker da,
Ki tiddle linker da,
Ki tiddle linker da ri O.

2 One fine spring morning he did go
Down in the meadow all for to mow.

5 He had not mowed quite around the field,
When a poison serpent bit his heel,

4 They carried him home to Sally dear,
Which made her feel all over queer.

5 " My Johnny dear, why did you go
Down in the meadow for to mow ? "

6 " My Sally dear, don't you know.
That Daddy's grass we must mow ? "

7 Now all young men a warning take,
And don't get bit by a big black snake.

8 Now, if you don't like my song,
Just take your hat and trudge along.

"The Serpent." Taken down by me, October 10, 1905, from the singing of R. B. C,
Newbury, Vt., in whose family it has been traditional for half a century or more.

'-n-

^|EiE?=E3E^^^^E^E3^=^z^=

On Green-land's Moun-tain there did dwell, Tim - i - i - turn turn,

:=1=

tid - dy - ad - dy - a. On Green -land's Moun-tain there did dwell,

:^==:

^3=^

^ -•- -•-

Tim - r - out !

On Green-land's Moun - tain there did dwell A

_^_.^

• iN 4 — #■= # — Tih 4 — it -

love - ly youth, is known full well. N - ya - ha - ha, n - ya - ha - ha !

300 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

1 On Greenland's mountain there did dwell, —

Tim-i-i-tum-tum, tiddy-addy-a, —
On Greenland's mountain there did dwell, —

Tim-r-out !
On Greenland's mountain there did dwell
A lovely youth is known quite well.

N-ya-ha-ha, n-ya-ha-ha !

2 One Monday morn this youth did go
Down in the meadow for to mow.

3 He had not mowed half 'crost the field, —
He felt a serpent bite his heel.

4 They carried him to his Sally dear,
Which made him feel so very queer.

5 " Why my dearest Joe, why did you go
Down in the meadow for to mow.

6 " Why, my Sally dear, I s'pose you know
Your daddy's grass it must be mowed."

7 This lovely youth gave up the ghost.
For fear that he would poison both.

8 Now it 's a warning too, — all lovers take,
And shun the bite of a rattlesnake.

Taken down by me, July 29, 1904, from the singing of A. E. B., Bradford, Vt., as sung
years ago in East Wisconsin.

:3:

^=3

^i=t

On Spring-field Moun - tain there did dwell A come - ly youth I

^=^3^3

=]=d=

1=1^

knowed full well •

ell - i - ell - i - ell. . . Ri tu - ri nu - ri

ij^;

ri nay.

tu - ri,

nu - ri nay !

I On Springfield Mountain there did dwell
A comely youth I knew full well-i-ell-i-ell-i-ell,
Ri turi nuri, turi nay,
Ri turi nuri turi nuri nay.

Traditional Ballads in New England.

301

2 One summer morning he did go
Down in the meadow for to mow.

3 He had scarce mowed one half the field,
When a pison serpent bit his heel.

4 He raised his scythe and with one blow
He laid the slimy creature low.

5 They took him to his Molly dear,
Which made her feel so very queer.

6 " Oh, Johnny dear, why did you go
Down in the meadow for to mow?"

7 " Why Molly dear, I thought you knowed

Your old dad's meadow had to be mowed ! "
*

8 Then Molly, she went round the town,
To find something to cure his wound.

9 Then Johnny, he gave up the ghost.

And straight to Abraham's bosom did post.

10 Now all young folks, a warning take,
And shun the bite of a rattlesnake.

Taken down by me, October 25, 1905, from the singing of W. D., East Corinth, Vt.,
as learned some years ago in Northborough, Mass.

i^r^

::fc

-:=r

=-?

-J:

?^t4

^=$

On Spring - field Moun - tain there did dwell a like - ly youth, as

"5 V -^ 5~^

I've heem tell, i - ell

r^-

--i-

i- eU - i - ell.

Ri tu - ri - loo,

lay,

ri - loo,

ri - lay.

1 On Springfield Mountain there did dwell
A likely youth, as I 've heem tell, —

i-ell-i-ell-i-ell,

Ri turi loo, ri turi lay,

Ri turi loo, ri turi lay.

2 He took his scythe and off did go
Down to the meadow for to mow.

302 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

3 He 'd scarcely mowed twice round the field,
When a peski sarpent bit him on the heel.

4 *' Oh, Sam-u-el, why did ye go
Down to the meadow for to mow ? "

Taken down by me, November lo, 1905, from the recitation of M. D., Boston, Mass.
Probably derived with I from a common source.

1 On Springfield Mountain there did dwell
A beauti-ous youth, as I 've heerd tell,

i-ell-i-ell-i-ell,

Ri turi loo, ri turi lay,

Ri turi loo, ri turi lay.

2 He took his scythe and off did go
Down in the meadow for to mow,

3 He had scarce mowed twice round the field,
When a pizen sarpent bit him on the heel.

4 He laid him down under the sky.
He laid him down and there did die !

5 " Oh, Samu-el, why did ye go
Down in the meadow for to mow ? "

ADDENDA.
VI. HENRY MARTIN.

From " Boston Transcript," Query 3051, — answered by A. C. A., who states : " I can
give the song, as I heard it sung many years ago in Portland, Me., by Eliza Ostinelli,
daughter of Ostinelli, the musician, — she afterwards went to Italy, where she married,
and was known as Mme. Biscaccianti, " The American Thrush."

1 There dwelt three brothers in merry Scotland,

Three brothers there dwelt there, three.
And they did cast lots to see which one
Should go robbing upon the salt sea,
Should go robbing upon the salt sea.

2 The lot it fell upon Andrew Martine

The youngest of the three,
That he should go robbing upon the salt sea.
To support his three brothers and he.

3 " Oh, who are you ? " said Andrew Martine,

" Who are you that comes tossing so high ? "

Traditional Ballads in New England.

303

" I am a brave ship from merry England,
Will you please for to let me pass by ? "

4 " Oh, no, oh no ! " said Andrew Martine,

" Oh no, that never can be ! "
Your ship and your cargo we '11 all take away.
And your bodies give to the salt sea ! "

5 The news it came to merry England,

And to King George's ears,
And he did fit out a nice little band,
For to catch this Andrew Martine.

6 " Oh, who are you ? " said Captain Charles Stuart,

" Who are you that comes tossing so high ?
"I am a brave ship from merry Scotland,
Will you please for to let me pass by ? "

7 "Oh, no, oh no ! " said Captain Charles Stuart,

" Oh, no that never can be !
Your ship and your cargo we '11 all take away,
And your bodies give to the salt sea."

8 They fought and fought, and fought again,

Until the light did appear,
And where was Andrew, and all his brave crew ?
Their bodies were in the salt sea."

X. LORD RANDAL.

Taken down by me, October 10, 1905, from the singing of R. B. C, Newbury, Vt., in
whose family it has been traditional for a century.

gi^^=tj:

---X

:A=t

-■J--^-*-

3=^

Oh, where have you been a - court- ing, Fair Nel - son my son ? Oh,

^^E^EE^E^E^^EE^^^-^,

where have you been a - court - ing, my fair, you are a pret - ty

3^^:

one! "Been a -court -ing my Jul - ia, moth-er make my bed

-^ -•- -•- -•-

i=g=

soon, For I'm sick to the heart and I long to lie down.

304 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

1 " Oh, where have you been a-courting. Fair Nelson, my son ?

Oh, where have you been a-courting, my fair, — you are a pretty one ! '
•• I "ve been courting my Julia, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick to my heart, and I long to lie down."

2 •• \Miat did you have for your breakfast. Fair Xelson. my son ?

\Miat did you have for your breakfast, my fair. — you are a pretty one ! '
'• Eels, fried in batter, mother make my bed soon,
For I "m sick to mv heart, and I long to lie down."

*• What will you will to your father, fair Xelson. my son ?

\Miat will you will to your father, my fair. — you are a pretty one ! "

'■ Mv land and my houses, mother make my bed soon,

For I m sick to my heart, and I long to lie down."'

4 •• What will you will to your mother, Fair Xelson, my son ?

What will you will to your mother, my fair, — you are a pretty- one ! "
■' My gold and my silver, mother make my bed soon,
For I m sick to my heart, and I long to lie down."'

5 •' ^^^lat will you will to your Julia, Fair Xelson. my son ?

\Miat will you will to your Julia, my fair, — you are a prettA- one 1 '"
*• Hell-fire and brimstone, mother make my bed soon.
For I 'm sick to my heart, and I long to lie down."

Phillips Barry,

California Bra7ich.

o^^

CALIFORNIA BRANCH OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-
LORE SOCIETY.

The California Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society was
founded August i8, 1905, at a meeting of the Berkeley Folk-Lore
Club, a more informal and restricted organization than the California
Branch, but with similar aims, by the adoption of the following re-
port : —

" That the formation of the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club provides an
opportune basis for the establishment and successful development of
a California Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society, which will
extend the work undertaken by the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club to a
wider sphere of influence and bring it before a larger body of persons,
thus enhancing the promotion of folk-lore interests on the Pacific
coast. Be it resolved therefore,

"That a California Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society be
hereby organized by such of those present as signify their willing-
ness ; and

" That a committee of five be appointed to arrange for a meeting,
including a programme, in Berkeley, on the evening of August 28 ;
said committee to submit at this meeting a formal draft of organi-
zation, with nominations for officers, for the California Branch of
the American Folk-Lore Society."

This report having been adopted and a California Branch of the
American Folk-Lore Society having been thereby founded by those
present and signifying their assent, the following committee was
appointed by the Chair, to report, as provided, at the meeting on
August 28 : J. C. Merriam, G. R. Noyes, Charles Keeler, W. C.
Mitchell, and A. L. Kroeber.

All persons interested in folk-lore are eligible to membership in
the American Folk-Lore Society and its California Branch, and those
desiring to become members are particularly invited to be present at
this meeting and make themselves known to the committee or to the
officers to be elected. Membership in the California Branch will
include membership in the American Folk-Lore Society, and will
bring with it the receipt of the Journal of American Folk-Lore, a
quarterly periodical published by the Society.

The work of the California Branch is designed to be directed to the
study of the many elements of folk-lore existing in California among

VOL. xviii. — NO. 71. 22

3o6 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

its Indian, Spanish, American, and Asiatic populations, and to the
awakening of interest in such studies, by the institution of public
lectures, meetings devoted to discussions and comparisons, system-
atic researches leading to the publication of new information, and
the ultimate formation of branch or affiliated societies in various
parts of the Pacific coast. The work that is thus planned is con-
nected so intimately with the history of California, and will be so
illustrative in a wider sense of the development of the State, that the
furtherance of this work should be of general interest ; and it is hoped
that many persons not directly or individually identified with the
study of folk-lore will ally themselves with the Branch from a desire
to aid in the furtherance of all knowledge relating to California.

FIRST MEETING.

A public meeting of the California Branch of the American Folk-
Lore Society was held Monday, August 28, at 8 p. m., in the Philo-
sophy Building of the University of California in Berkeley.

Professor J. C. Merriam,' chairman of the Committee appointed to
arrange for the meeting and to submit a formal draft of organization,
called the meeting to order and explained its purpose. Nominations
for temporary presiding officer having been called for, Professor W.
E. Ritter was nominated and elected. Professor Ritter, on taking
the chair, thanked those present and spoke of the opportunities and
desirability of folk-lore work in California.

Professor Merriam then presented the report of the Committee on
organization.

REPORT OF COMMITTEE.

The Comfnittee appointed August 18 at the founding of the Cali-
fornia Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society to submit at the
meeting August 28 a formal draft of organization beg leave to report
the following

BY-LAWS.

I. This Society shall be called the California Branch of the Ameri-
can Folk-Lore Society. Its object shall be the advancement and
diffusion of the study of folk-lore in all its aspects.

II. The officers shall be a President, First Vice-President, Second
Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and six Councillors. These
officers shall constitute a Council which shall transact all business of
the Branch.

III. The officers shall be elected at the first meeting held after
July first of each year, and shall remain in office until their success-
ors are elected.

IV. There shall be at least four meetings annually. The time,

California Branch. - 307

place, programme, and manner of all meetings shall be determined
by the Council.

V. Any one interested in folk-lore may become a member of the
Branch by vote of the Council and approval of the members in meet-
ing, and on payment annually of three dollars. The dues of mem-
bers shall be transmitted by the Treasurer to the Treasurer of the
American Folk-Lore Society, provided such arrangements are made
by the Council of the American Folk-Lore Society as will enable the
California Branch to carry on successfully its work and the develop-
ment of the folk-lore interests of California.

VI. These by-laws may be amended by a vote of two thirds of the
members at any meeting, provided the amendments have previously
been approved by a majority of the Council.

NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS.

President, Professor F. W. Putnam, University of California.

First Vice-President, Charles Keeler, Berkeley.

Second Vice-President, Professor John Fryer, University of Cali-
fornia.

Treasurer, Professor W. F. Bade, Pacific Theological Seminary.

Secretary, Dr. A. L. Kroeber, University of California.

Councillors, Charles F. Lummis, Los Angeles ; Professor W. C.
Mitchell, University of California ; Mrs. Thos. B. Bishop, San Fran-
cisco.

On account of accessions in membership likely to occur in the
near future, the Committee recommends that only three Councillors
be chosen at this meeting, the remaining three provided for in the
by-laws to be elected at a future meeting.

J. C. MERRiAM,/(?r ///^ Com.

This report having been read, it was moved that it be adopted, the
proposed draft of organization thereby becoming the by-laws of the
California Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society. The motion
was seconded, put by the chair, and carried.

It was moved that the officers nominated by the Committee be
declared elected as officers of the Society for 1905-06. This motion,
having been seconded and put by the chair, was carried.

Professor F. W. Putnam of the University of California and of
Harvard University, the President elect, thereupon took the chair.
After thanking the Society, Professor Putnam explained the purposes
of the American Folk-Lore Society and its branches and gave a re-
view of their history and the work being done by them. He then
spoke of the particular field of the California Branch, its opportuni-
ties, and their urgency.

^oS yofmn^Ml of American Polk-Lore^

Professor Patnam thereupon introduced the speaker of the even>
ing, Dr. C Hart Merriam, Chief of the U. S. Biological Survey of
WashiDgton, D. C, who gave an informal lecture on Aboriginal Folk-
Lore £rom CaUfomia* treating particularly of the beUef s of the In-
dians of the Mono region, the San Joaquin VaUey, and the area north
of San Francisco bay, and enlarging generally upon the problems of
foIk4ore investigation among the Indians of aU parts of California

At the conclusion of Dr. Merriam's lecture, Professor Putnam, as
President of the Boston Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society,
Dr. R. R Dison of Harvard University, as President of the Cam-
bridge Branch, and Dr. Charles Peabody of the Archs^logical Mu-
seum of Andover, Massachusetts, addressed the Society.

A motion was made and carried that the second meeting of the
>;■::. V.^ hdd in Berkeley on August 31, in conjunction with the
\ . ; Anthropological Association.

e Secretary was instructed to receive ttie signatures
\ '.'■ - - - -■ c to become members of the Society.

. ^ - .umed.

1 c : sons attended the meeting.

A. I. Kroebek, S^:nta3ey,

- < < ^: : : : roll of membership at the con-

r. W. Pu^iEUJii, L:iivers::y of C.i*-- V '^ "":.."

fomiau >. s

CHart Merriam^W..^ ^

Wm. E. Ritter, Uni\ ^ - . -- ^~.i--- -'^■--- -^ -"-' '-^- ^^":-.-.: beck, Berkeley.

fomk. ^V. 11. "x;/.; ': .vkeley.

Cb.-.- - K;-'erBetkc' ^ - ' "•i'ley.

M:^ ~ :^ ■R'shor. - ::_:-;. ^:.^ - :iity of Cali-

W etkeley. fomia.

';' - ^ -kland. Wm. A. Brewer, Sau Mateo.

IVrr^ Wlllietta Brown, San Francisco.

Mrs. iN'. sda- >' -e I^cholson, Pasadena.

Mrs-W. .. .... : -. .Berkeley, i. :■.. _ irett, Berkeley.

Dr. K. cv i - .": . .A. L. .X . "^ . .'.:

Mr.Chas.y .^ >tr^. R. F. :■ - .. . :,;:... i.

Prof. W. A - .M:55.T. K a

Pn^" G 'R N,_... .. Mrs. M. O ^

Pr T^r, Berkeley. Mrs. K. R Miller. Berkeley.

''■■""• ■ ' ; V. Miss McElroy. O.'.kl^nd.

M .X ^ of thirty-four.

( II li lay II in /'rmii fi, 3*-''y

The 5fjr.o;j'J mK':\m-^ 'A the OtYti'frnUi hrniti h *ji the Amrtf-nf
Folk-Lorc .Society was* held at the Uijivcrsiiy 'vl C;j)iJ'yr7<ia in lirtUt^
ley, Auguit 31, in conjunction with the Arn^fic^n Anthropoloi^i^tJ
Association, Professor K W. PuUrtm, President of both so<;i^ties^, in
the chair. The s*o<jctie» met in .South iJaJJ at I'j A. m, u/mJ n^ the
lecture roora o£ th€ Dcpartrn^nt of Anthropoloj^y ^ 2 P, H, V^m%
dealinj/ with anthropology, f' " ' ' ' 'rr.j jjuhjects were r€ii4,

arrjong them the foUowing »j .; to Jo)k-)o;e;==

Mr, Charles Keekf of Berketeyj Creation Myth* and Folk-Taki
of the Manua Islands, .Samoa,

Mr, S- A, Karrett of Jierk^ky ; B^#k«t Design* '/f th« l^orno lii--
dians,

Dr, C. Hart Merriam of Wa»hing:t^yn, D, C. ; Jk*ket Cave Mfh\
in Cdihiornh.

Mr, C. C, Willoughby of Cambridge, Mas*, ; Specimen* in tfet
Peabody Museum colJecied by the L*- - -^ • ' Clatk E;(pe^Jliti.ofl,

Vr, C, F, Newcombe of Vktori;ji, i Amnhm: hxhihiii'm'A

Northweitern Indian De*ign*,

Mr, j, T- Goodman of AlamediA : Maya V'^Xm.

And '>»1hef» by title.

The ri>^^\mi^ wa* adjourned at 4,3^0 y, M,

One hujidred person* attendeid the rr^eeting.

A. L, K^og^g», Sitcretary.

COUNCIL M;'^-'"''^

A meeting of \ht Council of the f .. l^^neh of the Ameri-

can Folk- Lore Society wt* held J8 tte^ of^€€ of th« Derr^rtw^t €>f
Anthropology of the University of ' ' ' ia in H' ■' ■'- 1 4,50
f, M,, October 3, lyi^S. Mr, Charles first vj- nt, In

the chair,

Mr, Keeler rea-d a letter from the Secret %!rj.

Jl wy,^ voted :

To ^iirrarige if pra-ciicahle a meeting in ,Ss-n Fr-' - ^j^^f.

To hold a rrj-eeling i- ''--!--!ey on Tuesday, mo., .mv i .14, the
paper to be r«-jii,d Vv prf.' .'«^ ^m Cliinei^e folk-- lore.

To hold : lay, December 5, the paj^gy

to be rfira.d hj >^; ^v.,.. ■ .;. .

To jriiTu»;'t the detailed arr --fe meeting* to a com'

lisittee ' ;', of the fir^t vj^t^e-^/fesi'ierrit imd the ^ecreta,ry.

Frcic- .: ,, -ri E. Ma-tz^ke, Dr. C Ha-rt Mfcrria.m, and Mr. E. J.
Molera were norniuiated for r/jemberi^hip in the Cou-ncii

3 1 o yournal of A 7izerican Folk-Lore.

The Secretary was authorized to have suitable letter-heads pre-
pared for the use of the Society.
The Council adjourned at 5.30 p. m.

W. C. Mitchell, Secretary pro tempore,

COUNCIL MEETING.

A meeting of the Council of the California Branch of the Ameri-
can Folk-Lore Society was held at the Hotel St. Francis, San Fran-
cisco, Monday, October 30, 1905, at 7.45 p. m. The following persons
were approved for membership : Mr. Harold S. Symmes, Idyllwild ;
Mrs. Bertody Wilder Stone, San Francisco ; Professor John E.
Matzke, Stanford University ; Dr. P. E. Goddard, Berkeley ; Mr. A.
C. Vroman, Pasadena; Mr. C. E. Rumsey, Riverside; Miss Con-
stance Goddard Du Bois, Waterbury, Conn. ; Dr. Gustav Eisen, San
Francisco ; Miss Harriett Bartnett, New York ; Mr. H. H. Bancroft,
San Francisco ; Mr. E. J. Molera, San Francisco ; Mrs. Samuel
Woolsey Backus, San Francisco ; Mrs. John Flournoy, San Fran-
cisco.

The meeting was adjourned.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

THIRD MEETING.

A Meeting of the California Branch of the American Folk-Lore
Society devoted to a discussion of Japanese folk-lore was held at the
Hotel St. Francis, Monday, October 30, 1905, at 8 p. m. Mr. Charles
Keeler presided.

The minutes of th e two preceding meetings were read and approved.

Thirteen persons approved by the Council were elected to mem-
bership in the Society, the Secretary being instructed to cast the
vote of the Society for them. The persons thereby elected to mem-
bership were : Mr. Harold S. Symmes, Mrs. Bertody Wilder Stone,
Professor John E. Matzke, Dr. P. E. Goddard, Mr. A. C. Vroman,
Mr. C. E. Rumsey, Miss Constance Goddard Du Bois, Dr. Gustav
Eisen, Miss Harriett Bartnett, Mr. H. H. Bancroft, Mr. E. J. Molera,
Mrs. Samuel Woolsey Backus, and Mrs. John Flournoy.

A report from the Council was read nominating Professor John E.
Matzke, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, and Mr. E. J. Molera to the three
councillorships left vacant at the organization of the Society. On
motion it was voted that the Secretary cast the ballot of the Society
for the three nominees to the Council.

Meetings of the Society in Berkeley in November and December,
and in San Francisco and Berkeley in January and subsequent months
were announced by the President.

A statement was made by the Secretary in regard to the receipt

California Branch. 3 1 1

of the Journal of American Folk-Lore by members of the California
Branch, and a brief description of the publications of the Society,
including the series of Memoirs, was given.

The acting President, Mr. Keeler, addressed the Society and its
friends on the meaning of the word "folk-lore," the opportunities of
the Society, and the importance of its work. A prospectus issued
by the Society, giving an account of its organization and aims, was
placed at the disposal of members for distribution.

Mr. Eli T. Sheppard then read a paper on " Birds and Animals in
Japanese Folk-Lore," giving a review of the principal qualities popu-
larly attributed to animals by the Japanese, and the beliefs and tales
connected with them. The speaker dwelt particularly on the firm
hold of such beliefs on the Japanese mind and their great importance
in illustrating the real and inner life and mental workings of the
people.

Mr, Norwood B. Smith spoke on folk-lore elements in Japanese
prints and wood-cuts, emphasizing the richness of lore in this field,
of which only the artistic aspects have usually been considered.

Miss Mary Very pointed out the richness and significance of Jap-
anese folk beliefs and customs, illustrating her remarks by the rela-
tion of personal experiences and the exhibition of specimens.

After a vote of thanks to the speakers of the evening, the Society
adjourned to meet in Berkeley, November 14, to listen to a paper by
Professor John Fryer on Chinese folk-lore.

Sixty persons attended the meeting.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

312 Journal of A mericait Folk-L ore.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Street Customs of Buenos Aires. The following account of certain
street customs of Buenos Aires, originally appearing in the "Mail and
Empire " (Toronto, Canada), is reproduced from the " Evening Post "
(Worcester, Mass.) for September 21, 1905 : —

" Every large city has certain street sounds that are common to them all,
but every city also has certain street sounds that are peculiar to itself and
that instantly bring the city to one's mind when heard elsewhere, just as a
fleeting perfume often brings back the recollection of some person, long
since forgotten, with whom the perfume was associated.

"Buenos Ayres has the reputation of being one of the noisy cities of the
world, and there are not only all sounds common to all great cities con-
stantly assailing the ear, but there are several that are distinctly local.

" The one most likely to first attract attention, because it is often heard
elsewhere to express contempt or disapprobation, is the sharp emission of air
through the teeth, causing a hissing sound.

" One cannot be on the streets of Buenos Ayres five minutes without hear-
ing what to the untrained ear is a distinct hiss, such as we use in the thea-
tre to bring sharply to book those thoughtless people who talk out loud in
the midst of the overture, or, more rarely, to express our discontent at a
particularly bad piece of acting or singing ; and it is only when one has
been here for some little time that one's ear differentiates the ' s-s-s ' made
entirely with the tongue and teeth used also by the Argentines in condem-
nation, from the 'pst-pst' made with the lips, which means primarily —
stop !

" Thus, if the driver of a wagon or carriage is mounting to his seat and
the horses start before he can take the lines, he emits a sharp " pst," and
the horses instantly stop.

" If you are in a street car or cab and wish to stop, or you are on the side-
walk and wish to hail a car or cab, you simply hiss and the car stops, or the
cabman instantly looks in your direction and comes to pick you up.

" The most curious use of it, however, is to attract the attention of a friend
passing on the opposite side of a street or one who is ahead of you whom
you wish to overtake, and the first time that a foreigner is hissed at in this
way he feels distinctly insulted, but one soon gets used to it, as every one
does it, and accepts it, and you unconsciously find yourself following their
example.

" It is really a most penetrating sound, and it instantly arrests the atten-
tion, no matter what other noises may be going on about one, and it is es-
pecially efficient in a crowded open-air cafe', where the noises of the street
are combined with the talking and laughing, as it never fails to bring an
acknowledgment from your waiter that he has heard you, no matter how
much he may be absorbed in serving or in talking.

"Another sound that any one who has visited Buenos Ayres will recall is
the rather weird musical note that all the horsecar drivers blow on approach-

Notes and Queries.

o^o

ing an intersecting street to prevent a collision, an ordinary cow's horn
without ornamentation of any kind being used to produce this sound, four
distinct notes in an ascending scale being blown ; and the sound is certainly
distinctive.

" We are all of us used to the musical notes of the coach horn, and know
how every one stops to watch the jolly party go by, so that when one hears
on the street here for the first time a sound something like it, but without
any gayety in the notes, each one being held much longer and pitched in
a high, mournful key, one's interest is instantly aroused as to what may be
coming.

" All one sees at first is a man on a bicycle riding as hard as he can, blow-
ing a bugle about two feet long, with twice as many keys as the bugles at
home.

" From the way the carriages scatter, however, he is evidently clearing the
way for something, and up the street, a block or so away, one sees the fire-
engines coming tearing along, the bicycle man keeping well ahead with his
melancholy long sustained note of warning, plainly distinguishable long
after he has passed.

" No one who visited the World's Fair in Chicago will forget the sad-eyed
Oriental who sat outside the gates of the various side shows on the Midway
and blew all day long on a reed pipe monotonous changes on about five
different notes.

" Its very monotony impressed it indelibly on the mind, and to hear it
instantly recalls snake charmers and the Kutchee Kutchee dance ; but the
same notes here are used by the itinerant glazier, who, with a high wooden
frame strapped to his back containing panes of glass of various sizes, is en-
deavoring to attract the attention of the woman in the third story of the
house across the street, who has a broken window.

"It is somewhat startling in the middle of an avenue crowded with car-
riages suddenly to hear a steam whistle, and one often has to hunt for
nearly a minute to see whence the sound comes, if the carriages are densely
packed, and then be guided by a thin line of ascending smoke, and to the
astonished gaze is disclosed a perfect but diminutive model of a locomo-
tive, about five feet long, mounted on a push-cart, the locomotive being
duly equipped with a real steam whistle, the blowing of which at intervals
has attracted attention.

" It is the chestnut vender who thus advertises his wares, and who opens
the firebox to give you roasted chestnuts, or the boiler of the locomotive if
you prefer them boiled.

" Should you hear the music of a triangle on the streets of Buenos Ayres,
and see a man carrying a red cylinder on his back, looking like a water
cooler or the chemical fire extinguishers used in the United States, and fol-
lowed by a crowd of. small boys, don't assume that this is the Argentine fire-
man on his way to a fire, but watch him for a minute, and you will see one
of the small boys pluck his sleeve, at which he will stop, unsling the red cyl-
inder from his back, and set it on the ground, being instantly encircled by
the crowd.

3 1 4 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

"The top of the cylinder is divided off into spaces which are numbered
from one to ten, and in the centre is a pointer that can be rapidly revolved
on a fixed centre like a roulette wheel.

" The boy who has stopped the vender pays his penny with the air of a Croe-
sus, and, with a breathless audience gives the pointer a twist, and when it
stops the vender opens the cylinder and hands to the small boy as many
packages of sweets as the number calls for.

" There are no blanks, as the sporting spirit of the small boy is not suffi-
ciently developed to play for all or nothing, but there is no doubt that it
tends to cultivate that national vice in Argentina, gambling, which is in-
dulged in by all classes, rich and poor alike, from horseracing to the national
lottery, tickets being sold on the streets for the weekly drawing of from
$80,000 to $1,000,000 at prices within reach of even the poorest classes."

" Sometimes you will hear what seems to be the notes of a bird. If,
however, you investigate, you will find that it is not a bird at all, but
the scissors grinder, who by moving and bending at different angles a flat
piece of steel about three feet long against his rapidly revolving emery
wheel, was producing these birdlike notes, well understood by every Bue-
nos Ayres housewife and only bewildering to the stranger within the gates."

Slang Terms for Money. The following article is an editorial in the
"Boston Herald" (Evening Edition) for February 18, 1905 : —

" At a dinner given at a New York hotel last week and attended by fifteen
prominent police captains of the metropolis a guest counted ten different
words used by these captains in place of ' money.' The words were these :
tin, cush, gelt, rocks, candy, dough, sugar, mazuma, glad wealth, welcome
green. Gelter, not gelt, was used by the rogues of New York in the fifties ;
not one of the other words appears in the curious slang dictionary compiled
by George W. Matsall, special justice, chief of police, etc., and published
in New York in 1859. Welcome green is a variant of long green. What,
pray, is the origin of mazuma ? Is it not an importation of our German
brethren ? The word ' mesumme ' is in German slang, and ' linke me-
summe ' means counterfeit money. Singular to relate, the police captains
did not use the word 'graft.' Perhaps they have grown sensitive of late.
The reader will notice the absence of simoleons, bones, cold bones, and
plunks, terms applied correctly to a certain number of dollars, as in the
sentence : ' It cost me two cold bones ; ' yet simoleons is a word used at
times to denote a certain fixed sum.

" Think for a moment of the slang synonyms of money. Here are a few
of them : The actual, ballast, beans, blunt (for specie), brads, brass, bustle,
charms, checks, coal, coliander seeds, coppers, corn (in Egypt), chink, crap,
chinkers, chips, corks, dibs, darby, dots, ducats, dimmock, dinarey, dirt,
dooteroomus, dumps, dust, dyestuffs, dollars, gingerbread, gilt, gent (for
silver), haddock, hard stuff (or hard) horse, nails, huckster, John, John
Davis loafer, lour (said to be the oldest cant term for money), kelter, lurries,
mopusses, moss, muck, needful, oil of palms, peck, plums, nobbings (col-
lected in a hat by street performers), ocre, oof, pewter, pieces, posh, queen's

Notes and Queries. 315

pictures, quids, rags, insect powder, ready, ready gilt, ready John, redge,
rhino, rivets, rowdy, scales, salt, sawdust, scads, screen, scuds, shigs, soap,
shot, shekels, sinews of war, shiners, shinplasters, skin, Spanish, spondulics,
spoon, Steven, stamps, stiff, stuff, stumpy, sugar, teaspoons, tin, tow, wad,
wedge, wherewithal, yellow boys. No doubt contributions from a dozen
students of slang would double the list. Thomas Dekker's ' Bellman of
London ' and ' Lanthorne and Candle Light,' which with ' The Gull's Horn
Book ' have lately been reprinted in a little volume, are a mine of informa-
tion concerning the slang of the latter part of the sixteenth century and
the early years of the seventeenth. Thus to cutpurses of London the purse
was the bung and the money was known as shells.

" We have omitted such specific London terms as shiners, goblin, finns,
foont, deener, pony, quid ; see Mr. Chevalier's ' Our Little Nipper.'

I 'm just about the proudest man that walks,

I 've got a little nipper, when 'e talks

I '11 lay you forty shiners to a quid

You '11 take 'im for the father, me the kid.

" An entertaining little volume could be written on the derivation of
these slang terms, with illustrative quotations from the flash poets. The
English have ' peck ; ' the Germans have ' pich, picht, and peck.' The Vi-
ennese 'gyps ' is supposed to be from the Latin ' gypsum,' as the German
' hora ' and 'kail ' from the Hebrew ' heren ' and ' kal.' The London ' oof
or 'ooftish' is derived from ' auf tische ' (on the table), for the sports of
Hounsditch would not play cards unless the money were on the table.
French slang is rich and picturesque in this subdivision.

"And it is to be observed that these synonyms were invented or adapted
by those sadly in need of money, not by those who have money to burn,
another proof of the statement that poverty sharpens the wits and fires the
imagination."

Indians decorate Soldiers' Graves. The newspapers of May 31,
1905, had the following item from the Crow Indian Agency, Montana : —

" The Crow and Cheyenne Indians celebrated Decoration Day by placing
wild flowers on the graves of the soldiers killed in the Custer massacre.
Every grave had a few flowers placed on it.

" General Custer's grave came in for the largest share of flowers, the
mound being entirely covered with offerings from the Indians. In addition
to the graves of Custer's men, the graves of the soldiers killed at Old Fort
Smith, whose bodies were brought here some years ago and interred within
the Custer inclosure, were also decorated.

" The Crows were not engaged in the massacre of Custer's forces, but
the Cheyennes took part in that battle, and many of the latter visited the
battlefield yesterday."

3 1 6 you rnal of A mcrica n Folk-L ore.

Indian Names in Maine. The following newspaper verses are perhaps
worth record here : —

Ever since th' war begun

'Tween th' Russ an' little Jap,
We hev been a-pokin' fun

At that portion of th' map.
Made an awful howdy-do,

An' we kind o' sort o' sneer
At them names so big an' new,

But we 've got some wuss ones here.

There 's

Sagadahoc,

Amabessacook,

Cauquomgomac,

Moosetocmagauth,

Mattawamkeag,

Magaguadavick,

Passamaquoddy,

Witteguergaucum,

Sisbadobosis,

Passadumkeag,

Chemquashhabamticook,

Unsuntabum,

Pemadumcook,

Wyptopitolock,

Pattagumpus,

Mattagamonsis.

Don't them twisters jar yer brain ?
Well, you '11 find 'em all in Maine.

Yes, I think we 'd better quit

Pokin' fun at Jap an' Russ
'Fore th' other nations git

Out their hammers knockin' us.
Let me hand you out a hunch,

'Fore their awful names we damn :
We have got a corkin' bunch

In th' land o' Uncle Sam !

Think of

Sagadahoc,

Amabessacook,

Cauquomgomac,

Moosetocmagauth,

Mattawamkeag,

Magaguadavick,

Passamaquoddy,

Witteguergaucum,

Sisbadobosis,

Passadumkeag,

Chemquashhabamticook,

Unsuntabum,

Notes and Queries, 3 1 7

Pemadumcook,

Wyptopitolock,

Pattagumpus,

Mattagamonsis.

Gives th' alphabet a pain?

I should smile ! An' all from Maine !

E. A . Brinistool, in St. Louts Star.

Seneca White Dog Feast. The following clipping from " The Wash-
ington (D. C.) Post " was sent the editor by Rev. J. S, Lemon. It treats
of the " New Year's Feast," or " White Dog Feast " of the Seneca In-
dians.

" Lawton's Station, N. Y., March i, 1905. The Seneca Indians of
Western New York have ended their New Year's feast. For ten days they
have celebrated the midwinter festival in their long house on the reserva-
tion, a mile from Lawton's Station.

" The time-honored customs of the Indian New Year are over. The gro-
tesque dances of wooden faces and husk-clad harvest spirits, the thrilling
war dance, the fantastic feather dance, have ended for a year. Each has
left its lasting impression in the minds of the people of this fading race.
Of all the ceremonies, the one which will linger ever vivid in the memories
of the Senecas was the ' Wae-yet-gou-to,' prayer song to ' He who made us,'
by Chief Ga-ni-yas of the Wolf clan, the venerable leader of the pagan
Indians of New York.

" Nothing was so impressive, so dramatic, so touching, as this prayer
song to the Great Spirit. Originally it was chanted during the burning of
the white dog, but for a score of years the sacred white dog has been extinct
among the Senecas, and never since has the prayer song been heard in the
long houses where ceremonies are celebrated.

"The old chiefs have viewed with increasing sorrow the decay of the
religion and race, and, believing it due to the neglect of old covenants
with the Great Spirit, importuned old Chief Crow to recite again the prayer
that once gave the nation strength to conquer the evil things and thoughts
that the white invader brought.

" When the aged priest stood at the altar before the yawning fireplace,
the people bowed their heads, tears coursed down the furrowed coppery
cheeks of the older men, younger men breathed hard with suppressed
emotion, and the women hid their faces in their shawls. With bared heads
the company of the faithful sat around the square before the altar.

"The striped dog pole leaned against the fireplace, but there was no
dog. The white man's civilization had swept all away, and the Great
Spirit would not send more. The preacher must therefore pray more
earnestly, for now there was no spirit of the faithful dog to carry the mes-
sage with it.

" The tobacco smoke alone remained to do this. A basket of exquisite
workmanship filled with the sacred herb stood on the hearthstone at the
preacher's feet.

3 1 8 Journal of Afnerican Folk- Lore.

*' No priestly robes adorned the old chief. He had no beaded shirt of
buckskin, gay with brilliant spangles, no painted pouch of elkskin, no red
sandstone pipe, no embroidered moccasins, nor did even an eagle feather
dangle from his flowing locks. He wore a black square-cut suit and
polished kid shoes, yet beneath this varnish of civilization beat a heart as
strongly Indian in feeling as that of any medicine-man of the Sioux or
Apaches.

" The wood in the fireplace snapped and cracked, and the preacher
faced the leaping yellow flames. His back was turned toward the assembly,
as he intoned the sacred words.

" ' Hoh ! Hoh ! Hoh ! ' he cried, and then the people knew that the
Great Spirit was listening. This was what he said : —

" ' Da ne agwa oneh nehwah oneh !
Da sah-tone-dot ga oyah geb chijah !
Eees neh Hawenin !
Goah ya-dats-no-deh
Fnaho agwuh siya heowah gaiyan dot.
0-gai yaugweonji ogaukwa oweh ! '

In English it may be rendered thus : —

'"Now at this time we are beginning!
Oh, listen, thou Great Father !
You are the Great Spirit !
We stand around the pole
At this appointed season.
Oh, now I send word to Heaven !
Oh, listen, you who live above,
Look down and see how few of us are left !
Many more called upon you long ago !
How few are left !
Do not forget us because the old men have gone now ! '

" The listening Indians were spellbound as the intoned words poured
from the lips of the preacher. Each felt a new joy kindling. Louder then
the preacher called, and then his voice broke and sank to a whisper.

" ' My voice is old, my people,' he said, ' but the Great Spirit will help
me, for I talk to Him.'

" Then with one supreme effort he struggled on, his body swaying with
intense earnestness, and his voice rang true and distinct again.

" ' We have your words to us about thanking,
So we have come at this appointed season
To please you who live above the world.
I put tobacco in the flames to lift my words to you.
Oh, you great maker of all !
Now listen to your children !
Oh, do not forget your children.
You who live above !
We want the same blessings you have always given ! '

" For two hours the pagan preacher chanted, calling upon the Great
Spirit.

Notes and Queries. 319

" To most white men a pagan Indian means a superstitious savage. But
that is not true of the pagans here. They are honest, sober, and thoughtful
men who love the God of Nature and worship Him devoutly. One has
only to listen to the prayer song and watch the faces of the listeners to dis-
cover this.

" Pagans live and dress like white men, and as they assemble in the long
hou.se, all are in ordinary attire, yet beneath all there is the Indian heart,
and no influence of civilization can change its beating from the old way.

'* The preacher lowered his voice.

" ' Oh, Great Spirit, listen while you are smoking.
We are all young people now,
We only talk like children.
These four things we thank you for :

Wainondondyeh, Stawahgowa, Ganawangowa, Dyoheyko !
This is all we can do now. We are but children.'

" Grasping the tobacco basket he flung it into the fire. No one must
ever touch that which held the tobacco that lifted up the words to ' He-who-
lives-above.' No basket collector can ever boast of having the dog sacri-
ficial basket in his collection. No bribe will purchase that which is the
Great Spirit's.

"When the last splint of the incense basket had been consumed the
wae-yet-gou-to ceremony was at an end.

" The preacher put on his overcoat and hat, and took his seat with his
people. The chief singers took their places in the main hall, and chanted
songs centuries old, in honor of the Great Spirit.

" When Chief Kettle was asked how he could be a pagan in the midst of
the Empire State civilization, living like a white man and using every con-
venience of civilization, he answered : —

"*I may live and dress like a white man, but it was never paint or
feathers, wampum or moccasins, that made our religion. Our religion is
dressed only by the heart.' "

Negro Genius. As a dispatch from Washington, D. C, the " Evening
Transcript" (Boston, Mass.) of February 18, 1905, published the following
concerning the investigations of Mr. Daniel Murray : —

" Daniel Murray, for many years an assistant in the Library of Congress,
is preparing a historical review of the contributions of the colored race to
the literature of the world, with a complete bibliography relating to that sub-
ject. Public attention was sharply called to this question of the intellectual
capacity of the Negro six years ago by Booker T. Washington and other
colored men of prominence, when the United States government was prepar-
ing an exhibit for the Exposition at Paris, 1900. Mr. Washington urged that
advantage be taken of the opportunity to show what the colored race had
contributed to the world's literature. The authorities consenting, Mr. Put-
nam, librarian of Congress, detailed Mr. Murray to make a list of all books
and pamphlets written and published by authors identified with the colored
race. As only four months intervened from the detail to the opening, the

320 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

list was far from complete and very deficient in full historical information
which has now been supplied.

" Mr. Murray's work was practically begun about twenty-five years ago,
when he commenced to gather material for such a work after reading Gre-
goire's ' Inquiry concerning the Intellectual and Moral Faculties and Lit-
erature of Negroes and Mulattoes, Quadroons, etc.,' 1810. Gregoire formed
in 1790, in Paris, a society called 'Friends of the Blacks,' designed to se-
cure their emancipation in the French colonies. Thomas Paine, Benjamin
Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were members. ' One of the aims of this
society,' said Mr. Murray, ' was to gather evidence of capacity on the part
of Negroes and mulattoes, the same being designed to reinforce the argu-
ment the society intended to present to the French convention, to induce it
to grant full equality to the mulattoes, etc., in the colonies. Benjamin
Banneker, a mulatto, born in Maryland, to whom credit is due for saving
to the American people L'Enfant's original plan of the city of Washington
when L'Enfant broke with the commissioners and took away his plans, which
he later sold to Governor Woodward for laying out the city of Detroit, was
an intimate friend of Jefferson's and was often held up as evidence that no
mulatto should be a slave. Banneker exhibited mathematical knowledge,
and compiled in 1792 an almanac which Jefferson sent to the Anti-Slavery
Society in Paris to support his view that the mulatto was the equal of the
white man. Jefferson had high regard for Banneker and formally invited
him to be his guest at Monticello, and in other ways treated him as an equal.

" ' In the same spirit animating Gre'goire, and for the same purpose, to show
to the world that the colored race, under which head I include all not whjte
or who have a strain of African blood, is entitled to greater credit than is
now accorded it by the American people, I have prosecuted my researches.
I claim for the colored race whatever credit of an intellectual character a
Negro, mulatto, quadroon, or octoroon has won in the world of letters, and
believe a fair examination of the evidence will remove no little prejudice
against African blood. It has generally been accepted by scholars that
" Phillis Wheatley's Poems," 1773, was the first book by a Negro to display
unusual intelligence and win recognition from the Caucasian. But this is
not so. Beginning with Alexander the Great and his black general, Clitus,
I have patiently gathered the facts from authentic sources of every highly
creditable act by a Negro, mulatto, quadroon, or octoroon in the forum of
letters or the polite arts.

" ' While primarily only those who have displayed evidence of literary ca-
pacity of a creditable character are the subjects of consideration, I have not
strictly confined myself to this line. If I found a colored man who, like
General Dodd, was in command of the French forces in China during the
Boxer troubles, or like Toussaint, Rigaud, Henry Diaz, or General Dumas,
father of Alexandre Dumas, all men of military genius, I have not neglected
any means to complete a biographical sketch of him. Again, I have no-
ticed in every case a man like Henry Dietz of Albany, who won a prize in
a competition of plans for a bridge, who in 1857 published in "Leslie's
Weekly " plans and drawings for the first elevated railroad, now such a

Notes and Queries. 321

feature of the large cities of the country; though not an author, he is
included. Then, again, short sketches are given of Sebastian Gomez, the
" mulatto Murillo," and Juan Parez, painter, who rivalled Velasquez, and
of Edmonia Lewis, the sculptress, whose " Cleopatra " was one of the fea-
tures of the Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876 ; at the same fair
a colored artist, Bannister, won a prize for his painting. Along with Henry
O. Tanner, of world-wide fame, these are noticed. The second president
of Mexico was a colored man.

" Mexico had a later president identified with the colored race, General
Alvarez. He was in command of the Mexican army that captured and
executed the Emperor IMaximilian in 1867. Bolivia, Venezuela, and Co-
lombia of the South American republics have all had as rulers men of
African extraction. Sketches of them are given. In the matter of books
and pamphlets I have listed fully three thousand, and that in a field where
scholars are wont to regard the African as a negligible quantity. That the
' Goddess of Liberty ' crowning the dome of the Capitol was completed by a
mulatto slave, and the circumstances that led up to it, is worth recording, all
must admit. Queen Victoria conferred the honor and title of knighthood on
three colored men — Sir Edward Jordan, Sir Samuel Lewis, and Sir Conrad
Reeves. In France several have had a similar honor, notably the Cheva-
lier Sainte-Georges, knighted by Louis XVI. Sainte-Georges was one of
the most remarkable men mentioned in history. Thackeray speaks of him
in glowing terms. The first vice-president, 1904, French Chamber of Dep>-
uties, Gaston Gerville-Reache, is a quadroon from Guadaloupe.

" ' The pages of history have been scanned with unremitting care, begin-
ning with Ishmael, the first mulatto mentioned in history, being the son of
Abraham by Hagar, the Ethiopian woman. Then through Solomon and
the Ethiopian Queen of Sheba, who bore him a son, Menelik, the direct
ancestor of the present ruler of Abyssinia. Then, like that feature in " Plu-
tarch's Lives," comparisons are made. Taking some notable character of
the Caucasian type, I have matched him with some man of the other t\'pe.
In that way the whole range of the world's biography has been brought
under contribution.

" ' To the great mass of readers it will be news to learn that Robert
Browning was an octoroon. It is an interesting story, and the details I
have gathered with great care. The same may be said in the case of
Alexander Hamilton, the American statesman, and Henry Timrod, the
Southern poet. Alexander Poushkin, Russia's greatest poet, was a quad-
roon. His grandfather, Hannivaloff, a negro protege of Peter the Great,
rose to be a general under Catherine. Poushkin's daughter Natalie, wife
of the Prince of Nassau, was ennobled under the title of Countess of Mer-
enberg, and given a coat of arms in the German peerage by the grand-
father of William II. of Germany, and her daughter, Countess Torby, is the
wife of the Grand Duke Michael of Russia and intimate friend of Queen
Alexandra of England. So was Lord Nelson's wife, Frances Nisbett, who
succeeded to his title when he died, and a pension of $10,000 a year for

VOL. xviii. — NO. 71. 23

322 Journal of A nierican Folk-Lore.

life. Andrew Graham is credited with saying Marcus Tullius Tiro, father
of stenography, was a colored man.' "

Ranordine, Rinordine, Rinor. — I should be very glad if any one
would tell me, or put me in the way of finding out, what legend or tradition
or folk-tale underlies the following song, especially the third, fifth, and
sixth stanzas. I quote it here from a pocket song-book of the earlier part
of the last century; it has also been printed recently, in a somewhat differ-
ent form, in Trifet's (Boston) " Monthly Budget of Music." The song is
current in Missouri and has been for a long time.

One evening as I rambled Two miles below Pomroy,

I met a farmer's daughter. All on the mountains high;

I said, my pretty fair maiden, Your beauty shines most clear,

And upon these lonely mountains, I 'm glad to meet you here.

She said, young man, be civil. My company forsake.

For to my great opinion, I fear you are a rake ;

And if my parents should know. My life they would destroy,

For keeping of your company. All on the mountains high.

I said, my dear, I am no rake, But brought up in Venus' train.
And looking out for concealments. All in the judge's name ;
Your beauty has ensnared me, I cannot pass you by,
And with my gun I '11 guard you. All on the mountains high.

This pretty little thing. She fell into amaze ;
With her eyes as bright as amber. Upon me she did gaze ;
Her cherry cheeks and ruby lips, They lost their former dye,
And then she fell into my arms; All on the mountains high.

I had but kissed her once or twice, Till she came to again ;
She modestly then asked me, Pray, sir, what is your name .''
If you go to yonder forest. My castle you will find.
Wrote in ancient history ; My name is Rinordine.

I said, my pretty fair maiden, Don't let your parents know.
For if ye do, they'll prove my ruin. And fatal overthrow ;
But when you come to look for me, Perhaps you '11 not me find,
But I '11 be in my castle ; And call for Rinordine.

Come all ye pretty fair maidens, A warning take by me.
And be sure you quit night walking And shun bad company;
' For if you don't, you '11 surely rue Until the day you die,
And beware of meeting Rinor, All on the mountains high.

H. M. Belden.
Columbia, Mo.

The Twist-mouth Family. There was once a father and a mother and
several children, and all but one of them had their mouths twisted out of
shape. The one whose mouth was not twisted was a son named John.

Notes and Queries. 323

When John got to be a young man he was sent to college, and on the
day he came home for his first vacation the family sat up late in the even-
ing to hear him tell of all he had learned. But finally they prepared to go
to bed, and the mother said, " Father, will you blow out the light? "

" Yes, I will," was his reply.

*' Well, I wish you would," said she.

" Well, I will," he said.

So he blew, but his mouth was twisted, and he blew this way (the narrator
shows how he did it — blowing upward), and he couldn't blow out the
light.

Then he said, " Mother, will you blow out the light ? "

" Yes, I will," was her reply.

" Well, I wish you would," said he.

" Well, I will," she said.

So she blew, but her mouth was twisted, and she blew this way (blowing
downward) and she could n't blow out the light.

Then she spoke to her daughter and said, " Mary, will you blow out the
light ? "

" Yes, I will," was Mary's reply.

" Well, I wish you would," said her mother.

" Well, I will," Mary said.

So Mary blew, but her mouth was twisted, and she blew this way (blow-
ing out of the right corner of the mouth), and she could n't blow out the
light.

Then Mary spoke to one of her brothers and said, " Dick, will you blow
out the light ? "

"Yes, I will," was Dick's reply.

" Well, I wish you would," said Mary.

"Well, I will," Dick said.

So Dick blew, but his mouth was twisted, and he blew this way (blowing
out of the left corner of the mouth), and he could n't blow out the light.

Then Dick said, " John, will you blow out the light ? "

" Yes, I will," was John's reply.

" Well, I wish you would," said Dick.

" Well, I will," John said.

So John blew, and his mouth was straight, and he blew this way (blowing
straight), and he blew out the light.

The light was out and they were all glad that John had succeeded, and
the father said, " What a blessed thing it is to have larnin' ! "

(The story hails from Plymouth, Mass.)

Clifton yohnso7i.

Hadley, Mass.

Correction, — In a letter to the Editor, Mrs. Zelia Nuttall states that
her article on " The Periodical Adjustments of the Ancient Mexican Calen-
dar," noticed in this Journal (vol. xvii, p. 288), " instead of a critique of
Professor Seler's paper, contains a correction of his dogmatic assertion that

324 Jour^ial of American Folk-Lore.

'there can be no dou3f tha.t the idea of the thirteen day intercalation was
an invention of the learned Jesuit, Siguenza y Gongora.' Serna is quoted, not
to support any view of the author's, but to prove that this authority asserted
that the intercalation was used when its supposed ' inventor,' Siguenza
y Gongora was but eleven years of age."

LOCAL MEETINGS AND OTHER NOTICES.

Berkeley Folk-Lore Club. �� Meetings of the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club
for 1905-06 have been provisionally arranged as follows : —

On November 28 Professor F. B. Dresslar will speak on Some Studies
in Superstition.

In January Professor G. R. Noyes will speak on a subject connected
with Slavic folk literature.

In March Dr. Goddard will speak on American Indian folk-lore.

These meetings will be held informally at 8 o'clock at the Faculty Club
of the University of California. Individual notice of each meeting will be
given.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

BOOKS.
Methods and Aims of Archeology. By W. M. Flinders Petrie,

D. C. L., LL D., etc. With 66 Illustrations. London : Macmillan &

Co., 1904. Pp. xvii, 208.

This is an excellent book for any scientific investigator to glance over.
The fourteen chapters discuss briefly the following topics : The excavator,
discrimination, the laborers, arrangement of work, recording in the field,
copying, photographing, preservation of objects, packing, publication,
systematic archaeology, archaeological evidence, ethics of archaeology, the
fascination of history. Chapter XII, on " Archaeological Evidence," is of
particular interest. The " pan-grave " and black incised ware of the
Twelfth Dynasty are due to the rude barbaric invaders from Europe, —
another proof of the influence of that continent in prehistoric ages.

Aus der Welt der Worter. Vortrage iiber Gegenstande deutscher
Wortforschung von Karl MUller-Fraureuth. Halle a. S. Verlag von
Max Niemeyer, 1904. Pp. 231.

There is something of value to the folk-lorist in the ten sections of this
work, which treat of : How the German speaks, change in the meanings of
words, revivifying old words, strengthening linguistic expression, German
words in foreign languages, popular names of vjateria medico, German
folkdom as mirrored in the Alsatian dialect, folk puns and word-plays,
ornate epithets, the child and language. In the first chapter is an inter-
esting discussion of German words for " speak," " say," and their numerous
synonyms, — from the fields of childhood, literature, slang, etc.

Bibliographical Notes. 325

Die Anmut des Frauenleibes. Von Dr. Friedrich S. Krauss. Mit
nahezu 300 abbildungen nach Original-photographien. Leipzig, A. Schu-
mann's Verlag, 1904. Pp. 304.

This is a worthy companion volume to the author's " Streifziige im
Reiche der Frauenschonheit " previously noticed in this Journal. The
fourteen sections or chapters of the book treat the following topics : The
skin of beautiful women as the seat of charm and loveliness. The eyes,
the look, the eyelashes, the eyebrows. The hair of the head. The head
and the forehead. The cheeks and the chin. The ears and the nose. The
mouth, the lips and the teeth. The greeting and the kiss of women. The
neck and the nape. The arm and the hand. The breast and the bosom.
The foot and the calf. Headdress and ornament. Women's means of
beautifying themselves.

The text is pleasing and instructive, the illustrations are artistical, and
together they make a book profitable to the man of science and the layman
as well.

'AN0PfinO<jE>YTErA, Jahrbuch fiir Folkloristische Erhebungen und For-
schungen zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Geschlechtlichen Moral.
Herausgegeben von Dr. F. A. Krauss, unter redaktioneller Mitwirkung
von Professor Thomas Achelis, u. a. Leipzig, 1903. Pp.

In this volume Dr. Krauss, who, in the numerous issues of KPYIITA'AIA,
has contributed much to our knowledge of folk-thought and folk-action in
sexual life among the southern Slavs, publishes a great variety of data (pro-
verbial sayings, legends, stories, imaginative tales, and popular descrip-
tions of and comments upon the topics concerned) relating to all aspects
of the very active sexual life of the same people. Nowhere else can the
psychologist and the folklorist find a mass of material ready for study,
whose genuineness is guaranteed by a man of science, linguistically and
anthropologically equipped for the task of making it accessible. The
author has no pornographic motive, but desires to contribute to the eluci-
dation of the folk-side of the great human problem of sexual morality and
the evolution of ideas and customs relating thereto. Besides the main
section, the book contains some notes on " Erotic Tattooing " (illustrated),
pages 507-513 ; and on "Prostitution of To-Day," pages 514-517, — here
the vogue of prostitution of Magyar women in the Balkan peninsula, etc.,
is pointed out. Some book reviews close the volume.

In the editing of this Annual Dr. Krauss is to have the cooperation of
Professor Achelis (Bremen), Dr. Bloch (Berlin), Dr. Boas (New York), Dr.
Hermann (Budapest), Dr. Obst (Leipzig), Dr, Pitre' (Palermo), Dr. Robin-
sohn (Vienna). The general introduction (pages 7-21) is by Dr. Krauss.

Ed. Hahn. Das Alter der wirthschaftlichen Kultur der Mensch-
HEiT. Ein Riickblick und ein Ausblick. Heidelberg, Carl Winter's
Universitatsbuchhandlung, 1905. Pp. xvi, 256.

This summary of the author's theories and ideas about the origin and

326 yournal of A merican Folk-L ore.

development of the economic culture of mankind is dedicated to Ferdi-
nand von Richthofen. The author is already well known by his books on
" Domestic Animals " and " Cultivated Plants," and his discussion of " De-
meter und Baubo." The topics treated in the present volume are : The
age of human culture. The first beginnings of mankind and the principle
of evolution. Origin of hoe-cultivation. Hoe-cultivation, the work of
women ; agriculture the work of men. Forms, stages, and transitions of
hoe-cultivation. Horticulture. Conclusions for the age and origin of our
culture. The age of hoe-cultivation. Culture-achievements of the stone
age. The hoe-cultivation culture of Peru (Peru as the ideal of the social
state). Shepherds. Origin of agriculture and its individual elements (the
invention of the wagon, cattle in agriculture). Babylon. Egypt. China.
India. Conclusions. Among the points emphasized by the author are
these : Primitive man was not merely a hunter or solely a vegetarian, —
neither his relations nor his mentality are so simple as has been thought.
Hoe-cultivation is due to woman, agriculture to man, but to-day the man
guides the plow and sows the seed while the woman tends to household
duties. The oldest sub-form of agriculture is agriculture with artificial
irrigation. Modern agriculture embodying the use of the plow and of the
cow as draught and milch animal, the cultivation of grain in particular, etc.,
is an economic iorm per se, different from the " hoe-cultivation " of primitive
people, and has been inherited by the civilized races from the ancient Baby-
lonians. The wagon (and wheel), first " invented " for religious purposes,
preceded the plow. The domestication of cattle arose also from religious
grounds.

It is evident that Hahn, who attributes so much to the " ancient Bab}'-
lonians," is under the influence of the mirage orietital and does not take just
account of the constantly accumulating mass of evidence that the begin-
nings and often the complete development of certain institutions and arts
of the primitive Europeans and their successors occurred on the soil of that
continent and not in Mesopotamia, which itself shows many secondary
phenomena. Asia Minor can no longer be regarded as the mother of pre-
historic Europe. The theory of a "religious" origin of the wagon and of
the domestication of animals is not by any means proved. The author,
while ingenious in some of his suggestions and explanations, has not kept
up with, or will not see, the trend of the latest archaeological studies, which,
to vary the old saw, are bringing us setuper aliquid 7iovi ex Europa. A
rather needless polemic against socialism is included and terminates the
volume.

^cole Pratique des Hautes iStudes. Section des Sciences Religieuses.
L'Origine des pouvoirs magiques dans les societes australiennes
PAR M. Mauss, Maitre de conferences, pour I'histoire des religions des
peuples non civilises, avec un rapport sommaire sur les confe'rences de
I'exercise 1903-1904 et le programme des confe'rences pour I'exercice
1904-1905. Paris : Imprimerie Nationale, mdcccciv. Pp. 86.

The "analytical and critical ethnographic study " of Professor Mauss on

Bibliographical Notes. 327

the origin of the powers of the Australian shamans occupies pages 1-55,
and the author chiims to have familiarized himself with practically all the
printed literature of the subject with the exception of a few of the more
inaccessible older accounts, and some numbers of the journal " Science of
Man," and furnishes abundant references. After discussing the " magic
power " itself, the author considers the questions of birth, revelation, initia-
tion by other shamans, relations between initiation by revelation and initi-
ation by magic traditions, preservation and disappearance of magic powers,^
etc. In Australia the idea of " magic power " does not present itself in
the complex and complete form met with in Melanesia and Polynesia, —
no general and detailed correspondence to the majia occurs. While with
some Australian tribes the rain-makers are hereditary, recruiting by birth
does not bulk largely in the making of medicine-men in general, "revela-
tion " being the prevailing method of acquiring the art : revelation by the
dead (spirits of parents transmit the magic power to children), revelation
by spirits or mythic personages, more complex forms. " Magic revela-
tion " is produced normally in isolated individuals and not in groups (the
Combiningree are an exception), and is therefore "a social phenomenon
produced only individually." Cases of involuntary dreams and initiation
are rare. Initiation by other magicians may be regarded as "traditional
revelation." Initiation by revelation and initiation by magic traditions are
very closely allied. The observances of which the shaman is the slave show
that even if he is thought to be beyond the common, he has in reality the
same connnection as his spectators. He feels himself different and does
not lead the same life, as much from the necessity of imposing upon others
as because he imposes upon himself, — particularly because he fears to lose
the extraordinarily fugitive qualities acquired. He becomes, he remains,
he is obliged to continue "another." He has in part a "new soul." He
is a being whom society makes expand, and he himself must develop his
personality until sometimes it is almost confounded with that of the "supe-
rior beings."

The lectures in the Religious Science Section of the ficole des Hautes
"Etudes for 1903-1904 included the following relating to Am'erica : —

1. Leon de Rosny : Origin of the religions of Ancient Mexico. Theories
as to pre-Columbian relations of America with the Old World. Interpre-
tation of the sacred literature of Yucatan. Archaic writings of China and
pre-Columbian America.

2. G. Raymaud : Astronomic myths of Peru and their relations with
those of Central America. Ollantai. Critical-historical introduction to the
study of Peruvian religions.

For 1905-1906 the following are announced : —

1. AT. Alans s : Exegesis and critique of ethnographic data concerning
the relations of the family and religion in North America.

2. Leon de Ros7iy : Evolution of religious ideas among the peoples of
Eastern Asia and the American Indians. Exegetic study and interpreta-
tion of ancient texts of Eastern Asia and pre-Columbian American inscrip-
tions.

328 J'ourna I of American Folk-Lore.

3. M. Raynaud : Myths and cults of ancient Peru and their relations
with those of Central America. Myths and cults of the Muyscas. Study
of Ollantai.

The Folk-Lore Readers. By Eulalie Osgood Grover, Member of
American Folk-Lore Society, Author of Sunbonnet Babes' Primer.
Illustrated by Margaret Ely Webb. A Primer. Chicago-Boston :
Atkinson, Neutzer & Grover, 1904. Pp. iii. Ditto. Book One.
1905. Pp. III.

If the verdict of one mother and little girl who have used these books is
to be taken, they are really good for the purposes intended. They contain
in good-sized type, with appropriate and not over-done illustrations, the
children's old favorites, — " Mother Goose " rhymes, nursery tales, and a
number from yEsop, "the German," etc., beside some to which well-known
names belong. It is pleasing to find that, on page 5 of the " Primer," the
famous song, "Mary had a Little Lamb," is rightly ascribed to Mrs. Sarah
J. Hale, mother of the late Horatio Hale, ethnologist, and once President
of the American Folk-Lore Society.

Paul Labbe. Un Bagne Russe. L'ile de Sakhaline. Ouvrage illustre
de 51 gravures. Paris: Hachette, 1903. Pp. 276.

Besides an interesting account of Saghalin and its "inns," as the prisons
are euphemistically termed, this book contains ethnological and folk-lore
data concerning the Orok and Tungus (pp. 125-135); Giliaks (137-183),
— houses and family life, manners and customs, marriage, religious ideas,
legends and songs; Ainu (185-226), — beliefs and superstitions, houses,
manners and customs, marriage, motherhood, occupations, funeral cere-
monies). Pages 227-258 are taken up with an account of the bear-feast of
the Ainu, and pages 259-269 by a description of the Giliak bear-hunt, and
certain festivals and other customs connected with fishing and the chase.
The effect of Russian colonization and the competition of the prisoners
with the natives is referred to naively in the remark of one of these last,
" I had to eat my dogs last winter, to prevent them starving to death
(p. 126). The Giliaks and Ainu have not taken kindly to the efforts made
to Christianize them by the Russian priests ; the Tungus and Orok are less
refractory, and are now, for the most part, " orthodox and baptized, but
not converted." One old Tungus is related to have carried an ikon to his
hut, fearing at first it might quarrel with the rest of his gods, but found
things quiet and peaceable. Asked by the author where he thought the
god of the Russians and prisoners abided, this old savage, with a grin,
answered, " there in the brandy-bottle ! " — he drank hugely himself (p. 134).
The test of wealth among the Giliaks is the number of dogs owned. The
death of " a good, clever, industrious, fertile, and quiet woman," among
these people, is mourned " almost as much as if she had been a man."
The author's Giliak guide attended school at Vladivostock. The Giliak
commercial-logic appears in the demand of a native for three roubles for
two dogs, — one for each, another for the future puppies (p. 163). Giliak

Bibliographical Notes. 329

women are powerful in their influence over their husband's minds. A cer-
tain Giliak described his "god" as being "a little bit god and a little bit
devil" (p. 177). The Giliaks improvise songs while walking through the
forest, — the song of a young woman is given on page 180. The Ainu
account for their lack of a written language and consequent ignorance by
saying that when the Japanese god visited the Ainu god one day he stole
the grammar and written language while the latter was asleep (p. 191)-
A similar legend is found among the Giliaks and other Siberian peoiDles.
When the author told him the French proverb, " When one is dead, it is for
a long time," Otake, an Ainu, said, "Your proverb is false, the dead are
dead forever " (p. 198). Among the Ainu children are " adored and spoiled."
In the speeches at the bear-feast, a few improvisations occur, the greater
part of what is said by the old men is repeated according to tradition. The
Giliaks venerate the bear less than the Ainu.

According to M. Labbe, the natives are being gradually corrupted and
ruined by contact with the prisoners and their jailers. A complete remod-
elling of the prison system is necessary.

Die Toten im Recht nach der Lehre und den Normen des ortho-
DOXEN morgenlandischen Kircherechts und der Gesetzgebung
Griechenlands. Von. Dr. jur. Dem. A. Petraakakos. Leipzig : Bohme,
1905, Pp. xix, 248.

This volume, which is provided with a bibliography (pp. x-xiv) and a good
index, treats the following topics in its four parts : I. The dead in law in
heathendom and Jewry (burial ; prohibition, limiting, etc., of burial ; graves
and cemeteries ; reverence for and protection of the memory of the dead).
II. The dead in law in Christendom, III. The dead in law in Greece.
IV. Private law in relation to the body and its parts (a review of literature
and considerations). One finds here much concerning the right to be
buried and how, legal aspects of various modes of disposing of the human
body, procedures in peace and war, taboo'd individuals, etc. (suicides,
murderers, etc.), church and other burials, place and treatment of graves
and cemeteries, ornamentation of dead persons, coffins, and burial-places,
funeral-flowers and cemetery-trees, child-burial, prayers for the dead, mourn-
ing and lamentation, preservation of bodies (mummies), funeral feasts and
death-meals, " punishment " of corpses, funeral processions, and corteges,
mausoleums, catacombs, etc., house-burial, monuments, and memorials of
the dead, family and individual rights, epitaphs and inscriptions, collegia
funeratica, saints and images, sanctuaries, caves, churches and temples,
parenialia, reliquaries, treatment of heretics and the like, soul-feasts, death-
masks, gifts to the dead, transportation of corpses, exhumation, ghouls and
violations of the grave, the grave as locus religiosits, etc. Dr. Petraakakos's
book is an excellent work to be read in connection with the folk-lore side
of the subject (indeed much of " law " is folk-lore here) as exemplified in
Dr. Yarrow's " Mortuary Customs of the North American Indians."

330 yournal of American Folk- Lore.

Der Richtige Berliner in Wortern und Redensarten, von Hans
Meyer, Professor am grauen Kloster. Sechster Auflage. Berlin : H. S.
Hermann, 1904. Pp. xviii, 172.

This study of the vocabulary, phraseology, etc., of the Berlin dialect of
German consists of a brief linguistic and grammatical introduction, a dic-
tionary (pp. 1-139, 2 cols, to the page), three hundred verse items (children's
rhymes, jokes and jests, sarcastic rhymes, album verses, counting-out
rhymes, folk-verses, proverbial sayings, jokes, songs, and couplets, parodies,
etc.), a section on plays and games (pp. 158-163), lesser sections on fads,
street-hawkers, inscriptions and signs, popular names of restaurants, etc.,
popular festivals. In an appendix (pp. 168-172) are given synonyms and
expressions for deceit, threats, dull wit, going, money, clothing and dress,
parts of the body, blows and to strike, sly, bad, much, theft and to steal,
drink and drunken, refuse, crazy, squander, astonishment, etc. Among the
popular verses is the following in which America is remembered : —

Hurrjott, Hurrjott, jetzt kommt's
Wenn et kommt, denn is et da,
Denn jehn wir nach Amerika.
Amerika, det is zu weit,
Denn jehn wir nach de Hasenhaid.

On pages 162, 163 are given, in alphabetical order, 205 idioms, etc., re-
lating to the game of " Skat."

It is curious to find Azteke (Aztec) in use in the sense of " blockhead,"
but this may be due to the " Aztec dwarfs " exhibited in Berlin as elsewhere
in Europe. To our " He took French leave " corresponds " Er hat sick uf
franzos'ch jedriickt." The Berliner's knowledge of English is said to be
comprised in these terms : " Oh yes, all right, mixed pickles, watercloset,
beefsteak " (p. ZZ)' To his last dollar the Berliner says : " Der letzte der
Mohikaner ! " the last of the Mohicans.

VoLKERKUNDE. Von Dr. Heinrich Schurtz. Mit 34 Abbildungen im
Texte. Leipzig u. Wien : Franz Deuticke, 1903. Pp. xiii, 178.
The author of this text-book of ethnology, one of the most brilliant of
the younger school of German men of science, has passed away since its
publication, and it cannot obtain from him the revision it would probably
have received in places in a later edition. The three chapters (besides a
brief introduction) are concerned with the bases of ethnology (physical
anthropology, anthropogeography, linguistics), comparative ethnology (soci-
ology, " Wirthschaftslehre," cultureology), and the races and peoples of the
globe. The sections of interest to the folk-lorist are those dealing with
sociology and related topics (pp. 45-78!) and material and intellectual
culture (pp. 78-136). On the whole. Dr. Schurtz takes reasonable and
up-to-date views of most of the problems involved, being one of the few
European ethnologists whose research and reading have been deep and
wide enough to enable him to generalize without blundering, although his
volume on " Altersklassen and Mannerbiinde " showed that he could also be

Bibliograph ical Notes. 3 3 1

under the domination of a favorite theory. The present work is well written,
and, pres^iting much in little, can serve as a good introduction to ethno-
logy. The section on religion, mythology, art, and science, though brief, is
quite suggestive. Schurtz inclines to see one of the earliest beginnings
of religion in manism, contemplation of the spirits of the dead, but even
in its early stages it was divided into the fear-side and the protective
side. For fetishism he suggests the definition of " animistic spirit-worship
with material substrate." While mythology can exist without cult, the
cult is unthinkable without a foundation of mythology, — mythology satis-
fies the intelligence, cult the will. Sacrifices are perhaps the oldest cult-
forms. According to Schurtz, prayers come rather late, and vows are more
common than prayers with primitive peoples (no account was probably
taken here of the prayers of American Indians). Mysticism is another germ
of religion, — both active (magic, divination) and passive (amulets, talis-
mans). The priestly class originated with the division of labor, and their
care of mystic powers led them to be reformers or hinderers of progress, as
the case might be. Priest and poet created orderly pantheons and god-
systems out of the fantastic chaos of primitive mythologies, and the recog-
nition of light and sky deities paved the way for monotheistic conceptions.
Folk-lore, as such, the collection of mdrchen and sagas, of customs and
usages, belongs properly to Volkskunde and not to Volkerkunde.

A. F. C.

332 Journal of A merica n Folk-L ore.

OFFICERS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY (1905).

President : Alice C. Fletcher, Washington, D. C.

First Vice-President : Roland B. Dixon, Cambridge, Mass.

Second Vice-President : William A. Neilson, New York, N. Y.

Council : Franz Boas, New York, N. Y. ; Roland B. Dixon, Cambridge, Mass. ; JGeorge
A. Dorsey, Chicago, 111.; jCharles L. Edwards, Hartford, Conn.; JLivingston Farrand,
New York, N. Y. ; jGeorge Lyman Kittredge, Cambridge, Mass. ; Alfred L. Kroeber,
Berkeley, Cal. ; James Mooney, Washington, D. C; tFrederic W. Putnam, Cambridge,
Mass.; Frederick Starr, Chicago, 111.; Alfred N. Tozzer. Cambridge, Mass.; Anne W.
Whitney, Baltimore, Md. ; t Henry Wood, Baltimore, Md. ; James H. Woods, Boston, Mass.

Permanent Secretary : WiUiam Wells Newell, Cambridge, Mass.

Treasurer : Eliot W. Remick, 300 Marlborough St., Boston, Mass.
t As Presidents of Local Branches. \ As Past Presidents of the Society (within five years).

MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
(for the year 1905.)
HONORARY MEMBERS.

Juan G. Ambrosetti, Buenos Ayres, Argen- Angelo de Gubernatis, Rome, Italy.

tine Republic. Edwin Sidney Hartland, Gloucester, England.

John Batchelor, Sapporo, Japan. Friedrich S. Krauss, Vienna, Austria.

Francisco Adolpho Coelho, Lisbon, Portu- Kaarle Krohn, Helsingfors, Finland.

gal. Giuseppe Pitre, Palermo, Sicily.

James George Frazer, Cambridge, England. Paul Sebillot, Paris, France.

Henri Gaidoz, Paris, France. Edward Burnett Tylor, Oxford, England.
George Laurence Gomme, London, England.

LIFE MEMBERS.

Eugene F. Bliss, Cincinnati, Ohio. Frederick W. Lehmann, St. Louis, Mo.

Hiram Edmund Deats, Flemington, N. J. J. F. Loubat, Paris, France.

Mrs. Henry Draper, New York, N. Y. William Wells Newell, Cambridge, Mass.

Joseph E. Gillingham, Philadelphia, Pa. Miss Mary A. Owen, St. Joseph, Mo.
Henry Charles Lea, Philadelphia, Pa.

ANNUAL MEMBERS.

John Abercromby, Edinburgh, Scotland. Reginald P. Bolton, New York, N. Y.

I. Adler, New York, N. Y. Mrs. John G. Bourke. Omaha, Neb.

Miss Constance G. Alexander, Cambridge, Charles P. Bowditch, Boston, Mass.

Mass. George P. Bradley, Washington, D. C.

Mrs. Monroe Ayer, Boston, Mass. H. C. G. Brandt, Clinton, N. Y.

Louis Hotchkiss Brittin, Englewood, N. J.

Irving Babbitt, Cambridge, Mass. Miss Abbie Farwell Brown, Boston, Mass.

P'rancis Noyes Balch, Boston, Mass. Miss Jeannie P. Brown, Cambridge, Mass.

Mrs. G. W. Barnes, Boston, Mass. Philip Greely Brown, Portland, Me.

PhilHps Barry, Boston, Mass. Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, Calais, Me.

Miss Mary E. Batchelder, Cambridge, Mass. Mrs. Waller R. Bullock, Baltimore, Md.

William Beer, New Orleans, La. Miss Ethel Q. Bumstead, Cambridge, Mass.

Robert Bell, Ottawa, Out. Lewis D. Burdick, Oxford, N. Y.

Miss Cora Agnes Benneson, Cambridge, Miss Mary Arthur Burnham, Philadelphia,

Mass. Pa.

Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, Cambridge, Mass.

Charles J. Billson, Leicester, England. John Caldwell, Edgewood Park, Pa.

Francis Blake, Auburndale, Mass. Alexander Francis Chamberlain, Worcester,
Mrs. W. D. Boardman, Boston, Mass. Mass.

Franz Boas, New York, N. Y. Mrs. W. E. Chamljerlain, Brookline, Mass.

Members of the American Folk-Lore Society. 333

Miss Mary Chapman, Springfield, Mass.
Miss Ellen Chase, Brookline, Mass.
George H. Chase, Cambridge, Mass.
Heli Chatelain, Angola, Africa.
Clarence H. Clark, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. Otto B. Cole, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. Gertrude A. Collier, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. Arthur M. Comey, Cambridge, Mass.
Daniel T. Comstock, Boston, Mass.
Miss Katharine I. Cook, Cambridge, Mass.
Thomas F. Crane, Ithaca, N. Y.
Miss Sarah H. Crocker, Boston, Mass.
Stewart Culin, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Roland G. Curtin, Philadelphia, Pa.

William G. Davies, New York, N. Y.
Charles F. Daymond, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. John Deane, Boston, Mass.
James Deans, Victoria, B. C.
Robert W. De Forest, New York, N. Y.

E. W. Deming, New York, N. Y.
George E. Dimock, Elizabeth, N. J.
Roland B. Dixon, Cambridge, Mass.
George A. Dorsey, Chicago, 111.

Miss Constance G. Du Bois, Waterbury,

Conn.
Charles B. Dudley, Altoona, Pa.

Charles L. Edwards, Hartford, Conn.
Carl Enkemeyer, Yonkers, N. Y.
L. H. Elwell, Amherst, Mass.
Dana Estes, Boston, Mass.
Miss Marie L. Everett, Boston, Mass.

William Curtis Farabee, Cambridge, Mass.
I>ivingston Farrand, New York, N. Y.
Merritt Lyndon Fernald, Cambridge, Mass.
J. Walter Fewkes, Washington, D. C.
Franklin Darracott Field, Jamaica Plain.

Mass.
Miss Emma J. Fitz, Boston, Mass.
Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Washington, D. C.
Alcee Fortier, New Orleans, La.

Fletcher Gardner, Bloomington, Ind.
Alfred C. Garrett, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. F. W. Gaskill, Cambridge, Mass.
Frank Butler Gay, Hartford, Conn.
Arpad G. Gerster, New York, N. Y.

F. A. Golder, Cambridge, Mass.
Miss Bessie C. Gray, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. John C. Gray, Boston, Mass.
George Bird Grinnell, New York, N. Y.
Eulalie Osgood Grover, Highland Park, 111.

Stansbury Hagar, New York, N. Y.

Mrs. H. A. Hall, Boston, Mass.

William Fenwick Harris, Cambridge, Mass.

Charles C. Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. R. L. Hartt, Boston, Mass.

C. W. Haskins, Cambridge, Mass.
J. W. Hastings, Cambridge, Mass.
H. W. Haynes, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. I. Helbrun, Boston, Mass.

D. C. Henning, Pottsville, Pa.

Mrs. Esther Herrman, New York, N. Y.
George Hipkins, Boston, Mass.
Henry L. Hobart, New York, N. Y.
Frederick Webb Hodge, Washington, D. C.
Richard Hodgson, Boston, Mass.
Robert Hoe, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. Lee Hoffman, Portland, Or.
Miss Amelia B. HoUenback, Brooklyn,

N. Y.
William H. Holmes, Washington, D. C.
Miss Leslie W. Hopkinson, Cambridge,

Mass.
Miss M. E. Hooper, Cambridge, Mass.
Walter Hough, Washington, D. C.
Prentiss C. Hoyt, Cambridge, Mass.
C. F. W. Hubbard, Buffalo, N. Y.
J. F. Huckel, Kansas City, Mo.
Henry M. Hurd, Baltimore, Md.
Percy A. Hutchison, Cambridge, Mass.
A. M. Huxley, Worcester, Mass.
Clarence M. Hyde, New York, N. Y.
Miss Elizabeth A. Hyde, New York, N. Y.

A. Jacobi, New York, N. Y.

John A. J. James, St. Louis, Mo.

Miss Isabel L. Johnson, Boston, Mass.

George J. Jones, Philadelphia, Pa.

Miss R. R. Joslin, Boston, Mass.

Miss Marion Hall Judd, Boston, Mass.

Mary C. Judd, Minneapolis, Minn.

Robert L. Junghanns, Bayamon, Porto Rico.

Mrs. Josephine M. Kendig, Philadelphia, Pa.
Mrs. A. L. Kennedy, Boston, Mass.
George G. Kennedy, Roxbury, Mass.
Miss Louise Kennedy, Concord, Mass.
Mrs. A. L. Kennelly, Cambridge, Mass.
Francis .S. Kershaw, Cambridge, Mass.
Homer H. Kidder, New York, N. Y.
Landreth H. King, New York, N. Y.
Albert H. Kirkham, Springfield, Mass.
George Lyman Kittredge, Cambridge, Mass.
Henry E. Krehbiel, New York, N. Y.
Alfred L. Kroeber, Berkeley, Cal.

Adele Lathrop, New York, N. Y.
Walter Learned, New London, Conn.
Miss Margaret A. Leavitt, Cambridge,

Mass.
Mrs. William M. LeBrun, Boston, Mass.
Edward Lindsey, Warren, Pa.

334

yournal of American Folk-Lore.

Mrs. M. V. Little, Boston, Mass.
Charles A. Loveland, Milwaukee, Wis.
Charles F. Lummis, Los Angeles, Cal.
Benj. Smith Lyman, Philadelphia, Pa.

Edmund R. O. von Mach, Cambridge, Mass.

Kenneth McKenzie, New Haven, Conn.

Mrs. John L. McNeil, Denver, Colo.

L. S. Marks, Cambridge, Mass.

Mrs. W. Kingswell Marrs, Saxonville, Mass.

Arthur R. Marsh, Cambridge, Mass.

Mrs. Alexander B. Martin, Boston, Mass.

Albert Matthews, Boston, Mass.

Miss Frances H. Mead, Cambridge, Mass.

J. Meyer, New York, N. Y.

Mrs. Garret Smith Miller, Peterboro, N. Y.

James Mooney, Washington, D. C.

Lewis F. Mott, New York, N. Y.

Mrs. James F. Muirhead, Cambridge, Mass.

Mrs. Hugo Miinsterberg, Cambridge, Mass.

W. A. Neilson, New York, N. Y.

William Nelson, Paterson, N. J.

Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, City of Mexico, Max.

D. J. O'Connell, Washington, D. C.

Dr. Sarah E. Palmer, Boston, Mass.

Charles Peabody, Cambridge, Mass.

Miss Josephine Preston Peabody, Cam-
bridge, Mass.

Harold Peirce, Haverford, Pa.

George H. Pepper, New York, N. Y.

Thomas Sargent Perry, Boston, Mass.

Perry B. Pierce, Washington, D. C.

Mrs. Edward ]\L Plummer, Charlestown,
Mass.

Dr. C. Augusta Pope, Boston, Mass.

Dr. Emily F. Pope, Boston, Mass.

Murry A. Potter, Boston, Mass.

Mrs. W. G. Preston, Boston, Mass.

J. Dyneley Prince, New York, N. Y.

T. Mitchell Prudden, New York, N. Y.

Miss Ethel D. Puffer, Cambridge, Mass.

W. H. Pulsifer, Washington, D. C.

Frederic Ward Putnam, Cambridge, Mass.

Mrs. F. W. Putnam, Cambridge, Mass.

Benjamin L. Rand, Cambridge, Mass.

Mrs. H. E. Raymond, Boston, Mass.

John Reade, Montreal, P. Q.

Miss Helen Leah Reed, Boston, Mass.

Eliot W. Remick, Boston, Mass.

Everett W. Ricker, Jamaica Plain, Mass.

R. Hudson Riley, Brooklyn, N. Y.

D. M. Riordan, Tucson, Ariz.

Benjamin L. Robinson, Cambridge, Mass.

Frederick N. Robinson, Cambridge, Mass.

Miss A. A. Rogers, Boston, Mass.
Miss Fannie Russell, Cambridge, Mass.
Dr. A. W. Ryder, Cambridge, Mass.

Marshall H. Saville, New York, N. Y.
*Charles Schaffer, Philadelphia, Pa.
Otto B. Schliitter, Hartford, Conn.
James P. Scott, Philadelphia, Pa.
E. M. Scudder, New York, N. Y.
Mrs. W. S. Scudder, Cambridge, Mass.
Mrs. J. P. Sellinger, Boston, Mass.
J. K. Shaw, Baltimore, Md.
J. B. Shea, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mrs. H. N. Sheldon, Boston, Mass.
Mrs. W. P. Shreve, Boston, Mass.
Albert T. Sinclair, Boston, Mass.

E. Reuel Smith, New York, N. Y.
Harlan I. Smith, New York, N. Y.
Herbert Wier Smyth, Cambridge, Mass.
Walter Spalding, Cambridge, Mass.
Frederick Starr, Chicago, 111.
Vilhjalmur Steffason, Cambridge, Mass.
Simon Gerberich Stein, Muscatine, la.
Mrs. Oliver C. Stevens, Boston, Mass.
Brandreth Symonds, New York, N. Y.

Benjamin Thaw, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mrs. S. V. R. Thayer, Boston, Mass.
A. H. Thompson, Topeka, Kan.
Crawford Howell Toy, Cambridge, Mass.
A. M. Tozzer, Lynn, Mass.

Henry H. Vail, New York, N. Y.

F. H. Verhoef, Boston, Mass.

Mrs. John W. Wales, Boston, Mass.

H. Newell Wardle, Philadelphia, Pa.

Langdon Warner, Cambridge, Mass.

Samuel D. Warren, Boston, Mass.

W. Seward Webb, Lake Champlain, Vt.

Frederick Webber, Washington, D. C.

David Webster, New York, N. Y.

Mrs. Hollis Webster, Cambridge, Mass.

Mrs.Walter Wesselhoeft, Cambridge, Mass.

George N. Whipple, Boston, Mass.

Miss Anne Weston Whitney, Baltimore,

Md.
F. P. Wilco.x, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Mrs. Ashton R. Willard, Boston, Mass.
Miss Constance B. Williston, Cambridge,

Mass.
Henry Wood, Baltimore, Md.
Horatio C. Wood, Philadelphia, Pa.
J. H. Woods, Boston, Mass.
Miss Edna A. Woolson, Cambridge, Mass.
C. H. C. Wright, Cambridge, Mass.

Miss Sarah D. Yerxa, Cambridge, Mass.

Members of the American Folk-Lore Society. 335

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 1905.

American Geographical Society, New York, N. Y.

Amherst College Library, Amherst, Mass.

Andrew Carnegie Library, Carnegie, Pa.

Athenaeum Library, Minneapolis, Minn.

Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Mass.

Buffalo Library, Buffalo, N. Y.

Carnegie Free Library, Allegheny, Pa.

Carnegie Free Library, Nashville, Tenn.

Carnegie Library, Pittsburg, Pa.

City Library Association, Springfield, Mass.

City Library, Manchester, N. H.

College Library, Wellesley, Mass.

College Library, Marietta, Ohio.

Columbia College Library, New York, N. Y.

Forbes Library, Northampton, Mass.

Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa.

Free Public Library, Jersey City, N. J.

Free Library, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Free Public Library, Evanston, 111.

Free Public Library, New Bedford, Mass.

Free Public Library, Sacramento, Cal.

Free Public Library, San Francisco, Cal.

Free Public Library, Louisville, Ky.

Free Public Library, Worcester, Mass.

Hackley Public Library, Muskegon, Mich.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.

Howard Memorial Library, New Orleans, La.

Hoyt Library, Saginaw, Mich.

Iowa State Library, Des Moines, Iowa.

John Crerar Library, Chicago, 111.

Johns Hopkins University Library, Baltimore, Md.

Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, Kans.

Library of Chicago University, Chicago, 111.

Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.

Library of Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

Library of University of California, Berkeley, Cal.

Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Library, Baltimore, Md.

Library of Parliament, Ottawa, Ont.

Library of Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Library of Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.

Library of University of California, Berkeley, Cal.

Library of University of Illinois, University Station, Urbana, III.

Library of University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kans.

Library, Stanford University, Cal.

Massachusetts State Library, Boston, Mass.

Mercantile Library, St. Louis, Mo.

Newberry Library, Chicago, 111.

Newton Free Library, Newton, Mass.

New York State Library, Albany, N. Y.

Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md.

Philadelphia Library, Philadelphia, Pa.

Public Library, Boston, Mass.

336 y ournal of American Folk-Lore.

Public Library, Cambridge, Mass.

Public Library, Chicago, 111.

Public Library, Cincinnati, O.

Public Library, Detroit, Mich.

Public Library, Indianapolis, Ind.

Public Library, Lexington, Ky.

Public Library, New Rochelle, N. Y.

Public Library, Syracuse, N. Y.

Public Library, Cleveland, O.

Public Library, Kansas City, Mo.

Public Library, Liverpool, England.

Public Library, Los Angeles, Cal.

Public Library, Maiden, Mass.

Public Library, Milwaukee, Wis.

Public Library, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Public Library, New London, Conn.

Public Library, New York, N. Y.

Public Library, Peoria, 111.

Public Library, Portland, Me.

Public Library, Providence, R. I.

Public Library, Rockford, 111.

Public Library, St. Louis, Mo.

Public Library, St. Paul, Minn.

Public Library, Washington, D. C.

Public Library, Seattle, Wash.

Public Library, Toronto, Ont.

Public Library, Omaha, Neb.

Public Library, Denver, Colo.

Reynolds Library, Rochester, N. Y.

Ryerson Public Library, Grand Rapids, Mich.

State Historical Library, Madison, Wis.

State Historical Society Library, St. Paul, Minn.

State Library, Augusta, Me.

State Library, Harrisburg, Pa.

State Library, Lansing, Mich.

State Library, Sacramento, Cal.

Steele Memorial Library, Elmira, N. Y.

Trinity College Library, Durham, N. C.

University of Nebraska Library, Lincoln, Neb.

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.

University Club Library, New York, N. Y.

University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.

Watkinson Library, Hartford, Conn.

Yale University IJbrary, New Haven, Conn.

SUBSCRIBERS TO THE PUBLICATION FUND, 1905.

I. Adler, New York, N. Y. Clarence M. Hyde, New York, N. Y.

John Caldwell, Edgewood Park, Pa. A. Jacobi, New York, N. Y.

William G. Davies, New York, N Y. Walter Learned, New London, Conn.

Charles F. Daymond, New York, N. Y. Edward Lindsey, Warren, Pa.

Mrs. Anna Palmer Draper, New York, N. Y. William A. Neilson, New York, N. Y.

Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Washington, D. C. William W. Newell, Cambridge, Mass.

Fletcher Gardner, Bloomington, Ind. J. Dyneley Prince, New York, N. Y.

Edwin Sidney Ilartland, Gloucester, Eng- J. B. Shea, Pittsburgh, Pa.

land. E. Reuel Smith, New York, N. Y.

Miss Amelia B. Ilollenback, Brooklyn, N. Y. Henry H. Vail, New York, N. Y.

INDEX TO VOLUME XVIII.

Aimes, Hubert H. S., African Institutions
in America, 15-32:

Introductory, 15; holidays and amuse-
ments in New England, 15,16; elections of
"governor," etc., 16-18; election parade
and ball, 18, 19; parades, cabildos, and
other African customs in Cuba, 20 ; St.
Lucia, 23; Brazil, 24; French West Indies,
24-32 ; Martinique, 25; Haiti and Santo
Domingo, 26-32; Toussaint L'Ouverture,
Dessallines, 27, 28; Christophe, 29-31;
Soulouque, 32.

American Folk-Lore Society :

Sixteenth Annual Meeting, 74, 75 ; Re-
port of Council, 74 ; Treasurer's Report,
74, 75 ; Officers elected for 1905, papers
presented, 75; Treasurer, 76, 166; of-
ficers, 332 ; honorary, Ufe, and annual
members, 332 ; libraries and societies sub-
scribing, 335; subscribers to Publication
Fund, 336.

Animals in folk-lore and myth :

"American lion," 224; ant, 45, 224; ant-
eater, 224, 225 ; antelope, 9, 144 ; ape, 67 ;
ass, 13; bat, 67; bear, 76, 144, 145, 176,
259; beaver, 65, 139, 144; bee, 67, 244;
blackbird, 102 ; blue jay, 102, 115; boar,
24; buffalo, 178, 258, 282 ; bull, 76; bul-
lock, 10; butterfly, 151; buzzard, 176;
calf, 156; camel, 10; cat, 3, 5, 12, 2,3i 48;
caterpillar, 260 ; chickenhawk, 104 ; civet-
cat, loi ; cock, 51 ; cow, 34, 229; crow,
44, 103, 115; deer, 94, 98, loi ; dog, 3,
5' 33' 39' 48, 57, 67, 102, 104, 145, 227,
317-319; dragon-fly, 151, 261; duck,
145, 215; eagle, 65, 76, 103, 104, 144,
233, 259; earwig, 44; eel, 103; elephant,
44; elk, 98, 104, 257-268; fisher, loi ;
flea, 227 ; fly, 45, 103, 104; fox, loi,
144; frog, 5, 6, 14, 67, 99, 108-110; ga-
zelle, 44 ; gnat, 44 ; goat, 39 ; goose, 49,
57 ; grizzly bear, 103, 148 ; hair-seal, 222 ;
hen, 57 ; horse, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 13, 145, 191 ;
jaguar, 67; kid, 13, 33-48; kingfisher,
231; kite, 76; lion, loi ; lynx, 115;
macaque, 223; measuring-worm, 148;

meadow-lark, 102 ; mink, 65, 109; moan-
bird, 67; mole, 99; moth, 258, 260;
mouse, 4, 5, 37, 44, 45; mullet, 76;
muskrat, 139; otter, 99, 139; ox, 24, ^^-
48; owl, 64, 65, 67, 145, 229; panther,
loi, 115; partridge, 142; peacock, 44;
pelican, 104; perch, 141 ; pig, 34,39, 176,
255; pigeon, II; plover, 76; porpoise,
103; prairie-chicken, 145; rabbit, 61, 230;
raccoon, 10 1, 144; ram, 51-54; rat, 34,
45; raven, 65, 103, 108, 116, 121, 233;
robin, 102; rooster, 229; salmon, 65, 97 ;
saracura-bird, 223 ; screech-owl, 229 ,
scorpion, 67 ; seal, 65 ; sea-gull, 215; sea-
lion, 103; sea-otter, 103, 220, 221; ser-
pent, 6, 11, 64, 118; skate, 197; skunk,
104; snail, 67; snake, 224, 234, 255;
snipe, 76; spider, 61, 67, 96, 151, 267;
sturgeon, 140; swan, 12, 57; tick, 45;
tiger, 223, 224; toad, 6; tortoise, 67;
turtle, II, 177; turtle-dove, 37; vulture,
37; wasp, 224; whale, 76, 104, 109,
233; wild-cat, loi ; wolf, 3, 13, 40, 41,
65, 115 ; woodpecker, 105, 145 ; wren, 65.

Barry, Phillips, Some Traditional Songs,

49-59 :

The Elfin Knight, 49; The Ram of
Darby, 51; The Quaker's Wooing, 55;
The Twelve Days of Christmas, 56.

Barry, Phillips, Traditional Ballads in New
England. I., 123-138:
Introduction, folk-song as an element in
American literature, 123, 124; origins,
124; The Golden Vanity, 125; Lord-
Thomas and Fair Annet, 128; The
Twa Sisters, 130; Lady Isabel and the
Elf-Knight, 132; The George Aloe and
the Sweepstake, 134 ; Henry Martin, 135 ;
The Mermaid, 136; Captain Ward and
the Rainbow, 137.

Barry, Phillips, Traditional Ballads in New
England. II., 191-214:
The Gypsy Laddie, 191 ; Lord Randall,
195; The Demon Lover, 207; Young
Beichan, 209; The Elfin Knight, 212.

338

Index.

Barry, Phillips, Traditional Ballads in New
England. III., 291-304 :
Lord Lovell, 291 ; Bonnie James Camp-
bell, 294; Our Good Man, 294; Young
Hunting, 295 ; The Brown Girl, 295 ;
Springfiled, Mountain, 295 ; Henry Mar-
tin, 302 ; Lord Randall, 303.

Bibliographical Notes, 77-84, 167-172, 252-
256, 324-331. See Books Reviewed, Re-
cent Articles of a Comparative Nature,
Record of American Folk-Lore, Record
of Negro Folk-Lore, Record of Philip-
pine Folk-Lore.

Books Reviewed, 77-84, 167-172, 252-254,
324-331 : Abbott, G. F., Macedonian
Folk-Lore, 168, 169; Balfour, M. C,
County Folk-Lore : Northumberland,
252, 253 ; Du Boscq de Beaumont, G.,
Une France oubliee ; L'Acadie, 81 ; Dro-
ber, W., Kartographie beiden Naturvolk-
em, 81-83; Drury, A. G., Legends of
the Apple, 167, 168; Engel, E., Grie-
chische Friihlingstage, 169; Garnott, E.
B., Weather Folk-Lore and Local Weath-
er-Signs, 81 ; Grover, E. O., Folk-Lore
Readers, 328 ; Hahn, E., Das Alter der
wirthschaftlichen Kultur der Mensch-
heit, 325, 326; Hellwig, A., Das Asyl-
recht der Naturvolker, 81, 82 ; Jethabhai,
G., Indian Folk-Lore, 83, 84 ; Kittredge,
G. L., The Old Farmer and his Alma-
nac, 77-80; Krauss, F. S., Die Anmut
des Frauenleibes, 325 ; Krauss, F. S.,
'ANePnno^TTEl'A, 325; Labbe, P., Un
bagne russe. L' ile de Sakhaline, 328, 329 ;
Lemire, C, Les moeurs des Indo-Chinois,
170 ; Mauss, M., L'Origine des pouvoirs
magiques dans les societes australiennes,
326-328; Meyer, H., Der richtige Ber-
liner, in Wortem und Redensarten, 330 ;
Miiller-Fraureuth, K., Aus der Welt der
Worter, 324, 325; Nagl, J. W., Geo-
graphische Namenkunde, 80; Owen, M.
A., Folk-Lore of the Musquakie In-
dians, 253; Pache, A., Naturgefiihl und
Natursymbolik bei Heinrich Heine, 253,
254; Petraakakos, D. A., Die Toten im
Recht, 329 ; Petrie, W. F., Methods and
Aims of Archaeology, 324 ; Polle, F., Wie
denkt das Volk iiberdie Sprache, 171,172;
Schurtz, H., Volkerkunde, 330, 331 ; So-
ciological Papers, 172; Tiele, C.P., Kom-
pendium der Religionsgeschichte, 171.

Borba, T. M., Caingang Deluge Legend,
223—22 ^ I

Flood covers all but top of Mt. Crin-
jijinbe, 223; how waters were made to
subside, 223; emerging of Indians from
mountain, 223 ; kindling fire and making
animals, 223,224; marriage, 224; origin
of song and dance, 224, 225 ; ant-eater as
wiseacre and prophet, 225.

California Branch of the American Folk-
Lore Society, 305-311 :
Foundation, 305 ; report of committee,
305; first meeting, 306; by-laws, etc.,
306, 307 ; officers, 307 ; roll of member-
ship, 308 ; second meeting, council meet-
ing, 309 ; council meeting, third meet-
ing, 310, 311.

Chamberlain, Alexander F., Mythology of
Indian Stocks North of Mexico. I.,
111-122 :

Introductory, ill; Kulanapan, Maripo-
san, Moquelumnan, iii; Palaihnihan,
Piman, Quoratean, Shahaptian, Uche-
ans, Weitspekan, Yakonan, 112 ; Yanan,
Yuman, 113; Caddoan, 114, 115; Chi-
nookan, Copehan, 115 ; Eskimoan, 116,
117; Kiowan, 117, 118; Kjtunahan, 118;
Koluschan, 118, 119; Lutuamian, 119;
Pujunan, 119, 120; Skittagetan (Haidan),
120 ; Tsimshian (Chimmesyan), 120, 121 ;
Wakashan (Kwakiutl-Nootka), 121, 122.
See Record of American Folk-Lore, etc.

Chamberlain, Isabel C. See Record of
American Folk-Lore.

Dorsey, George A., Caddo Customs of
Childhood, 226-228:
Treatment and protection of new-
bom child, 226 ; bathing of child on
tenth day nd ceremonies connected
therewith, 226 ; lore of spirit-land taught
to child, 227.

Folk-Lore Meetings (Recent) in Califor-
nia, 248, 249 :

Berkeley Folk-Lore Club, 248 ; constitu-
tion, 248 ; officers, report of committee,
248, 249.

Colder, F. A., Aleutian Stories, 215-222 :
The sad woman, 215; the woman who
was fond of intestines, 215-220; the
man and woman who became sea-otters,
220, 221 ; a sea-otter story, 221, 222; the
brother and sister who became hair-
seals, 222.

Index.

339

Herrick, Mrs. R. E., Cupid's Arrow, 276.

Indian tribes :

Acliomawi, 1 1 2 ; Alsea, 1 1 3 ; Aleuts, 2 1 5-
222; Andean Cliaco, 69; Apache, 81,
259; Arapaho, 61 ; Are, 223 ; Argentine,
76, 239 ; Arikara, 114; Aymara, 69 ; Aztec,
65, 66, 71,235, 236; Bakairi, 69; Black-
foot, 144, 154, 260, 261 ; Brazil, 239; Bribri,
68; Brunca, 68; Cabecar, 68; Caingang,
223, 225; Caingua, 70; Calchaqui, 155,
239; California, 148; Came, 223; Carib,
69, 240; Cayurucre, 223; Central America,
237; Cheyenne, 215, 231; Chibcha, 68 ;
Chinook, 115; Chinguano, 69; Chorote,
69,72; Clatsop, 115; Comanche, 185;
Cora, 65; Costa Rica, 68; Cree, 139-143,
231, 260; Crow, 215 ; Cuba, 68; Cuna, 68;
Dakota, 8, 153, 154, 257-268; Diegueno,
\T), 235 ; Dorasque, 68 ; Eskimo, 72, 1 16,
117, 233 ; Fox, 144, 183 ; Galibi, 70, 240;
Guaymi, 68 ; Guiana, 70 ; Guayaki, 70 ;
Guyana, 7c; Haida, 120, 253, 254; Ha-
vasupai, 113; Heiltsuk, 122 ; Hopi, 72,
150-153; Hupa, 62, 87; Iroquois, 150;
Karok, 87, 92; Kathlamet, 115; Kicka-
poo, 183; Kiowa, 117, 118; Klamath,
119; Klickitat, 112; Koggaba, 68; Koo-
tenay, 118; Kwakuitl, 72, 121; Lenape,
60; Makah, 121; Maidu, 89, 119; Mat-
tole, 92 ; Maya, 66-68, 71, 154, 155, 237-
239; Mexican, 65, 72, 162-165, 173-189,
23S, 236; Mission Indians, 113; Mixtec,
236; Modoc, 119; Mohave, 113; Mo-
hawk, 248, 160-162; Mohican, 232;
Munsee, 132; Musquakie, 146; Nahane,
61 ; Navaho, 62, 71, 166, 232, 246; New
England, 232; Nayarit, 65; Nez Perce,
112; Nishinam, 119; Nootka, 122; Oax-
aca, 237 ; Ojibwa, 231 ; Omaha, 269-275;
Onondaga, 148; Outagami, 144; Papago,
112; Patwin, 115; Pawnee, 114, 115, 146,
147, 226-228, 232; Peru, 240; Pima, 112;
Pokonchi, 72 ; Pomo, 89; Powhatan, 60;
Pueblos, 65, 234; Quichua, 69, 240, 241 ;
Sac, 146; Sauk, 183; Seneca, 148,317-
319; Siiciatl, 65; Sioux, 144, 153, 154,
186, 234, 277-290; Skidi Pawnee, 114;
Sonkine, 92 ; Southern U. S., 235 ; Taina,
68 ; Terraba, 68 ; Tlingit, 1 19, 234 ; Tsim-
shian, 120; Tupi-Guarani, 70; Uncpapa,
179; Wallapai, 113; Weitspek, 112;
Wintun, 89, 92, 115; Wishosk, 85, 107;
Wichita, 114; Xingii, 172; Yuchi, 126;
Yuman, 113, 235; Zuni, 81, 179.

Jones, William, The Algonkin Manitou,
183-190 :

Essential character of Algonkin religion,
nature-worship, 183 ; religious senti-
ment and language, 184; Sauk, Fox,
and Kickapoo ideas, 184 ; identification
of property with animate being, 184;
eating heart of enemy, 185; confusion
of property with object containing the
property, 186; deliverance by help of
transcendent agency, 186; visions, fasts,
etc., 186, 187 ; in transport more common
to hear than to see, 187 ; forms of " rev-
elation," 188; interpretation of " revela-
tions," 188; lack of mental discrimina-
tion, 189 ; esoteric sentiment and its
basis, 189.

Kittredge, George Lyman, Disenchantment
by Decapitation, 1-14:
Disenchantment by decapitation in The
Carl of Carlisle and The Turk and
Gawain, two Middle English romances,
1,2; decapitation of helpful animals, 2-
4; decapitation of helpful servants, 4,
5 ; decapitation of heroine, 5 ; the frog
prince, 5, 6 ; decapitation of bespelled
persons in form of cruel or murderous
demons and monsters, 6-10 ; other forms
of violent death as means of unspelling,
10; wounding, 11, 12; skinning, 12-14.

Kroeber, A. L., Wishosk Myths, 85-107 :
Introduction, distribution, and culture of
Wishosk, comparison of myths with those
of adjoining tribes and stocks, coyote-
tales, creative myths, animal-stories, 85-
93; myths of Gudatrigakwtl ("Above-old-
man") and of Gatswokwire (culture-hero
trickster), 93-99 ; coyote-myths, 99-102 ;
other animal-stories, 102-104 ; myths of
Lakunowovitkatl and Dikwagiterai, 104,
105; abstracts of myths, 106, 107.

La Flesche, Francis, Who was the Medi-
cine Man? 269-275:

Erroneous ideas about American Indians,
269, 270; religion, ideas as to the Mys-
terious One, 270, 271 ; symbolism of tribal
organization, 272; four requisites of " Men
of Mystery, 272, 273; ritual for child-
birth, 273,274; tricksters, 274; medicine
man in art, 275.

Local Meetings and other Notices, 76, 77,
166, 167,324:
Treasurer of the American Folk-Lore

340

Index.

Society, 76 ; Boston Branch of American
Folk-Lore Society, 76, 166; Cambridge
Branch, 77 ; Acting treasurer, 167 ;
Berkeley Folk-Lore Club, 324.

Newell, W. W., John H. Hinton, 159:
Elected treasurer, 1891 ; activities ; resig-
nation; death.

Newell, W. W., In Memoriam : Washing-
ton Matthews, 245-247 :
Sketch of life and early activities, 245 ;
knowledge of Indians, 245 ; contributions
to Journal of American Folk-Lore and
other publications, 245; Navaho Legends,
246 ; private life, poetry, art, 246, 247.

Notes and Queries, 160-165, 250-252, 312-

324:

Geography -rhymes, 160; views of a Mo-
hawk Indian, 161, 162; Fr. Hunt-Cor-
tes, the "White Indian," 163-165; the
doughnut (C. Peabody), 166; Louisiana
legend concerning will-o'-the-wisp (Mrs.
C. V. Jamison), 250, 251 ; the cottoff-
•wood-tree ; Louisiana superstition, 251 ;
De Witch-'ooman an' de spinnin'-wheel
I (Mrs. M. E. M. Davis), 251, 252; street
\ customs of Buenos Aires, 3 1 2-3 1 4 ; slang
terms for money, 314, 315; Indians de-
corate soldiers' graves, 315; Indian
names in Maine, 316, 317 ; Seneca white
dog feast, 317-319; Negro genius, 319-
322; ranordine, rinordine, rinor, 322; the
twist-mouth family (C. Johnson), 321-
323 ; correction, 323.

Phenomena of Nature, etc., in myth and
folk-lore :

Air, 229; cardinal points, 223, 226, 236;
clouds, 81 ; deluge, 96, 223-225 ; dust,
258 ; earth, 236 ; fire, 5, 13, 33, 41, 64,
66, 71, 224, 281; foam, 69; fog, 97;
light, 4; moon, 67, 81, 273; moonlight,
35; mountain, 223 ; night, 7,67, 81, 233;
noon, 9; rain, 81, 186, 232; rainbow, 60;
rivers, 223, 227; rocks, 227; sand, 232;
sky, 241 ; stars, 60, 235 ; stones, 223 ;
sun, 65, 81, 226, 235, 273 ; water, 4, 5, 8,
14, 33. 41, 51. 66, 67, 8i, 223, 226, 239 ;
weather, 81; will-o'-the-wisp, 250 ; whirl-
wind, 251-268; wind, 49.

Plants, etc., in folk-lore and myth :

Acorn, 64, 102; apple, 167, 182; bean,
185; berries, 35; bushes, 79; calabash,
45; cedar, 229; cocoanut, 171; corn,
44, 147, 151, 185 ; Cottonwood, 251 ; dog-

tooth violet, 150; fir, 141; flowers, 95 ;
gourd, 224; grapes, 41; juniper, 57;
kava, 255; mate, 239; medicine-plants,
231 ; mustard-seeds, 230; oats, 37; pars-
ley, 51,230; pear, 38; rosemary, 51 ; sage,
51; stick, 33-44; thorn, 49; thyme, 51;
tree of life, 256; trees, 223; willow, 64.

Recent Articles of a Comparative Nature,
254-256.

Record of American Folk-Lore, 60-73, ^44~
155,231-243:

Algonkian, 60, 61, 144, 145, 231, 232
Andean Chaco, 69; Argentine, 239
Athapascan, 61-64, 232 ; Aymaran, 69
Aztecan (Nahuatlan), 65, 66, 235 ; Brazil
239; Caddoan, 146-147, 232-233; Cal'
chaquian, 155, 239-240; Califoniian,
148; Cariban, 69, 70, 240 ; Central Amer-
ica, 237 ; Costa Rica, 68 ; Cuba, 68
Eskimo, 233 ; Guiana, 70 ; Haidan (Skit
tagetan), 233-244; Iroquoian, 148-150
Koluschan, 234; Mayan, 66-68, 154, 155,
237-239; Oaxaca, 257; Peru, 240; Pue
bios, 150-153, 234; Quichuan, 240, 241
Salishan, 65; Siouan, 153, 154, 234
Sonoran, 65; Southern U. S., 235; Tupi
Guarani, 70 ; Uto-Aztecan, 63-66 ; Yu
man, 235; Zapotecan-Mixtecan, 257
General: American origins, 70; art, 71
codices and pictographs, 71 ; early Ameri
can writings, 241 ; education, 241 ; fire
worship, 71 ; Indian character, 237
International Congress of Americanists,
71, 72; " Ireland-the-Great," 72; Jesup
Expedition, 241, 242; legends, 72; num-
bers, 72, 73; petroglyphs, 242; popular
fallacies, 242 ; pygmies, 242, 243 ; super-
stition, 73 ; urn-burial, 73 ; wampum, 243.

Record of Negro Folk-Lore, 156, 244:
Africa and America, 1 56 ; Bush-Negroes,
244 ; Jamaica, 156.

Record of Philippine Folk-Lore, 157, 158:
Assuan, 157; Igorot, 158; songs, 158.

Sixteenth Annual Meeting of American
Folk-Lore Society. See American Folk-
Lore Society.

Swanton, John R., Explanation of the
Seattle Totem-Pole, 108-110:
History of pole, 108 ; description and in-
terpretation of carvings and raven myth,
loS-iio; comparison of versions.

Swindlehurst, Fred, Folk-Lore of the Cree
Indians, 139-143:

Index.

341

Method and circumstances of tale-telling,
139; creation, birth of Lake Mistassini,
139; the painted canoe, 140; a big
perch, 141 ; the story of Katonao, 141,
142; the fisherman, 142; the biter bit,
143-

Thurston, Helen S., Riddles from Massa-
chusetts, 182 :

Icicle, watch, pumpkin, drop of blood,
walnut, cherry-needle.

Toy, Crawford H., Mexican Human Sac-
rifice, 173-181 :

Prevalence of ceremonial slaughter, 173;
ritual conception of ceremony, 173, 174;
origin of human sacrifice, 174 ; chief char-
acteristics of Mexican human sacrifice,
175; religious reverence paid to victim
(identification with god) before death,
175; Ainu bear sacrifice ambassadorial,
176; Borneo pig sacrifice, 177; transition
from ambassadorial to sacrificial ritual of
Mexicans, 1 78 ; American Indian cere-
monies (Uncpapa and Zuni), 178, 179;
other suggestions, 180.

Walker, J. R., Sioux Games. I, 277-290:
Antiquity of games, 277 ; list of games,
277, 278; game of wands and hoop, 278-
280; legend of hoop game, 281-283;
shinney, 283-285 ; guessing the odd stick,
285, 286 ; game of elk, 287, 288 ; woman's
shinney, 288 ; game with foot-bones, 288,
289; dice, 289, 290.

Williamson, George, Superstitions from
Louisiana, 229, 230.

Wissler, Clark, The Whirlwind and the Elk
in the Mythology of the Dakota, 258-268 :
Relation between whirlwind and flutter-
ing wings of moth, 258 ; idea of power
of whirlwind, 268 ; buffalo and whirl-
wind, 268; aid sought by imitation, 259;
cocoon symbol of prayer, 259; bear and
whirlwind, 259 ; scattering dust, 260; moth
and sleep in Blackfoot myth, 260; Cree
medicine, 268 ; whirlwind and caterpillar
with Arapaho, 260; cross, 261 ; power of
elk in relation to sexual passions, 261 ;
story concerning this, 262-266; mystic
flageolet, 266 ; courting blanket, 267;
Dakota type of thought, 268.

THE JOURNAL OF

AMERICAN FOLK-LORE

VOLUME XIX

BOSTON AND NEW YORK

^uhimcb for Cftf American folkMovt M>otietp Bp

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

LONDON: DAVID NUTT, 57, 59 LONG ACRE

LEIPZIG: OTTO HARRASSOWITZ, QUERSTRASSE, 14

MDCCCCVI

THE JOURNAL OF

AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

Vol. XIX. — JANUARY-MARCH, 1906.— No. LXXII.

INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS
IN FOLK-LORE.

According to the indication of the name, a folk-song or folk-tale
seems to be contrasted with the composition of a single artist. " Popu-
lar" literature, as we conceive, belongs or belonged to the commu-
nity, while a work of art is the property of an individual. The former
is marked by simplicity and uniformity, the latter by complication
and variety. The one makes an effect of unconsciousness and naivete,
the latter of reflection and deliberate choice. In this respect, the
simile of wild and cultivated flora appears to express a real dis-
tinction ; as every bloom of the woods is felt to be pretty, so every
traditional product has its aesthetic value ; while literary construc-
tions must be perfect, or else are cast out as unregarded weeds.
The phraseology which would put down the folk-song as a growth of
nature, the written poem as a creation of art, has therefore some real
basis in the impression respectively made by the two sorts of compo-
sition.

At the time when folk-tales first began to attract attention, this
opposition was especially marked. The sophisticated character of
eighteenth century literature, its rationality and precision, common-
sense and absence of mysticism, exhibited the reverse of qualities
possessed by Christian legends still current in Europe, or northern
ballads made familiar by Percy. At a later time, only in the first
quarter of the nineteeth century, the collections of the brothers
Grimm called the attention of literati to the existence of a treasure
hitherto disregarded, to nursery tales or mdrchen recited by nurses
anHj^j^ others, and to the numerous narratives remembered in Ger-
maivy, in which the activity of saints or fairies was associated with
particular localities.

By Jacob Grimm himself, and by the school which he founded, the
explanation given to the entirety of this German traditional litera-
ture was that it represented the survival of ancient German religion.
Man, it was thought, had from the first possessed a pure religious

2 yournal of American Folk- Lore.

feeling and ethical sense; in the main, his pristine worship might be
regarded as a system of conceptions founded on a direct reaction to
nature. The phenomena of the external world, interpreted as the
expression of divine purpose, by a regular descent reflected them-
selves in mythology ; actions of gods passed into narratives of heroes,
these into the fireside tales of the modern world ; folk-song and
folk-tale were to be considered as the detritus of myth. It was be-
lieved that such body of traditions formed the peculiar possession
of a single people, transmitted without serious admixture from gen-
eration to generation, and expressing the peculiar mentality of the
race to which it belonged.

To the English public, F. Max Miiller became the interpreter of
such conceptions, and through his presentation the theory of the
solar myth for a brief period reigned in current literature. Such
explanation was connected with the habit of view, according to
which primitive methods of thought and expression radically differed
from those of recent time. Men, this author supposed, had once
possessed a language-making faculty, in virtue of which an external
stimulus produced its effect in sound ; a word was the echo of the
organism to such impulse. In this manner, in early ages, were
formed roots of language ; at a later day, when no longer needed,
the faculty became atrophied. Similarly with legend ; there had
been a myth-making age, in which thanks in part to the condition
imposed by language, numerous histories had arisen respecting divine
beings ; after such mental stock had been supplied, followed a period
of reflection and combination. Aryan folk-lore, according to this
theory, constituted an inheritance from the remote Aryan past ;
each branch of the Aryan family retained and modified traditions,
which would express the mental qualities of each special people.

The sudden ruin of this hypothesis was owing in part to more
exact knowledge, but in part also to the presumptions derived from
other fields of study. Cataclysmic explanations of creation came to
be discredited ; the belief gained ground that natural laws had not
varied, and that the same causes formerly at work were working
to-day.

In opposition to Miiller, it was argued that language required no
" rhematic " or word-making period ; forces now active were suffi-
cient to have produced the linguistic outfit. So in regard to ""' th ;
it was more in accord with scientific tendencies to assume that tuere
never had been a time in which the organism corresponded more
directly than at present to natural influences, or that mankind had
ever possessed a direct and simple relation to nature. Far from sup-
posing an ancient mythopoeic age, investigators were more inclined
to assume that the myth-making faculty is as existent now as in

Individual and Collective Characteristics in Folk-Lore. 3

any former period, however much the increasing habit of reflection,
the veto of a larger experience, may negative inclinations in this
direction.

The prejudice against the Aryan theory, arising from the desire
to bring theories of human history into accord with general scientific
conceptions, was confirmed by special investigations. Research
could not proceed far without the discovery that the material of folk-
lore was European rather than national ; in particular, it came to be
known that the mdrchen of Grimm, save in language, were scarce
more German than they were English, French, Spanish, or Italian.
In place of hereditary transmission from a remote past, began with
more and more confidence to be asserted the view of relatively recent
borrowing. In this manner, the attractive doctrine which had set
down popular traditions as the voices of the different peoples fell
into total ruin ; it came to be perceived, that instead of being pecul-
iarly the expression of national characteristics, traditional literature
is a racial product than is written literature.

Benfey had argued that the real source of European folk-tales was
to be found in collections of Oriental tales which through written
record had become popular in Europe, and which, as he thought,
had given birth to a vast body of western prose and verse. In this
discussion, the weak point was the very slender relation of the Occi-
dental narratives to those from which they were held to have been
borrowed. In 1886, the learning of E. Cosquin gave more weight to
the theory, by taking into account the great body of oral folk-lore ;
proving beyond a doubt the identity of many European and Asiatic
mdrchen, he supposed the former borrowed from the latter, ulti-
mately from India. In his examination of English ballads, Francis
James Child showed that these, as a rule, belonged not to a national,
but to a West-European vine. This knowledge, however, found
slow acceptance in England. In 1891, when the author of this article
attended the Second International Folk-Lore Conference, it was
still generally held by English students of folk-lore that popular
traditions were local and racial, and had descended from a prehistoric
national past ; the resemblance of narratives and beliefs found in
different countries might arise, it was still thought, from that inde-
pendent origination which implies only the like action of the human
mind. On the other hand, in the example of a single tale, the most
widely diffused of all human compositions, the writer pointed out
that in England, Ireland, France, Germany, Russia, and Cashmere,
in the "Arabian Nights " and in Buddhist scripture, the story of the
bird-wife has entered as a whole ; that in all cases its outline and
the course of its modifications could be traced, and that it must be
regarded as having migrated by way of translation, in the same man-

4 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

ner as the " Pilgrim's Progress " or " Robinson Crusoe " might
migrate. For the process of such dissemination I proposed a rule,
namely, that in folk-lore as in civilization diffusion takes place from
the higher culture to the lower ; whenever two races are in culture-
contact, the more civilized, itself comparatively unaffected, bestows
on its neighbor the entirety of its ideas and traditions. The valve is
open in the flow from information from the superior to the inferior,
but (with rare exceptions) closed in the inverse direction. This prin-
ciple, not yet generally adopted, appears to me to furnish a safe
canon of guidance, of which too much cannot be made.^

Within the past decade, the hypothesis of diffusion has won a
final victory, and so far as Europe is concerned is not now ques-
tioned. American studies seem to establish the same relation, inas-
much as they show that particular tales have wandered from one end
of the continent to the other ; while the rapid modification of abori-
ginal traditions under the influence of contact with civilized persons,
the speedy absorption of European folk-lore, furnishes the most
striking example of the law, according to which a superior neighbor
remodels the ideas of an inferior with whom it comes into touch.

The most interesting effect of this change of view is the different
attitude which it inspires toward racial tendencies and acquirements.
Instead of a closed race, handing down from generation to genera-
tion its own stock of ideas and beliefs, we are offered only a stock
of opinions and traditions common to a whole continent, migrating
with disregard of the barriers offered by descent or language, per-
petually becoming differentiated into new forms, which in their turn
spread from centres of culture, varying with all degrees of rapidity,

^ The International Folk-Lore Congress, 1891. Papers and Transactiotis.
London, 1892, p. 64. The class of folk-tales considered is that of narratives which
have found acceptance in many countries, and the metaphor used for iUustration is
that of a species of vegetable which has originated in a remote civilization, and has
differentiated itself into new varieties, possessing certain advantages, which in the
course of commercial intercourse are carried into distant regions, and may even
supersede the original plant in its first habitat. That there can be any such thing
as a theory of folk-tales in general I have always expressly denied. See a paper on
the " Theory of Diffusion of Folk-tales " (vol. vii, p. 14). Professor Gummere is
therefore wrong when for the second time, not having noticed my correction (vol.
X, p. 337), he ascribes to me the doctrine which makes "the folk-tale a degenerate
form, in low levels of culture, of something composed on higher levels." {Begin-
nings of Poetry, p. 179.) To point out the various inaccuracies of the statement
would require space not at my disposal ; I have never said or imagined that folk-
tales are found only in low conditions of culture, or that they were composed
amid a liigher culture than that in which they have been collected. What is true
and demonstrable is that Norse folk-tales, for example, take on wilder forms as
a result of transmission to Lapps, while on the lips of American Indians Euro-
pean vidrchen absorb aboriginal elements.

Individual and Collective Characteristics in Folk-Lore. 5

now in a few years so establishing themselves in a new region as to
supplant the ancient flora, now, with obstinate conservatism, main-
taining themselves without essential change for two millenniums.
The phenomena of traditionology, if the term may be allowed, have
therefore some resemblance to those of botany.

In examining the problem of diffusion from country to country,
we are only contemplating, on a magnified scale, that of diffusion
from individual to individual. A particular European tale, as we
have seen, is likely not to be autochthonous, but to have migrated
into the country where we find it established ; it belongs not to Ger-
many or England alone, but to many lands ; tracing back its history,
we should find, if the evidence were adequate, one locality, European
or Asiatic, from which it had been borrowed. The same process
would apply to the different districts of the original country, to can-
tons of the district, and families of the canton. In the end, the
tale, though now world-wide, would be found to have proceeded
from the mind of one narrator, whose mentality it would originally
have represented.

We may now ask, in how far is this single authorship consistent
with the possession of those collective characteristics which are attrib-
uted to folk-lore } Reflection points out that these qualities, so far
as they really exist, are perfectly consistent with ultimate reference
to individual minds.

In the first place, too much importance cannot be assigned to the
most salient property of folk-lore, namely, its communication by
word of mouth. In the case of a written document, the original
remains ; if imitators modify the composition, it may still be possible,
by recourse to the original, to determine the method of development
and degree of deviation. For a folk-tale there is no such record ;
the tale has its life only in the memory of each reciter, who may
remodel at pleasure. Growth therefore proceeds with entire free-
dom ; the organism adapts itself to new conditions, migrates and
settles with the ease of a weed. As with a word of the language, so
with traditional history, — the alteration maybe complete; we can
only say that the first reciter was the author, in the same sense as
we may say that this or that rill is the source of a river. The pre-
sumptive inventor himself formed the tale only by a re-arrangement
of preexisting elements ; and it is generally a mere matter of con-
venience to determine whether a particular tale or ballad is to be
considered as a new creation or as a variant of an older type; the
extent to which we are ready to assume varieties is dependent on the
closeness of observation which we choose to allow, and the number
of pages available for description. It will therefore be permissible
to refer the mdrchen to any one of its hundred authors, or to set it

6 J otLvnal of American Folk-Lore.

down, without precise question, as the property of the community
in which it is current.

The manner of transmission affects also the quaUty of the tale.
The author who is obliged to depend on the memory of his auditors
for the permanence of his production must deal sparingly in personal
peculiarities. Suppose that his composition varies in a striking man-
ner from the accepted model ; one or two repetitions, on the lips of
narrators indifferent to anything more than the main action, will
assimilate its language to the type of familiar stories. No extreme
deviations from accepted belief or usual emotion are likely to endure.
In this manner, the tendency of unwritten literature will be toward
the average ; the tale will represent, not the opinions of this or that
thinker, but the mental state of a community. It may then well be
spoken of as belonging to the folk as a whole, rather than to the
Peter or Thomas who may have ushered it into the world.

A third reason for the non-individual quality of folk-lore may be
found in its antiquity. The particular narration may not be very
old, but the ideas of which it is compounded are those which animate
the uncultured part of the community, and therefore in essence
belong to a time long past. The tale will therefore partake of the
character of antiquity in showing simple conditions of thought. In
the cultivated part of society, differentiation goes on with speed ;
new senses, so to speak, are continually becoming active ; in place
of colors, shades become objects of perception ; corresponding to
increased specialization of functions, individual ways of feeling
become more prominent, and find expression in literature. On the
other hand, folk-lore will maintain the relative simplicity of the
classes among which it is chiefly preserved ; left to the conservatism
of the people, it will be little affected by the continual changes of
fashion that affect literature. From the lips of the folk it will take
that naive quality which depends on simplicity and isolation from
the great world. To the educated hearer, therefore, the oral song or
speech will appear more or less uniform ; differences between one
composition and another will be imperceptible, since the material
lacks the vivid contrasts and accentuation of personal peculiarities
to which he is accustomed in literature.

Without in any way taking from individual authorship, the qualities
mentioned, in the main belonging to oral as distinguished from writ-
ten literature, sufficiently explain the impression produced by the
former as collective rather than personal, and as spontaneous rather
than artistic.

When, however, we suppose that because all ballads or tales seem
to us on the same level they made a similar impression on their first
hearers, we are ovcrhasty. To the ordinary white man all negroes

Individual and Collective Characteristics in Folk-Lore. 7

or Chinese appear to resemble one another. There is no reason to
doubt that the innovations of a particular reciter would appear to his
audience original ; nor is it to be supposed that every folk-tale cor-
responded to the ideas of all the folk who listened to it, any more
than is the case with literary productions.^ On the contrary, we
should find that each sect, each neighborhood, had its distinctive
folk-lore, and that each narrator added to the story something of his
personality.

Granted that folk-tales are collective only in the sense explained,
it may further be asked whether the process of imagination by
which they were constructed differed in any assignable respect
from that usual in letters. Various such criteria might be presup-
posed ; the folk-artist, it may be guessed, would be more objective
and less reflective, might deal more in action and less in ethics,
might be more spontaneous and less meditative. Again, folk-lore
might be more sterile, less capable of variation, than literature,
which, like a trailing vine, occupies every gap through which sun-
light may be obtained, and perpetually seeks a free atmosphere.

For the examination of such questions we have now a considerable
body of comparative material, which enables stories and verses to be
followed from age to age, and allows their life-history to be charted.
In this Journal I have recently offered such discussions in the case
of a branch of the " Tale of the Three Wishes " and in a very famil-
iar nursery rhyme. The result of these inquiries is decidedly adverse
to the distinctions proposed. The folk-tales, it is perceived, vary
with even greater freedom than do written productions ; they differ-
entiate themselves into every possible form, and such adaptation
seems to be the result of the activity on the part of authors who
aimed at attaining the greatest possible measure of novelty. The
makers who depend on oral communication are no less original than
the makers of folk-books ; in neither case is there any such thing as
unconsciousness, or any other process than that with which we are
familiar in literature.^

Thus, in the " Tale of the Three Wishes," when the period had
passed in which a visitor, as outside the kin, must be an enemy,
when trade and barter came to be regarded as sources of wealth, it
became desirable to protect the stranger within the gates. This was
accomplished by appeals to the religious feeling. The stranger, for

1 The English pubhc which assimilated the nursery tales of Perrault and Grimm
did not suppose that the tales were true, or continue to believe in the transforma-
tions and other features of savage belief which these exhibit ; they simply accepted
the narratives as agreeable tales, and so for millenniums have their ancestors
proceeded in the reception of myths.

2 Vol. xvii (1904), 59; xviii (1905), 33 ff.

8 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

all that his host knew, might be divine ; he might be a god of the
region, who had undertaken to traverse the earth, in order that with
his own eyes he might inspect the proceedings of his mortal subjects.
This method of conception was carried out by innumerable tales,
which with infinite variation have continued from prehistoric time
to wander through Europe and Asia. These exhibit the close rela-
tions of oral and written literature ; now ascending into the literary
sphere and hence once more descending to oral narrations, with no
essential distinction of character they reappear as modern folk-books.
In the process of continual change the histories assume all imagi-
nable forms ; every opportunity for originality is eagerly accepted ;
alike in its fertility and in its power of development, the oral produc-
tions are similar to the written.

In this case, also, the oral folk-tale had one difference resulting
from the method of communication ; the reciter was dependent on his
memory, which might be imperfect, and oftentimes alterations in a
given theme are due to no other cause than such forgetfulness ;
in filling the void by the aid of the other material with which his
memory was stored, the narrator proceeded in the same manner as
he would have done had he composed pen in hand.

The conclusion seems to be, that with respect to methods of
authorship, folk-lore and literature present no salient differences
other than those arising from the manner of record.

In respect to poetry, however, this doctrine has been denied by a
learned student of literature; in a work on "The Beginnings of
Poetry," Prof. F. B. Gummere has argued that verse is "communal"
in origin.^ In this inquiry it is above all necessary to discriminate
with clearness. What novelty has the definition .'' What does the
term " communal " include, beyond those collective characteristics
above allowed, and which have universally been conceded to folk-
song }

The additions which make the originality of the thesis consist in
the union of two notions, spontaneity and concurrence. Song,
according to this idea, is originally an immediate creation, arising
from the response to an emotional impulse; once more, such creation
arises in the dance, as a result of " communal " excitement, and is
to be conceived as more or less coincident in the entire dancing
group. Provision being thus made for starting the poetical process,
what remains is the reaction of individual minds on the common
material, which by degrees so completely transforms song that
poetry, which in the first instance was the common property of a
throng, and had its birth only in a mass, comes in the end to bear
exclusively the individual stamp, and to be dependent on solitary
* The Beginnings of Poetry, New York, 1901,

hidividiial and Collective Characieristics in Folk-Lore. 9

inspiration. The working out of these contrasts, this "curve of
evolution," Professor Gummere conceives (if I correctly interpret
his mystical doctrine) to be exhibited in the history of literature.

In the first place, it must be remarked with respect to this theory
that it has suspiciously the character of those outgrown hypotheses
which Max Miiller for a time made so famous. As the latter pre-
sented us with a myth-making age, so Professor Gummere with a
song-making age. The whole argument is based on a view of ethno-
logy which American students have definitely discarded, namely, on
the idea of a primitive simplicity, freedom, and direct contact with
nature. Exactly the reverse is the usual method of present-day
conception ; as we recede in time and in the order of culture, for-
mality, habit, rigid custom, precise ritual, appear to TDrevail. Go
back as far as we may, we never arrive at origins, or at simple and
natural opinions ; we find only artificial and complicated systems of
belief and worship, built on the ruins of other antecedent systems,
extending farther than the eye can reach.

Theories of origin, whether of language or thought, are to be
viewed with suspicion ; the ethnologist and folk-lorist, confident that
philosophical speculation can never enlighten his subject, but is cer-
tain to obscure and distort it, will keep himself as far as possible
from any speculations which transgress the field of actual experi-
ence. If the facts are not adequate for a secure conclusion he will
seek to enlarge the field of knowledge, knowing that disagreements
of theory arise only from the existence of chasms in the record.

The evidence by which the opinion in question is sustained may
be sought either in the field of European and Asiatic folk-lore, that
is to say among races in a state of civilization, or among lower
tribes. In both fields there is a good deal of room for more accurate
information ; and it is on this account, rather than with intent to
examine a philosophical hypothesis, that I venture to add a few
remarks.

In regard to English folk-verse, it is particularly the ballads, as
songs performed in the dance, to which attention is called. In regard
to these it is admitted that from existing material the doctrine of
spontaneity obtains small support. Study of ballads leads to results
exactly corresponding to those above formulated for folk-tales ; bal-
lads also are generally international and European ; as we are re-
quired to assign each composition ultimately to some particular land,
so, by a parity of evidence, we are referred to one composer as author
of words and melody. Not that ballads did not continue at all
times to be composed ; these came into existence in all countries and
periods ; but, as the existing stock was adequate, new productions
seldom found a degree of popular assent sufficient to establish them
as traditional.

lO yoiirnal of American Folk-Lore.

In the case of one ballad, and that an American one, of relatively
late authorship, it has been possible to trace the song to its source ; a
written and highly literary production of the late eighteenth century,
belonging to a town in western Massachusetts, passed into familiar
oral use, developed numerous variants, oral and written, and took on
a crude love history ; in the course of transmission, according to the
universal law, the peculiar qualities of the original poem were elim-
inated.^ As has been the case with European ballads in general,
this chant obtained uses not originally intended, and passed into a
nursery lullaby. One fact is worth a thousand speculations ; it is
easy to understand how, in an earlier period of history, a song of
this sort might have crossed the seas and become international ; no
doubt, among the stock of European ballads, many may have origi-
nated from the circumstances of a particular event.

Whatever opinions respecting the origins of dramatic songs be
adopted, — and these can scarcely be reducible to any one theory,
seeing that the evolution would differ for each separate case, —
allowance must be made for that habit of poetical composition which
seems in all races and at all times to have been a general human
possession. From a period long before the daughters of Israel sang
before Saul, every occasion in tribal or national life would have been
expressed in verse and danced in ballad ; every individual character-
istic would have given opportunity for malicious wit, and every im-
portant personage be exposed to lampoons, which would have even
been more dreaded than in our day is the caricature of the comic
artist. Out of this perpetually replenished mass of song, for the most
part dying in the hour of its birth, here and there a particular phrase
or melody would attract attention, be remembered, become subject to
traditional recollection with its attendant variation, and eventually,
after the manner described, abdicate separate peculiarities, assume
the conventional type, and become part of the common stock of
poetry. If in this process, either at the birth of the song or in the
course of its life history, there were a collaboration of several intelli-
gences, and so a composite authorship, it would be no more than now
takes place in a theatrical composition, which in its several rehear-
sals undergoes alteration in conformity with the suggestions of actors
and managers. In the whole process there seems to be no more
difificulty and mystery than belongs to all literary creation, in its
nature always more or less mysterious, and nothing which requires
the assumption of any psychological laws or mental processes dif-
fering from those daily familiar.

As regards lyrical song, English folk-verse is singularly wanting,
a deficiency perhaps owing more to the lack of record than to origi-
^ Early AtnertcaJi Ballads, vol. xiii, p. 107 ff.

Individual and Collective Characteristics i7i Folk-Lore. 1 1

nal inferiority. The frequent beauty of the initial verses which
Burns has borrowed from the Scottish folk-song of his day, and of
which he has made literary use, leads us to regret the failure of any-
thing like a representative gathering. So also Shakespeare employs
and transforms the English lyric song of his own time, and shows
the attraction and fresh poetical character which it must in many
cases have possessed.

Among the many types of popular verse is to be mentioned one
very familiar on the continent of Europe, but almost unknown in
English record, namely, brief and separate stanzas of a lyric quality.
In German and Scandinavian regions the predominant form is the
quatrain ; the lines exhibit a sentimental quality, or else are satiri-
cal ; present is a conscious feeling for nature, which the ballad
proper shows chiefly in the refrain. In the Latin languages the variety
of such verse is far greater; distichs, terzets, quatrains, stanzas of
six and eight lines are represented, often with complicated metrical
and rhythmical arrangements. The poetry generally shows a highly
literary and elaborate character ; as in the case of the German
quatrains, the relation of this popular verse to cultivated poetry pre-
sents difficult and unsolved problems.^

Frequently stanzas of this sort are used for social purposes.
Either in the open air or in the chamber, one singer will contend
against another. In these contests the victory will belong to him
who can with the greatest ease and abundance continue to offer
problems which his antagonist must solve. The offering and guess-
ing of rhymed riddles is one of the most common forms of such
rivalries. These competitions are nothing new, being older than the
time of Virgil and indeed of Samson. Yet it does not follow that
the popular verses of this sort have come down from remote antiquity
in their original form and unaffected by the influence of literature.
Rather, proper theory would indicate that while a material may be
world-old in essence and may from the remotest times have been
universally familiar, yet the form in which that matter is presented
undergoes continual variation, and that, according to the rule above

1 Called schiiaderhupji in the Austrian highlands, stev in Norway, etc. See
Gummere, p. 405 ff., and his references.

It is a pity that Professor Gummere's discussion of all this material is so ob-
scured by the hypothesis that his mention is scarce useful for descriptive pur-
poses. That the amoebean chant and Fescennine contest in mirth and satire
existed in Italy and elsewhere from the most remote times, and that the modern
usages may be considered as connected, is obvious; but that any recession in date
carries us any nearer to the time of spontaneity and concurrence, demanded by
the thesis, does not appear. On the contrary, the allusions most remote in the
order of time seem to me rather indicative of the opposite principle, namely, the
resemblance of poetic methods in the past to those in the present.

1 2 yourjzal of American Folk-Lore.

offered, waves of influence in perpetual series descend through the
social scale, and continually remodel the traditional verse into types
answering to those which, have been developed by literary invention.

In encounters of this sort, invention would of course be allowed,
and the onlooker would probably be impressed with the idea that
the entire product was extemporaneous. Yet examination and collec-
tion proves that this is not so. The stanzas or staves in question, for
the most part, form an inherited treasure ; they are common to many
districts, have wandered and varied, and are not generally to be
referred to the particular locality in which they have been discov-
ered ; as before observed with regard to ballads, each separate stanza
also must originally have come from one mind in one place. The
reciters, who in this social game compete with one another, have their
memory stored with a fund of traditional verses. The contest, in
short, answers very much to that capping of verses which when
I was a boy formed a favorite amusement ; the distinction being,
that the youth in case of dif^culty was not expected to rely on his
invention, while the popular singer, if quick enough, might extricate
himself by an effort of ingenuity.

Extemporaneous composition of verse forms a social exercise still
in some degree indulged in ; it is not an uncommon pastime to
assign each person of a company a pencil and a theme, and to amuse
the audience by the subsequent reading aloud of such lucubrations.
Neither is the practice as common, nor the results as striking as they
were in the time of Matthew Prior, of whom it is said : " In a French
company, when every one sang a little song or stanza, of which the
burden was given — Bannissoits la melancholie, — when it came to
his turn to sing, after the performance of a young lady, he produced
these extemporary and elegant lines : —

Mais cette voix, et ces beaux yeux
Font Cupidon trop dangereux,
Et je suis triste quand je crie
Bannissons la melancholie."

The example proves the more intellectual character of such games in
the past, when, instead of " I love my love with an A," or the chil-
dren's sport in which the catcher of a thrown handkerchief is required
to name a certain animal, until the list is exhausted and forfeit must
be paid, the person selected was expected to produce a song on the
spot. The abandonment of such demands is only a result of the
specialization of functions, and consequent raising of the standard of
excellence to a degree which makes only professionals incline to
perform ; yet in music, the habit of extemporaneous composition
continues, and probably the relation of the free part of the perform-
ance to the themes and suggestions which the extemporizer derives

Individual and Collective Characteristics in Folk-Lore. 13

from his memory may serve to represent the degree of originality
which the extemporizing poet of earlier generations might expect to
attain.

In the case of games of children, extemporization has had a share.
A pretty example is found in the duet : —

I 'II give to you a paper of pins,
And that 's the way my love begins,
If you will marry me.

The antagonist replies with a refusal : —

I don't accept your paper of pins, etc.

In this play, after the remembered verses have been exhausted,
additional offers may be made up at pleasure : as the little reciter
said, improvising at the moment, and without hesitation : —

I '11 give to you a dress of black,
A green silk apron and a white hat,
If you will marry me.

In spite of this flight of imagination, the song in which these
verses are included is of very ancient origin, being a branch of the
English marriage game, in itself doubtless originally ritual, and, like
most other English game-songs, international. In this case the
improvised element was certainly not the original motive ; and it
seems to me likely that this instance represents a pretty general
relation. 1

The conclusion of these inadequate remarks seems to be, that
neither in respect of spontaneity nor concurrence did the past pre-
sent any striking psychological differences from the present ; the
alleged collective or "communal " character of folk-song, its simpli-
city and universality, are sufficiently explained by its oral medium,
and by the relatively simple life of antiquity as compared with the
more differentiated present.

1 In his discussion, Professor Gummere (p. 284) passes over the song-games of
children. This is a pity, seeing that these afford the best opportunity of testing
his doctrine. The existing material does not favor his hypothesis ; indeed,
observation of children at play seems to show that cooperative and extempora-
neous composition of games offers no psychological methods differing from those
involved in the continual creation of speech, or the process of invention with older
folk. See my Games and Songs of American Children, 2d ed., Introduction.

A case in which extemporization is more frequent is supplied by "Sailors'
Chanties," treated by Mr. Hutchison in the following article. Here also the
same " chantie" usually exists in many versions; the theme frequently involves
reference to the fixed literary stock; the improvised element appears to be second-
ary. It may, however, be conceded that this very quality, the free, though often
small addition which each reciter makes, gives to a folk-tale or folk-song that
simplicity, freedom, and absence of self-consciousness which constitute much of
its attraction.

1 4 journal of A merican Folk-L ore.

In regard to native American peoples, the same questions arise.
In many cases, these have impressed observers with the idea that all
the tribal song is extemporized. Is not this opinion the consequence
of imperfect record t Does there not exist, or has there not existed,
in each case, a body of ancient and perhaps ceremonial poetry 1
Even if the stock of verse does not now possess a fixed and ritual
character, will it not be found, as in the case of the German quat-
rains, to be more or less inherited .-' How wide are the limits of
originality on the part of the extemporizing composer .-•

To these questions corrrespond others relating to the theory of
song itself. Are there insensible limits, by which the chant of the
tale, in exciting passages, passes over into a form of verse .^ In
aboriginal American verse what are the rhythmical laws } Are the
refrains by which dramatic song may be accompanied limited in
number, and, as often in the European ballad, suitable for many
chants, or is each refrain only for one composition .-* Is the refrain
always the response of the company to the chant of one singer .-*
These are interrogatories which could be indefinitely extended, but
may be sufficient to suggest to the inquirer that there is still oppor-
tunity to make important contributions to knowledge.

To return to the general question, the difference between folk-
song, as collective, and written verse, as individual. The extent to
which this distinction is real has been examined, and I see no need
to add a qualification. The whole matter seems to amount to this,
that the habit of writing has permitted the writer to fix permanently
his own ideas and peculiarities. Before writing was used, a similar
result was attained by groups of literati, who could trust to the
memory of friends or pupils. So again, one can hardly say that the
folk-song is more collective than are modern newspapers avowedly
edited by their readers. Thus between folk-lore and literature exist
intermediate territories.

If it be asked, whether the distinction of collective and individual
thought can serve as a clue to the history of literature, in the sense
that the former was the original mental state, the latter the final
result reached only in modern time, I should, for my own part, reject
the proposition. There never was a time, since mankind emerged from
the brute condition, in which literary invention and expression was
not as individual as it is to-day. There never was a time when the
prophet and poet did not seek his inspiration in solitude just as he does
to-day. The question whether early or present man is the more
social, makes one of those philosophic theses which can be answered
with equal correctness in favor of either alternative. ^ Literature, in

* In the Beginnings of Poetry^ p. 141, we read: "As the individual frees him-
self from the clogs of his mediaeval guild, in literature as in life, there begins the

Individual and Collective Characteristics in Folk-Lore. 1 5

any time and place, is part of human life in that period and locality ;
its history represents continually differentiating and developing ex-
perience. Oral literature, contiguous to written literature, makes
part of the human realm, but is subject to no special and distinct
psychologic principles.

Relations between extemporaneous and traditional verse corre-
spond to those discernible between conversation and literature.
Over against the free form of expression there has always existed a
determinate form, by which the former is affected. We gain no-
thing, as it seems to me, by assuming an imaginary primal stage
in which one is supposed to have been the product of the other.

William Wells Newell.

distinctly modern idea of fame, of glory, as a personal achievement apart from
community or state; and there, too, begins the idea of literary property." It
seems to me, however, that during the Middle Age, and in antiquity, writers
signed their names about to the same extent as do moderns. The excuse for
Nyrop's strange statement may be, that authors who depended on oral record had
no opportunity for signature. As to property in verse, we have a striking Ameri-
can Indian example in the well-known custom according to which a shaman alone
can use the songs which he has bought, and which he will sell. No doubt the
ancient or medieeval poet was usually dependent on the bounty of a patron to
whom he usually left the reward (taking care that his song should extol the merits
of liberality). Sometimes, however, he fixed his own valuation. In the Irish
Acallamh na senorach (Colloquy of the elders), we read of a prince of Leinster
who died of shame because he could not pay cash to a panegyrist, who in conse-
quence threatened a lampoon. In a poem of Li Tae Po (eighth century) we hear
of a Chinese lady who pays gold for love verses.

1 6 yournal of American Folk- Lore.

SAILORS' CHANTIES.

In attempting to account for poetic origins, it was formerly the
custom to refer them to the individual ; of late the tendency has been
to refer them to the crowd. The individual poet, whether working
in the solitude of his closet, or, as minstrel, in the glare of the hall,
has been perceived to be too sophisticated a person, too conscious an
artist, to stand at the beginning of poetic developments. For the
most part, primitive poetry is far too impersonal, far too haphazard
and inconsequential, to admit of the individualistic hypothesis ;
whereas if the communal theory be allowed, not only are these very
phenomena explicable, but also are they perceived to be the logical
consequence of precisely such a method. Whether or not the com-
munal theory should be called upon to account for everything in
primitive poetry is a far-reaching question, and one which does not
fall within the scope of this paper. All that this paper will attempt
to do will be to follow through certain actual instances of communal
composition which happened to come under the observation of the
author ; and although the ballads cited may be familiar to many, still
it is hoped that the discussion of them from this point of view may
prove of interest.

Some years ago it was the fortune of the author to spend part of
his time cruising on merchant sailing-ships, when he became attracted
by the chanties^ — those songs sailors are accustomed to sing when
hauling at the sails, walking the capstan round, w^orking the windlass,
or toiling at the pumps. A few of these chanties he collected ; but
the collection was soon forgotten, and came no more to his mind
until a short time ago, when he happened to be concerned with bal-
lad problems. Then it was that the chantie-singing to which he had
so often listened appeared in a new light, for it became at once appar-
ent that here was a contemporary, dramatic, and complete exempli-
fication of the communal process.

The indispensable conditions for the communal origination of
poetry are, according to the hypothesis, two : first, a folk sufficiently
homogeneous to possess a fund of common knowledge ; and, secondly,
at least one individual who, when such a people is gathered together,
can lead in what may be termed the composital-recitation of the deeds
of the tribe. In a word, it is necessary to have only a crowd and
a "fore-singer." Now both of these are found on board the sailing-
ship at sea. Excepting the officers, we have a band of men engaged
in a common occupation, — that of working the ship, — so that the
group is ideally homogeneous ; and from amongst this group a chantie-
^ Sailors pronounce this, generally, as if it were "shanty."

Sailors Chanties. 17

leader quickly succeeds in asserting himself, — that is to say, our
"fore-singer" is also at hand. As to the impulse which compels
such a group of men to communal singing, and to communal com-
posing, the question is one which may be postponed for the moment ;
for the present, it will be sufficient to accept the fact of the impulse,
and to confine the examination to the songs themselves.

Since this is an age of books, — the poetry with which we have to
deal being primitive logically, not temporally, — obviously it would be
possible for sailors to use "book" songs. And to a certain extent this
is done. There exist "Sailors' Song Books" containing such speci-
mens of the "poetry of art " as it would seem ought to appeal to the
sailor-mind, and these songs are occasionally used as chanties. But
such songs do not displace those which the sailors communally com-
pose, although their influence upon the latter is clearly discernible.
Indeed, whole lines, sometimes whole stanzas, of well-known ballads
and songs will be found imbedded in chanties otherwise unmistakably
of communal origin. The difference between songs composed fof
sailors and those composed by sailors becomes quickly apparent,
however, as soon as direct comparison is made between the two. As
a specimen of what might be termed the "chantie of art," a stanza
from the "Anchor Song " in Kipling's "The Seven Seas " will serve
the purpose admirably : —

(Solo.) Heh ! Walk her round. Heave, ah heave her short again !

Over, snatch her over, there, and hold her on the pawl.
Loose all sail, and brace your yards aback and full —
Ready jib to pay her off and heave short all !

(Chorus.) Well, ah fare you well ; we can stay no more with you, my
love —
Down, set down your liquor and your girl from off your knee;
For the wind has come to say :
You must take me while you may,
If you 'd go to Mother Carey,
(Walk her down to Mother Carey !)
Oh, we 're bound to Mother Carey where she feeds her chicks
at sea ! ^

This is breezy, certainly, and with a fine, compelling swing; in
short, it seems to be in one of Kipling's happiest moods. But as a
song to get the anchor up by, it is too complex, too ornate, in a word,
too artificial. Hardly a word of this stanza could be changed, cer-
tainly no line could be changed, and not materially alter the whole.
In brief, this song was made, it did not grow. Let this be contrasted,
now, with a genuine capstan chantie c^ —

1 Rudyard Kipling, The Seven Seas, N. Y., 1896, p. 87.

"^ The capstan is used in bringing the anchor to the " cat-head," the beam to
VOL. XIX. — NO. 72. 2

1 8 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

(Solo.) Our anchor we '11 weigh, and our sails we will set,
(Chorus.) Good-bye, fare ye well,

Good-bye, fare ye well,
(Solo. The friends we are leaving we leave with regret,

(Chorus.) Hurrah, my boys, we 're homeward bound !

We 're homeward bound, oh joyful sound !

Good-bye, etc.,

Good bye, etc.,
Come rally the capstan and run quick around,

Hurrah, etc.

We 're homeward bound, we 'd have you know,

Good-bye, etc.,

Good-bye, etc..
And over the water to England must go.

Hurrah, etc.

Heave with a will, and heave long and strong,

Good-bye, etc.,

Good-bye, etc.,
Sing a good chorus, for 't is a good song,

Hurrah, etc.

" We 're homeward bound," you 've heard us say,
Good-bye, etc.,
Good-bye, etc..
Hook on the cat-fall, there, and run her away,
Hurrah, etc.

Clearly, this chantie grew. The reader realizes that it is only by
chance the words are what they are, and where they are ; as one
reads, there is entirely lacking any feeling of inevitableness as to
words or lines. That each line has been improvised to suit the
exigencies of the moment is evident ; the only necessitation one feels
is in regard to the rhyme-word of the second solo-line. Conscious
structure there is none, or almost none. Line could interchange
with line, stanza with stanza, the whole could be longer or shorter,
and the chantie would be no worse, and no better, structurally, than
it is now. The whole is haphazard, inconsequential, and, excepting
the refrain, absolutely spontaneous.

On board ship, "das Volk dichtet," to use Grimm's phrase. But
this does not mean that all shout at once ; it simply means that any

which the anchor is lashed while the ship is at sea. The anchor is raised from
the bottom by the windlass, situated below the fo'csle-deck, but worked from the
latter by means of handles which travel up and down.

Sailors Chanties. 19

chantie for the moment under consideration — if it be a genuine
sailor's chantie — is the production of considerably more than one
Dichter, and that, although we may come across other versions of
the same song, we shall never meet with two sailors who sing it
exactly alike, — except as to the refrain. Indeed, we shall not find
the same sailor singing the same words twice, — except, again, as to
the refrain. A word will be said later as to these refrains, which
pass from ship to ship, from generation of seamen to generation.
As a further illustration of improvisation and refrain this masthead-
ing chantie is typical : —

As I was going to Rig-a-ma-row,
(Chorus.) I say so, and I hope so,

I saw an old man go riding by,
(Chorus.) Poor — old — man.

Said I, old man your horse will die,

I say so, etc.
Said I, old man your horse will die,

Poor — old — man.

And if he dies I '11 tan his skin, etc.

And from his hide I '11 make my shoes, etc.

The extent to which the anatomy of the horse might be utilized in
such a ballad as this is obviously infinite, and would in any instance
be determined solely by the length of time required to masthead the
sail. Let us assume that to be some smaller piece of top-canvas,
and pass to the conclusion of the chantie, which is apt to go some-
thing like this : —

(Solo.) I thought I heard the first-mate say

He 'd give us grog three times to-day.
(All.) Belay !

Among other popular mastheading chanties are the following : —

Whiskey is the life of man,

Whiskey for Johnnie !
Whiskey from an old tin can,

Whiskey for Johnnie.

Whiskey here and whiskey there,

Whiskey, etc.
Whiskey almost everywhere.

Whiskey, etc.

20 journal of American Folk-Lore,

Whiskey made the skipper say,

Whiskey, etc.
Another pull and then belay,

Whiskey, etc.

II.

Oh, up aloft the yard must go !

So handy, my boys, so handy.
Oh, up aloft from down below,

So handy, my boys, so handy.

Oh, sing and haul, and haul and sing,

So handy, etc.
Right up aloft the yard we '11 bring,

So handy, etc.

When it is set the mate he '11 say.

Handy, etc.
'Vast hoisting, lads, so we '11 belay,

So handy, etc.

III.

I thought I heard the skipper say,

Leave her, Johnnie, leave her.
You have sailed for many a day.

It 's time for us to leave her.

The work was hard, the voyage was long.

Leave her, etc.
The winds were high, the winds were strong.

It 's time, etc.

The food was bad, the pay was low.

Leave her, etc.
But now ashore at last we '11 go.

It 's time, etc.

The sails are furled, our work is done,

Leave her, etc.
And now on shore we '11 have some fun,

It 's time, etc.

Here is one which may, perhaps, be assumed to have originated as
a man-o'-war chantie, " Boney " being, of course, Napoleon. The
chantie is, like the Dead Horse chantie, of the very simplest type,
there being no attempt to improvise more than one line in the
stanza : —

Sailors Chanties. 21

Boney was a warrior,

Oh, ay, oh !
Boney was a warrior,

Oh, ay, oh.

Boney marched to Moscow,

Oh, etc.
Boney, etc.

Boney had to turn again, etc.

Boney went to Waterloo, etc.

Boney was a prisoner, etc.

Boney broke his heart and died, etc.

Of the chanties which have come to the notice of the author, this
is one of the few in which historical material is preserved ; as a rule,
the matter of the solo-lines is either nautical or ephemeral. On the
other hand, there are many chanties, and excellent ones, which pre-
serve the names of once famous ships, or lines of ships. The famous
Dreadnought, whose record-run across the Atlantic has never been
beaten, figures in many chanties. Here is a stanza from one of
these : —

She 's a high-sounding Packet,

A Packet of fame.
She comes from New York,

And the Dreadnought 's her name.

Here is one handing down the name of a line of packets : —

In the Blackball Line I served my time,

Hurrah for the Blackball Line !
In the Blackball Line I served my time,

Hurrah for the Blackball Line !

The Blackball ships are good and true.

Hurrah, etc.
They are the ships for me and you,

Hurrah, etc.

For once there was a Blackball ship.

Hurrah, etc.
That fourteen knots an hour could clip,

Hurrah, etc., etc.

2 2 Journal of A merican Folk-Lore.

Now if we stop to examine the chanties quoted, and compare them
with some such primitive ballad as, let us say, the " Hangman's
Tree," they will be seen to have many features in common : —

Hangman, hangman, howd yo hand,

howd it wide and far !

For there I see my feyther coomin,
Riding through the air.

Feyther, feyther, ha yo brot me goold ?

Ha yo paid my fee ?
Or ha yo coom to see me hung,

Beneath tha hangman's tree ?

I ha naw brot yo goold,

1 ha naw paid yo fee.

But I ha coom to see yo hung
Beneath the hangman's tree.

Hangman, hangman, howd yo hand,

O howd it wide and far !
For theer I see my meyther coomin,

Riding through the air. . . .

The question asked of the father is now asked of the mother, and
the same reply is received. The mother also will see the hanging.
Next the sister appears on the scene. The same question is asked
of the sister, the same reply is received. Finally, and just in time,
she (the victim) perceives her sweetheart hurrying — we trust that
he is hurrying — through the air. Then the question is addressed
to him : —

Sweetheart, sweetheart, ha yo brot me goold ?

Ha yo paid my fee ?
Or ha yo coom to see me hung
Beneath the hangman's tree ?

To which he replies : —

O I ha brot yo goold,

And I ha paid yo fee,
And I ha coom to take yo from

Beneath the hangman's tree.^

This ballad has no fixed length : the sister might have been omit-
ted and the sweetheart made to follow directly upon the heels of
the mother; or for the sister, the brother — who does not appear at
all — might have been substituted; or the brother might also have
been brought into the narrative, and, in addition to the brother, any

' English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Sargent and Kittredge, Boston, p. xxv.

Sailors Chanties. 23

number of aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends, — in no case should we
have felt that the ballad was either more symmetrical or less sym-
metrical than it is now. And similarly with the chanties ; we might
have had enumerated all the separate processes of a rendering-plant
for dead horses, or been confronted with three times the number of
reasons for Johnnie's leaving the ship, and the chanties would have
been neither more nor less complete.

Secondly, as to the improvisation in each. In regard to the
"Hangman's Tree," Professor Kittredge, in the "Introduction" to
the volume quoted, says: "Suppose now that 'The Hangman's
Tree ' is a new ballad sung for the first time by the improvising
author. The audience are silent for the first two stanzas and until
the first line of the third has been finished. After that, they join in
the song. So inevitable is the course of the narrative, so conven-
tionally fixed the turn of the phraseology, that they could almost
finish the piece by themselves if the author remained silent. At
most they would need his prompting for 'meyther,' 'sister,' and
'sweetheart,' . . . The song is ended, the creative act of compo-
sition is finished, — and what has become of the author? He is lost
in the throng." ^

Allowing for the difference of purpose served by the respective
acts of composition, this is the story of chantie-singing, precisely.
It is the tendency of the popular ballad, by reason of its constant
repetition by a folk who are permanent, to become fairly well knit
structurally ; the chantie, because the group of men among whom
it originates maintains its homogeneity but a short time, is under no
such law. Hence, in the latter, we are unlikely to pass beyond the
inconsequential stage. Even the most primitive ballad we can bring
forward has, by reason of generations of repetition, become a better
piece of work, structurally, than we can expect any chantie to be.
For this very reason, however, the chantie is especially valuable for
the hypothesis. In the chantie, the solo-lines are so simple, involve
so much repetition, are so conventional (from the point of view of
ship-life, that is to say) and the " motif " in every case so obvious,
that we should suspect communal composition, even if we could not
be sure of it. The refrain aside, what may be called the body of
the chantie is not, any more than the body of the ballad, necessarily
composed throughout by one and the same man. Some one other
than the one who has first taken upon himself the office of "chantie-
man," some one with a louder voice, or a more fertile imagination,
who sees a possible development of the narrative, or has a grievance
he would like to air, either anticipates the original soloist, or drowns
him out. In this way, several individuals will each have taken part

* Ibid. p. xxvi.

24 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

in the composition of the chantie of the moment. And at the close,
not one author, but all the authors, will be lost in the crowd.

Another characteristic common both to the popular ballad and to
the chantie is that there is no text, there are texts} As from time
to time collections of popular ballads are made, so are collections of
chanties made. In preparing this article such a collection has been
used whenever the texts the author had collected were not suited to
the purpose. But in any such compilation the versions given are no
more authentic than would be texts from any other compilation : the
versions given are simply those which happened to be familiar to the
sailor or sailors whom the collector happened to consult, — other
sailors would have furnished him with very different versions. Take
this stanza from a chantie which originated in the earlier days of the
California trade : —

Good-bye, my love, good-bye,
I cannot tell you why,
I 'm off to Californy
To dig the yellow gold.

On the very same ship from which this was collected, another
sailor gave this version : —

Blow, boys, blow,

For Californy, O !

We 're bound for Sacramento

To dig the yellow gold.

But this, in turn, is clearly related to the following chantie : —

Yankee ship came down the river.

Blow, boys, blow !
Her masts did bend, her sides did shiver,

Blow, my jolly boys, blow !

The sails were old, her timbers rotten.

Blow, etc.
His charts the skipper had forgotten,'^

Blow, my jolly boys, blow !

Who do you think was skipper of her ?
Blow, etc.
"Old Preaching Sam," the noted scoffer,^
Blow, etc.

' Cf. loc. cit. p. xvii.

2 The sailor is happy when he can s^et a " grind " on the " skipper."
* Compare the way in which ballads preserve the names of people otherwise
forgotten.

Sailors Chanties. 25

She sailed away for London city,

Blow, etc.
Never got there, what a pity !

Blow, etc.

And if this is not a version of the following, it is, at least, related to
it : —

I '11 sing you a song, a good song of the sea,

To my ay, ay, blow the man down ;
I trust that you '11 join in the chorus with me.

Give me some time to blow the man down.

If so many variations of one theme have come down to us, how
many more, simply for lack of a recorder, must have perished .-* The
man who has succeeded in becoming principal " chantie-man " on
one ship, is, on his next voyage, beaten out by some rival ; neverthe-
less, he will often be able to assert himself, — to use the current
slang phrase, which expresses the situation exactly, he will succeed
occasionally in "butting in." The result would be, if we should
report any chantie sung on this latter voyage, that we should have,
not the version either would have given had he been the sole "fore-
singer " of the ship, but we should have a version which would be a
patchwork of those two. But, further, this patchwork would be,
not merely a combination of their two versions, but of many, for,
just as these two have been rival chantie producers on this particular
voyage, each will have had his rival on previous voyages. Hence,
so much of chantie material as each brings with him to this ship
— brings in his memory, of course, not on paper — will be no more
his own than the version which we might take down on this voyage
would be the sole product of either of our two men. And this would
hold true, back and back, as far as one cared to carry it.

Thus the chantie-version of any one moment is the joint product
of memory and of improvisation ; the survival of two opposing ten-
dencies, — the tendency towards permanency and the tendency
towards change. It is the law of the refrain to be permanent, and
to suffer the minimum of change ; it is the law of the body of the
chantie to undergo the maximum of change, but at the same time
also to exhibit certain fairly permanent features.

From this examination of chanties, then, we are able to arrive at
a fairly clear conception of the term "communal composition." A
crowd shouting as with one voice is farthest from what is meant, —
the "Volk" does not "dichten" as one man. On the contrary,
" communal composition " means simply that if a cross-section were
to be made at any one moment of the poetical work (saving the
name) of any primitive but homogenous people, the result would be

26 journal of American Folk-Lore.

a collection no single specimen of which would be the sole work of
any one man. Instead, every piece would be an accretional product,
the result of such suggestions as would have been able in the struggle
for existence to survive, modified by the improvisations of the latest
singer or singers. If chanties are typical of communally composed
ballads, — and it would seem that they are, — then every such bal-
lad is, at the moment it is taken down, an accretional survival which
has been subjected to contemporary variation.

So much, then, for chanties in general, and their general bearing
upon the question of communal composition. Is it possible to nar-
row the problem further, and to get at the origin of chanties .^ The
question brings us back to the consideration of the impulse to chantie
singing, a consideration which was postponed for the moment.

The various tasks performed by sailors in working the ship are
essentially rhythmic in their nature, which fact alone would be suf-
ficient to impel many a man to accompany his work by rhythmic
vocal utterances. The impulse to such vocal accompaniment may
be regarded as the initial, or natural, chantie-impulse. But further
than this ; several men are likely to be engaged upon the same task,
and these men can give a greater degree of unity to their work,
can apply their strength to greater advantage, if they "keep time"
vocally. This, of course, is obvious, but it is of value to the discus-
sion, for it can be looked upon as the practical impulse, and to these
two impulses working together may be attributed the phenomenon
of chantie-singing. This is, however, susceptible of yet further
elaboration ; the various kinds of work performed have their own
special types of rhythm, and these furnish a basis for well-differen-
tiated verse-rhythms. The mastheading of a sail is not performed
in the same rhythm in which one pumps.

The simplest rhythmic work on board ship is the sheeting-home
of sails and the shaping of yards, — that is to say, changing the
angle of the yard in respect to the ship. In each case, the work is
likely to require the putting forth of considerable strength. To keep
time, one man will probably call (or, if one prefers, sing) some such
word as "Yo-ho" at each haul on the rope. If the work is a trifle
less arduous, he may, instead, cry, " Yo — heave — ho." That is to
say, instead of giving successive pulls, at approximately equal inter-
vals, three pulls will be given in more rapid succession, then there
will be a longer pause, then three more pulls, and so on, until the
task is finished. In this latter, and more complex case, then, there
will have been established, in addition to what might be called the
"verse-rhythm," something which might fairly be termed "stanza
rhythm," or "stanza structure," although the length of the stanza
would, obviously, not be determined.

Sailors Chanties. 27

The next more complex chantie structure (if, indeed, the simply
"Yo — heave — ho" can be called a chantie at all) is that of the mast-
heading chantie. To masthead a sail, especially if it be a large sail,
requires considerable time. Moreover, the work is by no means
light. The most expeditious way of accomplishing the work is,
therefore, to give a succession of pulls, then to take a breathing-
spell, then to give another succession of pulls. Again, the hauling
can be done to better advantage by keeping time. This time is kept
to the refrain of the chantie, and it is during the breathing-space that
the chantie-man exercises his solo-gifts. But here, also, the structure
of the stanza is largely determined by the rhythm of the work per-
formed. This can be illustrated by referring to any of the mast-
heading chanties quoted above ; perhaps the Dead Horse chantie
will serve as well as another : —

As I was going to Rig-a-ma-row,

I say (pull) so, and I hope (pull) so,

I saw an old man go riding by,
Poor (pull) old (pull) man (pull).

Clearly, the number and relations of the stresses necessitated for
the refrain lines have, to a certain degree, determined the rhythmic
structure of the solo lines.

When we come to capstan and pumping chanties the rhythm is
less determinate, as these two examples will show.

O Polly Brown, I love your daughter,
(Chorus.) Away my rolling river !

O Polly Brown ! I love your daughter,
(Chorus.) Ah ! ah ! we 're bound away,

'Cross the wide Missouri.

And this, from a Negro chantie : —

or Joe, bully ol' Joe,

Hi pretty yaller gal !

Kicking up behind, 01' Joe ;

01' Joe 's got some very fine clo's,

Whar he get 'em nobody knows, —

Hi pretty yaller gal !

Kicking up behind, 01' Joe.

In short, any song not too complex to march by can be used for a
capstan chantie, and the conditions imposed upon the windlass
chantie are not more rigid ; consequently " book songs " are, as stated
above, frequently used at this work. A favorite capstan chantie is
"Marching through Georgia."

It will not be necessary to cite further examples to support the

28 journal of American Folk-Lore.

thesis which the latter part of this paper has sought to maintain ;
that the impulse to chantie-singing is due to the impulse to accom-
pany rhythmically performed work by correspondingly rhythmic vocal
expression is sufficiently evident. On the other hand, the author
does not wish to extend this thesis to other fields ; that is to say,
because he has insisted that, in its communal features, chantie-sing-
ing enables us to understand more clearly how poetry could have
begun, he does not wish to imply that poetry necessarily began as
accompaniment to rhythmic work.^

Percy Adams Hutchison.
Harvard University.

1 Those who would Hke to see such a thesis maintained are referred to that very
suggestive work, Arbeit unci Rhythmus, K. Biicher, Leipzig, 1899. Those who
are acquainted with that essay will have perceived its influence upon this article.
The third, revised and enlarged edition of this work of Dr. Biicher appeared in
1902.

Sioux Games. 29

SIOUX GAMES. II.

8. WOSKATE ICASLOHE.

(Game of Bowls.)

Icaslohe is an ancient gambling game played by the Sioux women.

The implements used in the game are: tapainyan, stone ball;
canmibi, wooden cylinder.

The tapainyan are balls made of any kind of stone, from one to two
and a half inches in diameter.

The canmibi are cylinders made of any kind of wood, from an inch
and a half to two and a half inches in diameter, and from an inch
and a half to three inches long.

The rules of the game are : —

The game is generally played on the ice, but may be played on
the ground.

Two women play at the game.

Each player must have a tapainyan and a canmibi.

Before beginning the game the players must agree upon the num-
ber they are to play for, and they must draw two parallel lines on
the ice from ten to thirty feet apart.

The players must take their positions opposite each other outside
the parallel lines, and must not be between the lines when they play.

Each player must place her canmibi on the line nearest her.

The players must bowl the tapainyan alternately, at the canmibi
on the line farthest from them.

When the tapainyan is bowled it must strike the surface before it
crosses the line nearest the one who bowled it ; if it does not the
play counts nothing.

If the canmibi bowled at is knocked away from the line it counts
one for the player, otherwise nothing.

9. WOSKATE TAHUKA CANGLESKA.
(Game of the Webbed Hoop.)

Tahuka cangleska is an ancient game played for amusement by
the Sioux men.

This is an exciting game in which the Indians took great interest,
gathering in large numbers to witness the play.

The implements used in the game are : tahuka cangleska, webbed
hoop ; wahukeza, spear.

The tahuka cangleska is made of a rod of wood from one half to
one inch in diameter, which is bent so as to form a hoop from one
to three feet in diameter. A web of rawhide is woven across the

30 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

entire hoop, with interstices of from one half to three quarters of an
inch, that in the centre being somewhat larger and called the heart.

The waJmkeza is made of the sprout of a tree, or a young willow,
and is from four to five and a half feet long, and about one half an
inch in diameter at the larger end, which is bluntly pointed. The
smaller end may be either straight or forked, and sometimes is orna-
mented with feathers, bead-work, or in any other manner according
to the fancy.

The rules of the game are : —

Any number of persons may play in a game, but they should be
equally divided into two opposing sides.

Each player may have as many spears as he wishes.

Before beginning the game the players must agree upon how
many innings will constitute the game.

Two parallel lines, about fifty yards long, and about fifty yards
apart, are drawn.

The players take their positions opposite each other, outside these
lines, choosing them either by agreement or by lot.

Any number of hoops may be used in a game, but there should
never be less than four, and they should be of various sizes.

One player on each side must throw all the hoops.

The hoops must be thrown alternately, from one side to the other.

The thrower must not have either foot between the lines when he
throws the hoops.

The hoop when thrown must cross both lines, and it may do so,
either in the air or rolling on the ground ; it may cross one line in
the air, and roll across the other, or it may be thrown across one
line, and strike between the lines and bound across the other.
. After the hoop had crossed both lines, the players towards whom
it was thrown, throw their spears at it.

If, while the hoop is in the air, it is speared through the heart,
the count is five ; if through any other interstice, the count is two.

If, while the hoop is rolling on the ground, it is speared through
the heart, the count is three ; if through any other interstice, the
count is one.

If speared while the spear is held in the hand the count is nothing.

If speared after the hoop has stopped, nothing.

When the number of innings that have been agreed upon have
been played, the side that has the most counts wins the game.

Another method of playing with these implements is : —

The sides line up as in the former game, and the hoops are all
thrown from one side towards the other, which keeps all the hoops
they have speared, and returns all they have not, which are again
thrown to them.

Sioux Games. 31

When all the hoops have been speared, the side that spears them
chases the opposite side, and throws the hoops at them, and, if any
one of the side that is chased spears a hoop while it is in the air, the
chase stops.

Then the opposite side throws the hoops, and the game is repeated.

10. WOSKATE HUTANACUTE.
(Game with Winged Bones.)

Hiitanacute is an ancient game played for amusement by the Sioux
men during the winter, on the snow or ice.

The implement used is hiitanacute, winged bone.

The Jmtanactite is made from the rib of one of the larger ruminat-
ing animals. A piece about four to eight inches long is taken from
the rib where it begins to narrow and thicken, and the wider end is
cut square across, and the narrower end rounded up from the convex
side.

Two holes are drilled in the wider end, lengthwise to the rib, and
at such an angle that when the rods are in them their free ends will
be about ten to twelve inches apart.

Two rods are made of plum sprouts, about one fourth of an inch
in diameter, and about fourteen inches long. The smaller end of
each of these is feathered like an arrow, and the other end is inserted
into the hole in the bone.

The rules of the game are : —

Any number may play.

Each player may have from two to four winged bones, but each
player should have the same number.

A mark is made from which the bones are thrown.

The bones are thrown so that they may strike and slide on the
ice or snow.

The players throw alternately until all the bones are thrown.

When all the bones are thrown, the player whose bone lies the
farthest from the mark wins the game.

II. WOSKATE PTEHESTE.
(Game of the Young Cow.)

Pteheste is an ancient game played for amusement by the Sioux
men during the winter, on the ice or snow.

The implement used in this game \s pteheste, young cow.

The pteheste is made of the tip of a cow or buffalo horn, from three
to four inches long. This is trimmed so as to make it as nearly
straight as possible, and a feather-tipped arrow securely fastened
into its base, so that it has the appearance of a horn-pointed arrow.

Any number of persons may play.

32 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

Each player may have any number of arrows, but all players
should have the same number.

Two parallel lines are drawn from twenty to thirty feet apart.

The players take their position on one side of these lines.

A player must throw his horned arrow so that it may strike be-
tween the two lines and slide beyond them.

The players throw alternately until all the arrows are thrown.

At the end the player whose arrow lies the farthest from the lines
wins the game.

12. WOSKATE CANPASLOHANPI.
(Game with Throwing Sticks.)

Canpaslohanpi is an ancient game played for amusement by the
Sioux men in the winter on the snow or ice.

The implement used in this game is canpasloJiatipi, throwing stick.

The ca7ipaslohanpi is made of ash, and is about four feet long.

It is cylindrical on one side, and flat on the other. About five
inches from one end it is about two inches wide, and an inch and a
half thick. From this place it is rounded up to a blunt point on the
flat side and tapers to the farthest end, which is about an inch wide
and half an inch thick.

Each player has but one throwing stick.

Any number of persons may play.

The game is played by grasping the stick at the smaller end, be-
tween the thumb and second, third, and fourth fingers, with the first
finger across the smaller end, the flat side of the stick held upper-
most.

Then by swinging the hand below the hips the javelin is shot for-
ward so that it will slide on the snow or ice.

The game is to see who can slide the stick the farthest.

13. WOSKATE OGLE CEKUTEPI.

(Game of Coat Shooting.)

Ogle cekutepi is an ancient game played for amusement by the
Sioux men.

The implements used in the game are : Ogle, coat ; itazipe, bow ;
wanhinkpe, arrows.

The ogle is an arrow that is either painted black or wrapped with
a black strip of buckskin, or has a tag attached to it (sometimes it
is a plain arrow).

The itazipe and wanhinpe are the ordinary bow and arrows.

The game is played by shooting the ogle high in the air so that it
will fall from fifty to seventy-five yards away. Then the players stand
where it was shot from, and shoot at it with the bow and arrows.

This is merely a game of skill, and not for points.

Sioux Games. 33

14. WOSKATE PASLOHANPI.
(Game of Javelins.)

Paslohanpi is an ancient game played for amusement by the Sioux
boys in the springtime.

The implement used is wahiikezala, javelin.

The wahiikezala is made of willow. It is from three to six feet
long, and from three eighths to three quarters of an inch in diameter
at the larger end, and tapers to the smaller end.

The bark is peeled from it and wrapped about it in a spiral man-
ner, leaving an exposed space about a half an inch wide. It is then
held in smoke until the exposed part is blackened, when the bark is
removed.

This marks the jav^elin with spiral stripes of black and white.

Each one who plays may have as many javelins as he chooses.

There are two ways of throwing the javelin. One is to lay it
across something, as the arm, or the foot, or another javelin, or a
stump of log, or a small mound of earth, or anything that is con-
venient, and grasping it at the smaller end, shoot it forward.

The other way is to grasp the javelin near the middle and throw
it from the hand.

In throwing, the contest may be for distance, or to throw at a
mark.

The game is merely a contest of skill in throwing the javelin.

15. WOSKATE CANWACIKIYAPI.
(Game of Tops.)

Canwacikiyapi is an ancient game played for amusement by the
Sioux boys.

The implements used in this game are : canwacikiyapi, tops ;
icapsintepi, whips.

The canwacikiyapi is a wooden cylinder with a conical point.
The cylinders are from an inch to two inches in thickness, and from
a half to an inch and a half in length, and the conical point is from
an inch to two inches in length.

The icapsinte has a handle and from one to four lashes. The
handle is made of wood, and is from fifteen inches to two feet long,
and about half an inch thick at its thicker end, and tapers to the
other end.

The lashes are made of pliable thongs or strings, about twelve
to fifteen inches long, and are fastened to the smaller end of the
handle.

The tops are spun in the same manner as whip tops are spun by
white boys. A game is played by marking a square about five feet

VOL. XIX. — NO. 72. 3

34 y ournal of American Folk-Lore.

across. On three sides of this square barriers are placed, and the
fourth side left open.

The players spin their tops outside of the square, and while they
are spinning they drive them into the open side of the square.

After the tops cross the open side of the square they must not be
touched.

After the top stops spinning, the one that lies nearest the side of
the square opposite the opening wins the game.

Another game is played by marking a circle about six feet in
diameter and near its centre making four holes a little larger than
the tops and about six inches apart.

The players spin their tops outside the circle, and while they are
spinning drive them into it.

After a top enters the circle it must not be touched.

The player whose top lies in one of the holes when it has stopped
spinning wins the game.

If two or more tops lie in the holes when they stop spinning,
those who spun them must spin them again until one player's top
lies in the holes more often than any other.

1 6. WOSKATE TITAZIPI HOKSILA.
(Game with Boys' Bows.)

The Sioux boys have, from ancient times, indulged in amusement
with the bow and arrow.

They play at various games, mimicking battles, hunting, and
similar things.

They also shoot at a target, and for distance, but there appears
to be no formal game or rules governing their play.

The boys' bow is like the bows for the men, except that it is
smaller.

The boys' arrows are like those for the men, except that they are
made with heads large and blunt.

17. HOHU YOURMONPI.
(Bone Whirler.)

The hoJiu yourmonpi is a toy that has been played with by the
Sioux boys from ancient times.

It is made from the short bone of the foot of one of the larger
ruminating animals, and is fastened to the middle of a string of
sinews about twelve to eighteen inches long. At each end of the
sinew string a short stick is fastened to serve as a hand hold.

These sticks are taken, one in each hand, and the bone whirled
about so as to twist the string. The string is then drawn taut,
which rapidly untwists it, and rapidly whirls the bone so that its

Sioux Games. 35

motion will twist the string in the opposite direction. This process is
repeated indefinitely, the motion of the bone making a buzzing noise.

The object of playing with the toy is to make the buzzing noise.

A game called " buffaloes fighting " is played with this toy, as
follows : —

A number of boys, each with a bone whirler, set them to buzzing,
and imitate the actions of bulls fighting ; the buzzing of the bones is
supposed to represent the bellowing of the bulls. They approach
each other and strike the bones together, and if the bone of a player
is stopped from buzzing, he is defeated.

18. TATE YOURMONPI.
(Wind Whirler.)

The tate yourmonpi is a toy that has been played with by the Sioux
boys from ancient times.

It consists of a blade of wood, usually red cedar, about one eighth
of an inch thick, two inches wide, and twelve inches long. One end
of this is fastened to a wooden handle by a pliable thong about
twelve to eighteen inches long.

The handle is from two to three feet long, and about one half to
one inch in diameter.

By holding the handle above the head and swinging it rapidly
with a circular motion, the blade is whirled rapidly and makes a
buzzing noise.

The object of playing with the toy is to make the buzzing noise,
and sometimes a number of boys contest to see who can keep it con-
tinually buzzing for the longest time.

19. IPAHOTONPI.
(Pop-gun.)

The ipahotonpi is a toy that has been played with by the Sioux
boys from ancient times.

It consists of : tancan, the body ; wibopa^i, the ramrod ; iyopiihdiy
the wadding.

The tancan was formerly made from a piece of ash sprout, about
six to ten inches long, from which the pith was removed, but since
the Indians have obtained wire, they burn a hole through a piece of
ash from eight to fifteen inches long, and from one and a half to two
inches in diameter.

It is generally ornamented by pyrographic figures or markings.

The wibopan is made of some tough wood, a little longer than the
tancan, and of such size as to pass readily through the bore.

The iyopuhdi is made by chewing the inner bark of the elm, and
using it while wet.

36 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

A wad is packed tightly into one end of the bore, and a closely
fitting wad is forced from the other end, rapidly through the bore by
means of the ramrod, when the first wad flies out with an explosive
noise.

The object of playing with the toy is to make the report.

Sometimes the boys play at mimic battle with the pop-guns, or
they mimic hunting, when one or more boys imitate the game, and
the others try to hit them with the wads from the pop-guns,

20. WOSKATE HEPASLOHANPI.
(Game of Horned Javelins.)

Hepaslohanpi is an ancient game played for amusement by the
Sioux girls in the winter on the ice or snow.

The implement used in the game is hewahukezala, horned javelin.

The hewahukezala is made of a wooden javelin, about four to five
feet long and from three quarters to an inch thick at the thicker
end, tapering to a diameter of three eighths to one half an inch at
the smaller end.

A tip of elk horn, about four to eight inches long, is fastened
on the larger end.

The game is played by throwing the javelin so that it will strike
and slide on the snow or ice, and the one whose javelin slides the
farthest wins the game.

As many girls may play at the game as wish to do so.

21. HOKSINKAGAPI,
(Dolls.)

From ancient times the Sioux girls have played with dolls.

The dolls were rude effigies, sometimes carved from wood, but
generally made of buckskin, and stuffed with hair, with their features
made by marking or painting.

The dolls were dressed with both male and female attire, which
was adorned with all the ornaments worn by the Indians.

The girls would often have doll baby carriers, like those used for
the Indian babies, and would carry the dolls on their backs, as their
mothers carried their babies.

22. TIPI CIKALA.
(Toy Tipis.)

From ancient times the Sioux girls have played with toy tipis
varying in size from a miniature tipi of a foot or so in height to one
large enough for a child to enter.

They played with these toy tipis in much the same way as white
children play with toy houses.

y. R. Walker.

A Composite Myth of the Porno Indians. 37

A COMPOSITE MYTH OF THE POMO INDIANS.i

The following is a typical myth ^ of the Porno Indians of Cali-
fornia, and will serve to show some of the characteristics of Pomo
mythology. It will be noted that this particular myth is a com-
posite consisting of six elements or separate, though logically con-
nected, ideas : Coyote as a trickster, and the miraculous birth of
his children; the destruction of the world by fire ; the creation by
Coyote of Clear Lake ; the creation by Coyote of human beings ; the
theft of the sun ; and the transmutation of human beings into ani-
mals. These have been obtained from other informants as separate
stories, but as a rule the first three are uniformly combined to make
one complete narrative, while the other three are told separately, or
are at times, particularly in the case of the story of the creation of
human beings, combined with certain other myths.

There was a large village at No-napo-tl (Kelseyville, Lake County)
and here there lived two Wood-duck (wadawada) sisters who always
kept apart from the rest of the inhabitants of the village, and, al-
though there were many of the men of the village who admired
them, the sisters persistently refused to have anything to do with
them. One of their admirers was Coyote, who tried various means
to induce one of them to become his wife, but all without success,
so that he finally determined to resort to trickery. It being then
the food-gathering season, he proposed that all of the women of the
village should go on a buckeye gathering excursion into the neigh-
boring mountains while the men were busy hunting and fishing, or
were engaged in making implements at the village.

The Wood-duck sisters had a very old and partly blind grand-
mother who had gone out camping with another party, although
they did not know this. When they went to get her to go with
them, they found an old woman there who was covered with a rabbit-
skin blanket and looked exactly like her, but who was really Coyote.

1 This paper has been communicated as part of the Proceedings of the Cali-
fornia Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society.

2 This myth with others from the Pomo region was collected during the sum-
mer of 1904 as a part of the work of the Ethnological and Archeeological Survey
of California carried on by the Department of Anthropology of the University
of California, through the liberality of Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst. The myth was
obtained from an informant who lives near Ukiah, Mendocino County, and it was
first told to him by old people residing near Upper Lake, a town on the northern
shore of Clear Lake the creation of which is here recounted. The constituent
parts of this myth are, however, common throughout all of, at least, the upper
Russian River and Clear Lake region.

38 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

The Wood-ducks led this blind old woman along out to the camp and
made a bed for her, for she was very tired.

That evening when the food had been prepared, the Wood-ducks
gave some to the old woman, but she said, " My daughters, I can-
not eat. I cannot raise myself up. I want to sit up and eat." The
elder of the two sisters sat at the old woman's back to hold her
up, but Coyote said, " I cannot sit up when only one of you holds
me up. One of you must sit in front of me." . . . Then the two
sisters began to fight Coyote and were soon joined by others of the
women of the camp, who brought clubs and stones, for every one
now knew that Coyote had been playing another of his tricks.
There were born immediately four children. The first two Coyote
rescued, placing them in his hunting sack. The other two were
killed by the enraged women. Coyote immediately ran back to the
village and the women followed soon after.

Coyote continued to live at N6-nap6-tI with his two children, but
he had no one to care for them while he was away hunting and fish-
ing, and the people of the village treated them very badly whenever
he was gone. They threw rocks and sticks at the children, called
them bad names, and even threw coals of fire on them. When the
children were old enough to get around by themselves, Coyote de-
termined to revenge himself and his children for the abuse they had
suffered. He accordingly went east to the end of the world and
there dug a huge tunnel which he filled with fir bark. He disap-
peared regularly every morning for four days, and no one could think
what he was doing, for he went about it very secretly. Some of the
people asked what he was doing while he was gone all day, but he
replied that he was only hunting food for his children.

After a long time Coyote put all kinds of food, water, clothing, a
fire drill and other implements, and also his two children, into his
hunting sack (ye/), and after sundown went on the roof of the
dance-house, where he watched toward the east for some time. Fi-
nally he called out, " I do not know what can be the matter ; it looks
as if something is wrong. Come out and see." Soon there was a
great noise like thunder, and smoke and fire appeared all over the
east as far as they could see from north to south. Every one knew
that Coyote had something to do with it, and all began to ask him
to save them, calling him father and other terms of relationship ; but
Coyote replied, " I shall not be saved either. I do not know what
has happened. I shall burn up too, I suppose ; my body is no rock
or water." But the people all cried to him to save them as the fire
came nearer and nearer, until at last it completely surrounded them
and left but a very small space about the village unburned.

A Composite Myth of the Porno Indians. 39

Coyote now shouted, "e ," with his hand uplifted (all finger

tips pointing upward), four times, and presently there came down out
of the sky a feather rope (yuluk) on the end of which Spider (to-cbu)
hung with his back downward. Coyote jumped on to Spider's belly
and the feather rope immediately started to ascend. After a short
time Coyote wished to stop, so Spider stopped the ascent and in-
stantly spun a web large enough for Coyote to walk around on and
look at the burning world beneath, which was by that time entirely
on fire. They then went on upward for a time, whereupon Spider
stopped and spun another web so that Coyote might give his children
some food. A third stop was made and a web spun so that Coyote
might give the children water, and a fourth and last stop was made
and a web spun so that all might rest and take a last look at the
burning world. At last they arrived at the gate ^ leading into the
sky and entered.

Spider, who was its keeper, remained at the gate, but Coyote and
his children, who now got out of the hunting sack, went eastward
toward the house of Madumda,^ which they saw immediately upon
entering the gate. Their road lay over a plain covered with grass
and sweet-smelling flowers. There were, however, no people to be
seen. On the way Coyote and the children stopped and rested four
times, but at last arrived at the house, where Coyote knocked on the
door. Madumda came and invited them into the house ; saying,
"He he, sinwa no balma ; what have you come here for .'' I know
you have been doing something. That is why you come here in this
manner. Why do you want to do something bad always ? Why do
you want to treat your children (all people) that way .-• Why are
you not sorry for your children .^ Now, go back and live as you
did before and do not act that way." Coyote said he would go
back on the following day, and MadOmda then instructed him as to
what he should do when he went to the earth and how he should
act toward people in order that he might be on friendly terms with
them.

Coyote returned to the gate and Spider then took him back to the
earth in the same manner as he had come ; but the earth was much
changed. Formerly the mountains were high, but now they were
much lower, the tops having been burned off. The trees, rocks, and

^ The gate, an opening through the sky, is guarded by snakes who allow only
those who reside in the heavens, or persons for whom Madumda has sent, to
enter.

2 Madumda, who is the chief deity in Pomo mythology, is the elder brother
of Coyote and lives in a large sweat-house in the sky, where, to a great extent,
the conditions are the same as on earth except that there there is nothing dis-
agreeable.

40 journal of American Folk-Lore.

streams were all gone, and the appearance of the whole country was
different. He found all things which had lived on earth lying around
roasted, and he commenced to eat everything he found, deer, birds,
fish, snakes, and so on, until he grew very hot and thirsty. He then
began to look for water, running about from place to place where
there had formerly been springs and streams, but all were dry, and
he nearly gave up the search. Finally, however, be wandered toward
the west and found water in the ocean. He drank copiously four
times. Having completely satisfied his thirst, he started homeward,
but had not gone far when he began to feel sick. He grew steadily
worse as he raced on, endeavoring to reach his home before he
should die, and was only able to reach Kabai-dano (Wild Onion
Mountain), a bald hill on the western shore of Clear Lake, where he
fell upon his back groaning.

Kabai-dano was really Kdksu's ^ sudatory, and when he heard Coy-
ote groaning on the roof he came out much surprised. " O ,

who 's there .•* I did not know there was anybody here." Coyote
replied, " Yes, it is I. I have been eating fish and meat, and I got
hot and thirsty, and there was nobody around, so I went west and
found water. I took a drink, but I took too much and am sick. I
did not know that there was any one here. I wish you would doctor
me in any way you know." Kuksu soon prepared to doctor Coyote,
and returned with his body painted black, and wearing a very large
headdress. He had a large whistle in his mouth and carried a long
black medicine wand in his hand. As Kuksu came out of the suda-
tory he ran in a counter-clockwise direction four times around it,
then in a clockwise direction four times around it. He then ran
four times around Coyote, then ran up to him from the south, and re-
turned backwards to the point of starting, where he turned his head
as far as possible to the left. Again running around his patient four
times, he approached him from the east and completed the same
cycle, following it by the same cycle from the north and then

^ Kuksu is an important character in Porno mythology and in certain cere-
monials. He is a person of characteristic Pomo physique, but possesses great
power as a medicine-man or doctor. He always appears painted entirely black,
wearing on his head a very large headdress, called big head, or Kuksu-kaiya, and
with a tuft of shredded tule fibre attached to the small of his back. He carries a
black cane or wand (cakoik), and, while doctoring, blows constantly a large whistle
made of elderberry wood.

According to Dr. Dixon {Maidu Myihs, p. 42) Kuksu is found also among the
Maidu, there being the first man created by Earth-Initiate. His appearance is,
however, quite different, he being depicted as a person of pure white complexion,
with pink eyes, black hair, and shining teeth, and withal very handsome. He
possessed great knowledge and played an important part in the final disposition
and distribution of the people created by Earth-Initiate.

A Composite Myth of the Porno Indians. 4 1

from the west. He then ran four times around his patient in a
counter-clockwise direction, after which he turned his head to the
left ; then four times in a clockwise direction, again turning his head

to the left. He then told Coyote that he would cry, " e " four

times, and jump on his belly. He then ran around the sick man

in a counter-clockwise direction and cried "e " four times ; then

ran up to him blowing his whistle and pointing his medicine wand
at his belly four times, and at the end of the fourth time he turned
his head to the left. He then repeated the complete cycle of four

runs and the turn of the head to the left. He then cried, "e "

once, ran, and jumped on Coyote's belly, which burst with a sound
like that of a great explosion. The water which Coyote had drunk
at the ocean ran down in every direction even to as far asTuleLake
and Scott's Valley, and the rivers commenced running, so that the
water collected in the lowest places and formed Clear Lake.^ And in
the water there were fish, snakes, turtles, and all kinds of water birds ;
for, as Kdksu jumped" upon his belly. Coyote said, " There will be
much water and plenty of fish, snakes, frogs, turtles, and water birds.
They will all come from my belly alive, and by and by there will
be people in this country to eat them."

Coyote then arose and walked a short distance. Then he turned
and said to Kuksu, " I will make a dance-house and make a big dance
and feast and will call you. I will let you know when everything is
ready." Kuksu said, "All right, that is good."

Coyote went northward to Yd-bu/ui (near Upper Lake) and there
built a small tule house for himself. He then went all around the
lake and talked with all the different birds about the coming dance,
and secured the services of two young men from every species
of bird to assist in building the dance-house. These all came at
the appointed time, and there were so many of them that they were
able to dig the pit and complete the house in a very short time.
Meanwhile Coyote made many tule houses and had a large village
prepared. After finishing the dance-house the birds all left, Coy-
ote promising to notify them when all things were ready for the
dance.

While the birds were at work. Coyote took from them without
their knowledge two feathers each, and in each one of the tule houses
he placed a pair of feathers, except in the best house, where he placed
a single hawk (tata) feather. He then went to bed in his own house,
and lay there talking to himself all night. He said that the feathers

1 The fact that there are at times waves of considerable height on Clear Lake is
explained by some of the Indians as a necessary condition, since the water origi-
nally came from the ocean, where there are waves at all times.

42 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

should turn into people,^ and that there should be people there be-
fore daybreak on the following morning, a man and a woman in each
house ; that Hawk (tata) should be the captain of all and should be
the last one to leave the house ; that Blue-jay (tsai) should be a doc-
tor and poison man (wizard) ; that Tsapu should be a poison man
also ; that Gray-squirrel should be Obsidian-man (katca-tca) and that
he should be a quick fighter and dodger, a high jumper and able to
run up trees ; that Red-headed-woodpecker (katak) should be a slow
man but able to see farther than any one else ; that Crow (kaai)
should be a slow man but very long-winded and able to fly higher
than any one else ; that Hummingbird (tsudlyun) should be able to
fly faster than any one else and should be a doctor with the power to
carry away disease by pulling hair out of a patient's body and carry-
ing it out where the wind might blow it away ; but that before doc-
toring in this manner he should dance ; that Hummingbird should
also have the power to fly up in the air and cause thunder and light-
ning ; that Kingbird (kapin/ada/adau) should always be the first awake
in the morning and should wake the rest of the village ; and that
Wocwoc (mockingbird or thrasher) should watch over the people of
the village and wake every one at intervals throughout the night so
as to prevent some one from poisoning them ; it would be particu-
larly his duty to keep a close watch on Blue-jay, who was a poison
man.

Coyote had just finished designating the duties and powers of
each individual when he heard Kingbird say, " We we, it is daylight
now, wake up, wake up." He went out but saw no one astir. He
went into the dance-house, but there was no one there. Soon how-
ever he heard some one cough outside the house. He then went up
on the roof of the dance-house to a point near the smoke hole, from
where he commenced to speak to the people : " Now, my children,
you young men go out and get wood for the dance-house. You
young women make mush, pinole, and bread, and when you have
finished preparing the food, bring it into the dance-house so that we
may all eat. After we have all eaten I will tell you what to do next,
my children."

As the young men started to get wood, the old people told them
that the first man to return would be considered the best man.
Then Gray-squirrel (Obsidian-man, katca-tca) ran swiftly up the hill
until he came to a large dry manzanita bush which he cut down and
into short lengths with his feet very quickly. He bound the wood
into a bundle with a withe of white oak and ran back to the village,
arriving there long before any of the others. As he threw the

* According to other versions people were created from sticks instead of
feathers.

A Composite Myth of the Porno Indians. 43

wood into the smoke hole it struck the floor with a loud noise and
those within cried, " He h^ be careful there. Don't make so much
noise up there. You will break down the dance-house." Finally,
after all the young men had returned with wood. Coyote directed
the fire keeper (laimoc) to kindle the fire and then to begin the fan-
ning. This was done and the men fanned one another until all the
wood was burned and all the men were very warm, after which they
ran to the creek and bathed for a short time.

When all had returned to the dance-house. Coyote spoke again
from the roof, and directed that all the food should be brought into
the house, where every one might enjoy the feast. This was done,
and every one feasted for a long time. Then Coyote rose from his
place between the fire and the centrepole and again spoke to the
people, finishing with these words, " Eagle (cai) and Gray-squirrel
(the Obsidian-man) will be your captains (chiefs, tca-kalik). They
shall be of equal rank, and each will care for his own people." Then
speaking to the two captains, he said, " You shall be captains. You
shall talk to your people and shall instruct them in all that is just
and right. Henceforth I shall be an old man and shall have nothing
to do but eat."

The two captains then consulted and decided to appoint Panther
(damot) and Wolf (smewa) chief huntsmen, Mako and Kakau chief
fishermen, and Wood-duck (wadawada) female captain (mata kalitc).
Others were appoined fire tenders (laimoc), head singer (k6uya),
and drummer (tsilotca). Eagle then announced ^ the appointments
of the two huntsmen and two fishermen, one each for each division
of the village, and of Wood-duck as the female captain of the entire
village, also of the dance-house officials for the entire village. In
conclusion he said, " Now you hunters and fishermen must tell us
how we can all live together and get along well together. We have
finished speaking now."

The huntsmen and fishermen consulted, but finally said, "We
know very little. We can only hunt and fish for the people, and
must follow the instructions of our captains."

Then they asked Wood-duck what she would have them do. She
replied, " I do not think we are living now as we should. We should
have one head captain (tca-yedul-bate) to govern us all, and Hawk
(tata) is the proper one for that office. Coyote created us all, and I
think we should make Tata head captain, as his grandfather (Coyote)
was before him."

As Coyote had willed it, Tata had not yet left his house ; so the
fire tenders were sent to bring him to the dance-house. A large

* In speaking to the people Eagle always spoke in a loud voice, repeating ver-
bathn what Gray-squirrel said to him in a low tone.

44 journal of A merica n Folk-L ore.

black bear skin, blanket was spread immediately in front of the
centrepole in the dance-house, and when Tdta had seated himself
on it saying, "Yes, this is good," Coyote asked him to tell the peo-
ple what should be done Tata replied that the best thing that
could be done would be to hold a big dance to which all of the neigh-
boring people should be invited ; meaning all the people who had
assisted Coyote in the building of the dance-house.

A great dance was then celebrated for four days and nights, after
which a feast was spread on the dancing ground (ke-male) in the
dance-house, and Eagle told Tata to address the people. This he
did and finally called the two captains, the two huntsmen, the two
fishermen, and the two fire tenders to come and divide the food
among the people so that all might eat and enjoy themselves. Those
appointed divided the food, giving the best food to the head singer,
next to the chorus singers, and so on until every one had had an
abundance of food. This feast ended the celebration and all the
visitors departed. The people whom Coyote had created out of the
feathers continued to live at this village for a long time.

At this time the sun did not move across the heavens as it does
now. It only rose a short distance above the eastern horizon and
then sank again. Coyote finally determined to see why the sun
behaved in this peculiar manner. He collected and placed in his
hunting sack food, dancing paraphernalia, a sleep-producing tuft of
feathers (sma-kaaitcil), and four mice. With these, and accompanied
by singers and dancers ^ he started eastward, in which direction they
travelled for four days. At the end of the second day all of the
party dressed themselves in their dancing paraphernalia and finished
the rest of the journey dancing and singing.

Near evening of the fourth day the party arrived at a big dance-
house, the home of the Sun people,^ around which they danced in a

1 Coyote took with him as his head singer Cmdi-kadokado. Among his dancers
were Sul (condor), Tcitci (a species of hawk), Dakat (a small species of hawk),
Kok (loon), and TcTyd (a species of hawk). These were all very strong people
and were taken not only because of their ability to dance, but also in order that
there might be strong men who were able to carry the sun back to tlie village.

2 Informants differ somewhat in their opinions of the Sun people, but according
to one informant they are : the Sun-prophet (dd-matu), who lias the power, by means
of visions, of seeing and knowing everything that transpires upon the earth, and
directs all the movements and conduct of tlie other Sun people; the Sun-man
(dd-tcatc) who carries the sun, a large shining disc, in his hand or suspended from
his neck by means of a grapevine withe ; two Sun-women (dd-ma/a), the daugh-
ters of Sun-man ; and four Sun-messengers (dd-tcma), who always accompany
Sun-man and do his bidding. As Sun-man soars in the heavens with the sun, he
sees everything done by the people on the earth and, when some misdeed is com-
mitted, he sends one of the Sun-messengers to the earth to shoot the offender with

A Composite Myth of the Porno Indians. 45

counter-clockwise direction four times, then in a clockwise direction
four times. They then entered the house and danced in the same
manner around the fire, then around the centrepole, and finally
around the fire and pole together, at last halting and seating them-
selves in front of the centrepole. Sun-man saw Coyote and his peo-
ple entering the sun-house and sent one of his messengers to welcome
them. As the visitors seated themselves the messenger said, " It is
good, friends, that you have come here." Coyote replied, " My peo-
ple wished to come and have a little dance with you to-night." The
messenger replied, "Yes, that is good, we will dance." By and
by the rest of the Sun people came home. Sun-man, as was his cus-
tom, hanging the sun by the grapevine withe to one of the rafters of
the dance-house. Wood was finally brought and all things were in
readiness for the dance, the first of which Coyote proposed should
be the fire dance (ho-ke), a dance in which all might join.

As the dance began Coyote liberated the four mice which he had
secreted in his hunting sack and told them to run up the centre-
pole and along the rafters to where the sun was tied, and gnaw the
withe that bound it to the roof. Presently one of the mice fell from
the roof into the fire, but sprang out and attempted to escape. He
was caught by one of the Sun-messengers, who was about to throw
him back into the fire when Coyote called to him, " Here, here, do
not throw that away. I eat those. Give it to me." The messen-
ger gave Coyote the mouse and Coyote pretended to eat it, crunch-
ing a piece of charcoal to give the sound of breaking bones, while
the mouse ran down his arm into the hunting sack. P>om here he
was soon able to again run up the centrepole and resume his gnaw-
ing on the withe that held the sun. During this dance all four of
the mice fell one at a time from the roof and were rescued by Coyote
and returned to their work in like manner. The fire dance was
finally finished after four intermissions, and the usual plunge and
short swim followed. Then came a war dance (tcma-ke), which was
followed by still another dance ; the three dances lasting until nearly
midnight. By that time all of the Sun people were very tired and
Coyote commenced to dance the fourth dance alone. He placed
the sleep-producing tuft of feathers which he had brought in his
hunting sack on the end of a stick, making a wand which he waved
over the people as he danced, with the result that after a time all
of the Sun people were sound asleep ; but Coyote's people were not
affected by the wand. By this time the mice had succeeded in

an invisible arrow and carry away his spirit to the abode of the dead beyond the
southern end of the world, where, if Dd-matu approves of the death, the spirit
remains. Otherwise the messenger returns the spirit to its body and the victim
recovers consciousness.

46 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

gnawing in two the withe which held the sun and bringing it down
to the floor.

Coyote's people then caught hold of the edge of the sun and all
danced out of the house in exactly the reverse order in which they
had entered. They danced around the centrepole and fire together,
first four times in a clockwise direction, then four times in a counter-
clockwise direction, following this by the same cycle with the centre-
pole as a centre, with the fire as a centre, and with the dance-house
itself as a centre, after which they started westward toward their
home. Coyote now willed that the earth should contract so that
they might return home quickly, and they found that they were soon
near their village.

Red-headed-woodpecker, the far-sighted man, first saw the party
as it returned, and called every one in the village out to see the new
light. The sun was laid on the ground in the village and its final
disposition was discussed, with the result that Coyote told the peo-
ple that it must be hung up in the middle of the sky. Hawk (tata)
accordingly called forth two brothers of each species of bird, and
instructed them to try to take the sun up into the heavens and
hang it there according as Coyote had directed. Those who suc-
cessively attempted the feat were Hummingbird (tsudlyun), Dakat
(a small species of hawk), Eagle (cai), Loon (kok), Ce-tata (a large
species of hawk), and many others. All except Crow brothers had
tried and failed, and when they came forward to try every one laughed
at them and remarked upon their slowness of flight and their physi-
cal weakness ; but one of them grasped the sun by its edge while
the other flew under it so that it rested on his back. Thus they
flew higher and higher, interchanging their respective positions fre-
quently in order to rest each other. As the Crows flew they cried,

"a , a , a ," until to the great surprise of the watchers

below they reached such a height that they could no longer be
heard ; and then such a height that they were lost to view to all
save Red-headed-woodpecker, who was able to see much farther than
any one else. He announced from time to time the progress of the
Crows : " They are a long way up now. They are getting near the
spot where the sun must hang. They are flying very slowly. They
seem very tired. They have stopped now to take a rest. They are
only a very short distance from the place now. Now they have
reached it. There, they have hung it up. Now they are coming
back down." After a long time the Crows reached the earth again,
having travelled downward like bullets. The people of the village
rejoiced greatly that they had the sun and had it hung up in the
proper place so that it could give them light. They brought out all
kinds of beads, baskets, blankets, and food as presents to the Crows
for the service they had rendered.

A Composite Myth of the Porno Indians. 47

Presently some one cried, "e ," and Blue-jay told everyone

to assemble in front of the dance-house. Here they found Coyote
and Hawk standing on the roof ; they announced their decision that
a dance should be held to celebrate the occasion. The first dance
was the fire dance in which every one joined, dancing until all were
very warm and then as usual taking a swim. When they returned
to the dance-house Coyote noticed that Gray-squirrel was not among
them and said, " There is one man who is gone but none of you have
noticed it." They all asked, "Who.-*" "It is Gray-squirrel who is
not here. He has gone away and left us because he does not like
the way we do things ; but we need not worry or try to hunt for him,
for he does not seem to like any one." So all returned to the dance-
house and resumed the celebration.

Not long after this Coyote became provoked at the actions of the
people and said, " You people do not try to do as I tell you to. You
do not seem to care to do the proper thing and try to be somebody.
You might as well be animals and go and do the way you like best."
So he proceeded to turn them all into animals and birds and to desig-
nate the habitat and characteristics of each.

" You shall always live out in the mountains. You shall be afraid
and will be shot for meat. Your name shall be Deer (pee).

"You shall live in the woods and shall hunt for deer. Once in a
while you shall kill a man. Your name shall be Wolf (smewa).

" You shall always live in the mountains and in the woods. You
shall hunt for deer and shall sometimes kill men. Your name shall
be Bear (bita).

" You shall live in the woods and in the mountains. You shall
hunt for deer and shall sometimes kill people. Your name shall be
Panther (damot).

"You shall live around Clear Lake. You shall live in the trees,
make your nest there, and defecate upon them. You shall eat raw
fish. Your name shall be Loon (kok).

" You shall swim around Clear Lake and eat bugs and grass. Your
name shall be Coot (katsiya).

" You shall also swim around in Clear Lake and eat bugs and
grass. Your name shall be Duck (kaiyan).

" You shall stand around in the lake and whenever there are big
schools of fish coming out of the lake into the creeks you shall cry,
' its dikubuhu.' Your name shall be Dlkfibuhu,

" You shall fly around in the air and catch bugs and eat them.
You shall hunt around in places where there are many bugs and
grasshoppers and shall eat them raw. Your name shall be Crow
(kaai).

48 yournal of American Folk- Lore.

" You shall fly around in the trees, gather acorns, make holes in
the trees, put the acorns in there for winter time, and then eat them.
Your name shall be Red-headed-woodpecker (katak).

"You shall live among the trees. You shall peck holes in them
and shall eat the sap. Your name shall be Sapsucker (kalestat).

" You shall fly around in the open country where there is plenty
of room and fresh air and shall fly down and catch bugs and grass-
hoppers and eat them raw. Your name shall be Kingbird (kapin/a-
da/adau).

"You shall fly up very high in the air and then fly very swiftly
down to the ground and catch mice or birds, or any kind of food.
Your name shall be Dakat (a species of hawk).

"You shall live out in the woods in a hollow tree. You cannot
see in the daytime. During the night is the only time you will be
able to see. Then you shall catch mice and eat them. Your name
shall be Night-hawk (?) (natoto).

"You shall live out in a hollow tree during the day for you can-
not see except at night. Then you shall catch mice and eat them and
you shall sing at night also. Your name shall be Owl (makugu).

" You shall live out in the woods during the day for you cannot see
during the daytime. You can only see at night. You shall hunt and
sing at night. Your name shall be Cmaikadokado."

When Coyote finally finished designating the attributes of each
different animal and bird he said, " I shall go by the name of Coyote
(Iwi). Tata here shall be called Tata. He shall be a flying bird and
shall live where there are no other birds around. All you birds and
animals shall raise children, and their children shall raise children,
and all shall be called by the names I have given you. I shall be
Coyote and I shall be able to smell as far as any of you can see. I shall
be able to smell very far and tell who or what is there. I shall sneak
around and steal things. Sometimes I shall even run after human
beings and kill and eat them."

" Now you all stand up and get ready ; when I cry four times we
must all run off to our respective places." All rose and Coyote

cried, " e 1 ye !

e 1 ye !

e 1 ye

yu he ! we we !

All were immediately transformed into the birds and animals Coyote
had indicated and went to the various places he had designated.
Coyote went away last.

A Composite Myth of the Porno Indians. 49

SUMMARY.

(i) The licentiousness of Coyote prompts trickery. Coyote saves
two of his miraculously-born children and cares for them unaided.

(2) The people of the village abuse the children in his absence.
Coyote revenges himself and his children by setting fire to the
world. The three escape to the sky by means of Spider, the gate-
keeper of the sky, and a feather rope. They visit Madumda. He
is displeased with the conduct of Coyote and sends him back to the
earth with instructions as to his future actions.

(3) Upon returning to the earth Coyote finds the tops of the moun-
tains burned off, the streams dried up, and all kinds of food roasted
by the great world-fire. He eats a prodigious quantity of the roasted
meat, becomes thirsty, and searches for water which he finally finds
in the ocean. He drinks four times, becomes very sick, and suc-
ceeds in reaching Kabai-dan5, where he is doctored by Kuksu with
the result that the water he drank forms Clear Lake, and the roasted
meat eaten turns into the water fauna of the region.

(4) At the northern end of Clear Lake Coyote causes the erection
by the Bird people of a large dance-house. He, meanwhile, erects
many dwelling-houses and secures two feathers from each of the
birds. These he places in the houses and thus creates human beings.
Officials are appointed, and a dance and feast are celebrated.

(5) The sun did not formerly rise. Coyote and party journey
eastward to the home of the Sun people and dance with them. Coy-
ote sends up four mice from his hunting sack to gnaw off the withe
with which the sun is hung to the roof of the dance-house while he
dances and induces sleep among the Sun people by means of a magic
wand. The sun is finally secured and all escape and return to the
village at Clear Lake. The Bird people are called together, and all
try to carry the sun up and hang it in the middle of the sky, which
feat is finally accomplished by the wisdom of the two Crow brothers.
Thus the world has proper light.

(6) Coyote soon becomes provoked at the action of his people and
transforms them into animals and birds, assigning the attributes and
habitat of each.

The literature dealing with the mythology of the Indians of Cali-
fornia covers but a comparatively small part of the State, the princi-
pal published works bearing on the subject being Dr. Goddard's
"Hupa Texts," Dr. Dixon's " Maidu Myths," and Curtin's " Creation
Myths of Primitive America," dealing respectively with the Hupa,
the Maidu, and the Wintun. In addition to these published myths,
the writer has had placed at his disposal by Dr. A. L. Kroeber the

VOL. XIX. — NO. 72. 4

50 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

manuscript of the creation myth of the Yuki, the nearest northern
neighbors of the Porno. With this material as a basis it is possible
to compare the Pomo myth here given with the myths of some of
these neighboring peoples.

Among none of the peoples here considered is there any concep-
tion of an abstract primal genesis. All start with some concrete
material. With the Yuki and Maidu all was water in the begin-
ning, then came the creator who created the earth and all things on
the earth ; but even such an approximation to an abstract idea of
creation is apparently lacking among the Hupa, and Wintun, with
whom there was in the beginning an earth of which the section in-
habited by the particular people under consideration was in each
case very similar to, if not identical with, that now existing. Also
among the Pomo the majority of informants thus far questioned main-
tain that there was in the beginning a world very similar to the one
now existing, but a few have been found who give very fragmentary
accounts of a creation of the world by Coyote ; in each case he having
given certain materials from which to start.

The burning of the world, which is given so much prominence in
Pomo mythology, is found among the Wintun, and is there also
actuated by the spirit of revenge. The re-covering of the rocks of
the earth with soil after the great world-fire as told in Olelbis has no
place in the Pomo account, the only destruction to the soil there
being the burning off of the tops of the mountains ; but there is in
the Wintun account of supplying the world with water after the
world-fire by throwing a grapevine root and a tule root into the moun-
tains, and then making streams by drawing furrows of difTerent sizes
on the earth with the sky-pole, something of an analogy to the Pomo
account of the creation of Clear Lake and the watering of the neigh-
boring region.

Considerable variation is shown in the account of the creation of
human beings. According to the Pomo they were created from
feathers, or according to other versions from sticks ; ^ according to
the Yuki they were created from sticks, and according to the Maidu
from earth modelled into human form, or from sticks,^ or little wooden
figures.^ W^ith the Wintun there seems to be no definite theory of
creation after the world-fire.

The present movements of the sun seem to require explanation,

1 Stephen Powers, in his Tribes of California, p. 147, records a Pomo belief in
a creation of human beings from earth, and on page 156 he states that the Indians
of Potter Valley were created, according to their belief, from the red earth of a
certain mound in that valley.

^ Powers, op. cit. p. 292.

3 Dr. R. B. Dixon, "The Northern Maidu," Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist, xvii,
336, 1905-

A Composite Myth of the Porno Indians. 5 1

and here again there are diverse opinions as to the cause. Accord-
ing to the Porno the sun was stolen from its keepers in the east by
Coyote aided particularly by four mice, after which it was hung in the
middle of the sky by the two Crow brothers. In the version of the
myth here given there was no pursuit of Coyote and his party by
the Sun people, but in other versions they were hotly pursued and
were only able to escape by the aid of strategy. According to the
Yuki, Coyote went alone, stole the sun, and was pursued by the Sun
people, but finally succeeded in securing the sun and causing it to
travel according to his will. According to the Maidu the sun and
moon were driven from their hiding-place in the east by Angle-
worm and Gopher, but when once driven out they agreed with each
other as to which should travel by night and which by day. The
Wintun do not account for them.

The transmutation of human beings into animals has been found
among the Pomo, Yuki, Maidu, and Wintun. Among the first
three Coyote appears as the ruling power, designating arbitrarily,
according to the Pomo and Yuki, the attributes and habitats of the
animals ; and deciding by means of a race, according to the Maidu,
their habitats only. According to the Wintun, Olelbis, after re-cov-
ering the earth, sent down from heaven all the animals and birds
which he did not care to keep there with him, and designated the
attributes and habitats. of each. Of such as he desired to keep with
him in heaven, as : the eagle, hummingbird, and red-headed-wood-
pecker, he threw a feather to the earth and caused that to become
the progenitor of the present race of that particular species.

Thus it will be seen that the mythology of the Pomo Indians as
shown by the single myth here recounted, though having many
points similar to and some episodes identical with the mythologies
of neighboring peoples, has also many points of difference, some
of which are differences of detail, due largely to local environment,
while others are fundamental.

^. A. Barrett.

52 yournal of American Folk-Lore,

MYTHOLOGY OF THE MISSION INDIANS.^

I. SAN LUISENO CREATION MYTH.

In the beginning all was empty space. Ke-vish-a-tak-vish was the
only being. This period was called 6m-ai-ya-mai signifying empti-
ness, nobody there. Then came the time called Ha-ruh-riiy, upheaval,
things coming into shape. Then a time called Chu-tu-tai, the falling
of things downward ; and after this, Yu-vai-to-vai, things working in
darkness without the light of sun or moon. Then came the period
Tul-mul Pu-shun, signifying that deep down in the heart or core of
earth things were working together.

Then came Why-yai Pee-vai, a gray glimmering like the whiteness
of hoar frost ; and then, Mit-ai Kwai-rai, the dimness of twilight.
Then came a period of cessation, Na-kai Ho-wai-yai, meaning things
at a standstill.^

Then K6-vish-a-tak-vish made a man, Tiik-mit, the Sky ; and a
woman, To-mai'-yo-vit, the Earth. There was no light, but in the
darkness these two became conscious of each other.

" Who are you } " asked the man.

" I am To-mai'-yo-vit. And you .-' "

"I am Tuk-mit."

"Then you are my brother."

*' You are my sister."

By her brother the Sky the Earth conceived and became the Mother
of all things. Her first-born children were, in the order of their birth,
See-vat and Pa-ve-ut,^ Ush-la and Pik-la, Na-na-chel and Patch'-ha-
yel, Topal and Tam'-yush.*

' This paper has been communicated as part of the Proceedings of the Cali-
fornia Branch of the American Folk-Lore Society.

^ Boscana alludes to the periods of time in the Creation Myth which he records,
the story to-day being analogous to that which he obtained from the Indians eighty
years ago. He says: "We have the six productions of the mother of Ouiot, cor-
responding to the six days of the creation of the world." I did not obtain this
series thus distinctly stated, but on the otlier hand the introductory periods of crea-
tion were clearly named and defined. Whether these eight periods sliow any trace
of Christian influence I am not as yet prepared to say. The myth in its entirety is
strictly primitive. Only the slightest traces of any external influence could be
suspected.

' Pd-vc-ut is the name given to the sacred pointed stones of chipped flint, etc.,
used, not for arrow points, but for insertion in the end of the sword-shaped staff
carried by the chief in the religious ceremonials. Boscana gives as the second
production of Mother Earth "rocks and stones of all kinds, particularly flints for
their arrows."

* Tarn' yush, or Tam-ish (obscure sound) is the name for the sacred stone bowls.

Mythology of the Mission Indians. 53

Then came forth all other things, people, animals, trees, rocks, and
rivers, but not as we see them now. All things then were people.

But at first they were heavy and helpless and could not move about,
and they were in darkness, for there was no light. But when the Sun
was born he gave a tremendous light which struck the people into
unconsciousness, or caused them to roll upon the ground in agony ;
so that the Earth-Mother, seeing this, caught him up and hid him
away for a season ; so then there was darkness again.

After the Sun was born there came forth another being called
Chung-itch'-nish (spelled Chin-ig-chin-ich by Boscana), a being of
power, whose voice sounded as soon as he was born, while all the
others rolled helplessly upon the ground, unable to utter a word. The
others were so terrified by his appearance that the Earth-Mother hid
him away, and ever since he has remained invisible.

The rattlesnake was born at this time, a monster without arms or
legs.

When all her children were born, the Earth-Mother left the place
and went to Ech'-a-mo N6y-a-mo. The people rolled, for like new-
born babies they could not walk. They began then to crawl on hands
and knees, and they talked this way : Chak-o-la-le, Wa-wa, Ta-ta.
This was all that they could say. For food they ate clay. From
there they moved to Kak-we-mai Po-la-la, then to Po-es-kak Po-la-lak.

They were growing large now and began to recognize each other.
Then the Earth-Mother made the sea so that her children could bathe
in it, and so that the breeze from the sea might fill their lungs, for
until this time they had not breathed.

Then they moved farther to a place called Na-che-vo Po-me-sa-vo,
a sort of a caiion which was too small for their abiding-place ; so they
returned to a place called Tem-ech'-va Tem-eck'-o, and this place
people now call Temecula, for the Mexicans changed the Indian name
to that.

Here they settled while everything was still in darkness. All this
time they had been travelling about without any light.

The Earth-Mother had kept the sun hidden away, but now that the
people were grown large enough and could know each other she took
the Sun out of his hiding-place, and immediately there was light.
They could all see each other ; and while the Sun was standing
there among them they discussed the matter and decided that he

incorrectly called mortars, hollowed out of solid rounded stones, large and small,
used in the toloache fiesta for mixing and distributing the drink, and placed upon
the ground in the sacred house (called temple by Boscana) during the religious
ceremonies. They were painted with bright colors within and without; and when
not in use were carefully buried from sight in places known only to the religious
leaders.

54 jfournal of ATuerican Folk-Lore.

must go east and west and give light all over the world ; so all of
them raised their arms to the sky three times, and three times cried
out Cha-cha-cha (unspellable guttural), and he rose from among them
and went up to his place in the sky.

After this they remained at Temecula, but the world was not big
enough for them, and they talked about it and concluded that it
must be made larger. So this was done, and they lived there as
before.

It was at Temecula that the Earth-Mother taught her children to
worship Chung-itch'-nish. Although he could not be seen, he ap-
pointed the Raven to be his messenger, flying over the heads of the
people to watch for any who had offended against him. Whenever
the Raven flew overhead, they would have a big fiesta and dance.

The bear and the rattlesnake were the chosen avengers for Chung-
itch'-nish ; and any who failed to obey would suffer from their bite.
When a man was bitten by a rattlesnake it was known that he had
offended Chung-itch'-nish, and a dance would be performed with
religious ceremonies to beg his forgiveness.

The stone bowls, Tam'-yush, were sacred to his worship ; so were
the toloache and mock-orange plants. All the dances are made for
his worship, and all the sacred objects, stone pipes, eagle feathers,
tobacco, etc., were used in this connection.

2. THE NORTH STAR AND THE R.\TTLESNAKE.

While they were living at Temecula, the rattlesnake was there,
and because he had no arms or legs the others would make fun of
him. The North Star, especially, who was then a person, was the
leader in this abuse. He would fling dirt in his face, throw him
down, and drag him about by the hair. So the rattlesnake went to the
Earth-Mother and complained of this treatment, wishing to avenge
himself on Tuk-mush-wut, the North Star. So the Earth-Mother
gave the rattlesnake two sharp-pointed sticks with which he might
defend himself against any who disturbed him. So the next time
when the North Star came and began to torment him, the rattlesnake
used the sticks (his fangs) and bit off one of his fingers as you may
still see in the sky.^

The Earth-Mother further contrived that, in order to make the bite
of the rattlesnake effective, it should be followed by three intensely

1 Starting from the North Star as a centre, there is a vortex of small stars,
which in the clear air of the southwest are very plainly seen. They may easily
appear as the five fingers of a hand ; a line of three or four stars for the thumb,
with several curving lines for the fingers, of which the last, a straight line shorter
than the rest, and pointing towards Cassiopeia, is the one bitten off by the rattle-
snake.

Mythology of the Mission Indians. 55

hot days ; and at the present time, when three hot days come in suc-
cession, you may know that some man has been bitten by a rattlesnake.

3. THE STORY OF OUIOT.^

While they were all living at Temecula, there was a man among
them who was very wise and knew more than any one living. He
taught the people, watched over them, and made provision for their
needs, so that he called them all his children. They were not born
to him as children, but he stood to them in the relation of a father.

It was the custom for all the people to take a bath every morning.
Among them was a beautiful woman whom Ouiot had especially ad-
mired. She had a beautiful face and long hair that fell to her feet,
completely covering her back. She always went down to the water
when no one else was there, and would bathe when no one could see
her. Ouiot noticed this and made it a point to watch her one day ;
and when she jumped into the water, he saw that her back was hollow
and flat like that of a frog, and his admiration turned to disgust.

Wa-ha-wut, the woman, observed Ouiot and read his thoughts, and
she was filled with anger against him. When she told her people of
his feelings towards her, they conspired together and said, " We will
kill him." So the four of them, Wa-ha-wut, Ka-ro-ut, Morta, and Y6-
wish (people then, but later, the frog, the earthworm, the gopher, and
a water animal resembling the gopher), combined to destroy him by
witchcraft.

As soon as they had finished their work, Ouiot fell sick ; and tried
in vain to ease his pain, sending north, south, east, and west for
remedies, but nothing could avail. He grew so much worse that
he lay there helpless, unable to rise. Wa-hd-wut and her helpers
came and jeered at him, and because he lingered so long in his illness
they gave him the name of Ouiot. His real name was Moyla.

Then a man, named Ma-wha-la, arose and said, " What is the matter
with all of you people .-* You call yourselves witches, and yet you can-
not cure our sick brother, or even determine the cause of his illness."

So the rattlesnake, then a man, and a great witch-doctor, who knew
everything, searched north, south, east, and west, trying to find out
some way to help Ouiot, or to learn what was the matter with him,
but in vain.

And after him another man, the horned toad, equally great as an
hechicero, went about searching for a cause or a remedy, trying his
best but without success.

Next stood up the road-runner. He examined Ouiot, and searched
about among the people to see if any of them had caused his illness,
but he could discover nothing.

* Pronounced wee-ote.

56 yoiirjial of American Folk- Lore,

Next came Sa-ka-pe-pe, a great leader, now a tiny bird. He did
the same thing. He examined Ouiot and told the people that some
one had poisoned him, and that he was going to die.

Ouiot was getting worse all the time, and he called his best friend,
Cha-ha-mal (the kingbird), a great captain and a very good man, and
told him that he had been poisoned, and named the four who had done
it, and told him the reason for their hatred of him, and that he soon
must die ; and to Cha-ha-mal alone he disclosed the truth that he
would soon return. " Look towards the east for my coming in the
early morning," he said. So Cha-ha-mal knew the secret.

Then he summoned all the rest of the people that he might give
them his last commands ; and when all had gathered together, some
of his children raised him in their arms so that he could sit up and
address them. The tears began to run down his cheeks. Coyote,
Blue-fly, and Buzzard crowded about him, and Coyote began licking
his tears as if he was thinking already of eating him. So they drove
these three away.

Then Ouiot said that his death might come in the first month, Tas-
mo-y-mal a-luc-mal, or in the second part of the first month, Tas-mo-
y-il mo-kat ; but this time passed, and he was still alive. " Perhaps
I shall die in the next month, T6w-na-mal a-luc-mal, or in the second
part of it, Ta-wut mo-kat ; this also passed, and in like manner he
predicted his possible death with the beginning of each month, only
to linger through each until the last.

The series is as follows, beginning with the third month : Tow-
sun-mal a-luc-mal, T6w-sa-nal mo-kat ; T6-vuk-mal a-luc-mal, T6-va-
kal mo-kat ; N6-vac-ne-mal a-luc-mal, N6-va-nut mo-kat ; Pa-ho-y-
mal a-liic-mal, Pa-ho-y-il mo-kat ; Nay-mo-y-mal a-luc-mal, Nay-mo-
y-il mo-kat ; Som'-o-y-mal a-luc-mal, Som'-o-y-il mo-kat.^

In the last month he died, and death came into the world. No
one had died before, but he will take all along with him.^

There was a man (now kangaroo-rat) who made a carrying-net in
which to lift Ouiot ; and they sent to all four points of the compass
for wood, the sycamore, black oak, and white oak, tule, hemlock, and

' I am indebted for the spelling of these names to Mr. P. S. Sparkman of Rin-
con (Cal.), whose unpublished dictionary and grammar of the Luiseno language
is the only authority extant on the subject. He adds in regard to these names : " It
will be seen that the first word of the name given to the first part of each period
has the diminutive suffix ' mal' affixed to it, while the second word of the name
means thin or lean, therefore this means something like the small, lean part of the
period. Mo-kdt, the second word of the name given to the second part of each
period, means large, therefore the second parts are spoken of as the large parts.
But it is not necessary to use the words a-luc-mal and mo-kdt. The other words
may be used alone."

' " Som " means all.

Mythology of the Mission Indians. 5 7

cedar, to build the funeral pile. They got a hollow log and on the
lower half they laid the body, and put the other half of the log above
it for a lid ; and after the pile was ready and the fire lighted, the men
carried the body in the net that had been prepared, and, going three
times about the fire, they laid the body on it.

Meantime Coyote had been sent away first in one direction and
then in another, being told to bring fire to light the pile ; but he ran
back so quickly that they could not finish their work. " Go to the
central point also," they told him, "and go all the way. Do not stop
until you get there."

Coyote ran off, but looking back he saw the smoke of the burning
already rising up to the sky ; so he turned and came running back
with all his might. They took sticks to drive him away, and they
stood in a circle close together about the fire to prevent him from
approaching it; but the badger was a little man, and made a break in
the circle (illustrated by the two thumbs when the hands are placed
together, making a circle of the fingers), and Coyote jumped directly
over his head, snatched the heart, the only part of the body that was
not consumed, and ran off with it and devoured it.

There was a man among them named Wi'skun (now a tiny squirrel),
and when Ouiot was burned, he stood up and addressed the people ;
and he called the clouds from the mountains to come, and the clouds
and fog from the sea to gather and fall in showers upon the earth to
blot out all the tracks that Ouiot had made when he moved about
upon the earth, so that nothing could be seen.

So the clouds came and it rained heavily.

Then it was told them that in all time to come they must have
fiestas for the dead as they had done for Ouiot. And they must begin
to kill and eat for food. Until this time they had never eaten flesh
or grains, but had lived on clay. And they discussed the matter, and
questioned as to who should first be killed. One man after another
was chosen but each refused in turn.

While they were talking about this, Tish-mel (the hummingbird)
said that he would like to take the eagle's place. He felt that he was
a person of importance ; but the people said, No. He was a little
man, and not fit for that, and they would not have him.

The eagle must be killed at the time of every fiesta, and Ash-wut
(the eagle) did not like this. To escape his fate, he went north,
south, east, and west ; but there was death for him everywhere, and
he came back and gave himself up.^

Then they talked about killing the deer. " He is a nice-looking

' Comment by the narrator. The eagle never dies. The old one will be there
every year. You can catch the young ones by spreading nets for them in the
canons. They are killed for the fiesta without shedding any blood.

58 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

man, he would be good for meat." The lion was a strong, powerful
man, and he said, " Why do you delay and discuss the matter ? This
is the way it should be done." So he fell upon the deer and killed
him, and all the others that had been selected to be animals were
killed at the same time. They turned into different kinds of animals
and different kinds of grain, and all the things that we see now in the
world.

When they killed the deer, they took the small pointed bones of
the leg to use as awls for making baskets. A fine basket was made,
and the ashes and bones of Ouiot were placed within it, and they
buried the basket in the ground.

While they were burying it, they sang solemn words with groans
(grunting expirations), and they danced in this fiesta. This was the
first time there had been singing or dancing for the dead. Until this
time they had known nothing of it, but after this they knew how to
make the fiestas and to sing and dance. The rabbit was the man that
sang first, and the crow and the wild goose danced first.

After this fiesta was over they had a big meeting at Temecula,
where they were still together, for when they found out that death
had come into the world, they did not know what to do, and they dis-
cussed the matter.

All those that are now the stars went up in the sky at this time, hop-
ing in that way to escape death ; and all things that live in the ground,
worms and insects and burrowing animals, went under the ground to
hide from death. But the others decided to stay on the earth. They
concluded that it might be possible to live so many years and then go
back and be young again.

Then they left Temecula and scattered all over just as it is to-day.
Now that Ouiot was gone there was no use in staying in their first
home. They no longer had a guide or teacher there.

No one knew that Ouiot was to come back, except Cha-ha-mal,
and early in the morning he would go upon the housetop and call
out, "Ouiot is coming back."

"What does he say.?" the people wondered.

But they understood when, for the first time, Ouiot rose in the east.
They saw the moon rise and they knew it was Ouiot. It was the first
time there was any moon, but he has been coming ever since.

After Ouiot died and the people scattered from Temecula, they
took the Tam'-yush (sacred stone bowls) with them. They had been
people, but they turned into stone bowls when the others became
animals, etc.

Mythology of the Mission Indians, 59

4. THE STORY OF OUIOT.^

There was a village and all the people were together there, and Ouiot
was living there with the people. This man became a great teacher
and knew more than all the rest of the people. He called all men and
women his children. All were naked then, no one wore clothes. At
that time there was a woman na.med Wa-ha-wut, who was very hand-
some. She was of a light complexion, and Ouiot was very proud of
her. He called her his daughter. There was a pond where all the
people used to go to bathe ; and Ouiot was there, and this handsome
woman was there bathing, and Ouiot saw that her figure was not
handsome. Her back was flat and without flesh.

All the people then were like witches ; and this woman could read
his thoughts, so she knew that Ouiot thought ill of her. So this
woman killed him. She took the spittle of Ouiot and put it in her
mouth, and took a frog and hung it up. (This part is obscure.)

Ouiot at once got sick and thin. He knew what was the matter
with him, and that this woman was killing him ; so he called all the
people together, and told them to send for some of the people from
the north to help him. So they came. They were the stone bowls
(Tam'-yush), and they were people then. They came to see him and
to doctor him. They knew what was the matter with him, but they
could do nothing to help him.

So then he sent east for some others. They are the stars, Nu-ku-
lish, and Yung-a-vish,^ people then. They came to see what was the
matter with him, but they could not help him.

Then he sent south, and some people came from the south (now
the oak and the live oak), and they tried to doctor him, but did no
good. Then from the west, the tule and the pine-tree (people then)
came, and tried to cure him, but in vain.

He was sick for a long time, and he called all these people, and all
who were then living around him. He did not know in which month
he should die, but he lingered through all the months.^ In the eighth
month he called them all about him, and told them that he was the
one who made death. No one had ever died before, but after his
death all would die too. Death would come for all. So the month
was called Soym'-a-mul (or Som'-o-y-mal), Soym or Som meaning
"all." It is applied to a man who in eating takes the whole of a
thing into his mouth.

While Ouiot was dying. Coyote was trying to eat him. He was
weeping, and Coyote licked his tears. After Ouiot died. Coyote wanted
to eat the body, but the people took clubs and would not let him come

^ Another version, told by another old man. 2 Antares and Altair.

' The series is given as above.

6o yournal of American Folk- Lore.

near. They told him to go north to get fire. He ran a little way
and came back. Then they sent him in the same way east, west,
and south ; but when he looked back he saw the smoke already rising.
The big blue-fly, Sar-e-wut, had made fire with the whirling-stick.
That is the reason flies rub their hands together. When Coyote
came back, the body was burned all but the heart. He began to cry
out that he wanted to see his father, but the people clubbed him to
drive him away. He still shows the marks of the clubs on his body.
But he got the heart and ate it.

Just before Ouiot died, he told his people that they could kill and
eat the deer. They had never killed anything before this time.
And when they had killed the deer, they must take the small bones
of the leg for awls to make baskets with. This was the beginning
of basket-making. Spider was a woman, and it was she who must
make the baskets.^

So they made awls out of the bones, and gave them to Spider,
and she made a basket. The first basket was made to put the bones
of Ouiot in, and they buried it and had a big fiesta. That was the
beginning of the fiestas for the dead. As they burned Ouiot, so they
burn clothes and other things.

The eagle was a big man and a very great captain, and Ouiot had
told them that when they made this fiesta they were to kill the eagle ;
and so they do. They kill the eagle, and burn the possessions of
the man, and then begin to sing.

Before Ouiot died, he commanded that when they sing they should
use a rattle made out of shells of turtles.^

A man (now the kingbird) was his best friend, and a very good
man, and before he died Ouiot told him that he would soon return.

So kingbird got on the highest mountain near San Bernardino, and
began to tell the people that Ouiot was coming back. You can still
hear him saying this on the top of a tree in the early morning. He
sings, " Ouiot is coming Ouiot is coming."

When the people heard him saying this, they all went out to look,
and to their surprise they saw him. He came up in the shape of the
Moon. After he came in the morning he went west. Kingbird alone
saw him in the east. Then all the others, and Coyote first among
them, saw him in the west ; and Coyote said, " Moyla has come."

Constance Goddard Du Bois.

Waterkury, Conn,

* Others say that a cicada-like insect that sings on summer evenings was the first
basket-maker,

2 This most primitive form of rattle, mentioned by Boscana, is still in use. It
is made of two hollow land-turtle shells, the top and bottom of which are joined
by finely woven milkweed twine, the two shells being fastened upon a stick for
handle, and having small pebbles within.

Proceedings of the California Branch. 6 1

PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA BRANCH OF
THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

COUNCIL MEETING.
A meeting of the Council of the California Branch of the Ameri-
can Folk-Lore Society was held in the Unitarian Church, Berkeley,
Thursday, December 7, 1905, at 7.45 p. m. On motion the follow-
ing persons were approved for membership : Mrs. M. S. Biven, Oak-
land ; Miss G. E. Barnard, Oakland.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

FOURTH MEETING.

The fourth meeting of the California Branch of the American
Folk-Lore Society was held in Room 22, South Hall, University of
California, Berkeley, Tuesday, November 14, 1905, at 8 p. m. Mr.
Charles Keeler presided.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The
following persons approved by the Council were elected to mem-
bership in the Society, the secretary being instructed to cast the
vote of the Society for them : Mr. R. F. Herrick, Mrs. S. C. Bige-
low, San Francisco, Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, Mexico, and Mr. and Mrs.
Oscar Maurer, Berkeley.

The President spoke briefly on the aims of the Society, reviewed
its history, and announced coming meetings.

Professor John Fryer then delivered a lecture, illustrated with
specially prepared lantern slides, on " Fox Myths in Chinese Folk-
Lore." Professor Fryer briefly discussed Chinese folk-lore in gen-
eral, its hold on the mind of the people, the important place occupied
by superstitions regarding the fox, and recounted a number of inter-
esting and suggestive fox tales.

Two hundred persons attended the meeting.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

FIFTH MEETING.

The fifth meeting of the California Branch of the American Folk-
Lore Society was held in the Unitarian Church, Berkeley, Thursday,
December 7, 1905, at 8 p. m. Professor John Fryer presided.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

The following persons approved by the Council were elected to
membership in the Society, the secretary being instructed to cast
the vote of the Society for them : Mrs. M. S. Biven, Oakland, Miss
G. E. Barnard, Oakland.

Professor Wm. F. Bade delivered a lecture on " Hebrew Folk-

62 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

Lore," based primarily on folk-lore elements in the Book of Gen-
esis.

At the conclusion of the lecture a vote of thanks was tendered
Professor Bade, as also to the trustees of the Unitarian Church.

One hundred and fifty persons attended the meeting.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

COUNCIL MEETING.

A meeting of the Council of the California Branch of the Ameri-
can Folk-Lore Society was held in the Unitarian Church, Berkeley,
Tuesday, February 13, 1906, at 7.45 p. m. On motion the follow-
ing persons were approved for membership : Mr. F. Rossi, San
Francisco ; Professor O. M. Johnston, Stanford University.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

SIXTH MEETING.

The sixth meeting of the California Branch of the American Folk-
Lore Society was held in the Unitarian Church, Berkeley, Tuesday,
February 13, 1906, at 8 p. m. Mr. Charles Keeler presided.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

The following persons approved by the Council were elected to
membership in the Society, the secretary being instructed to cast
the vote of the Society for them : Mr. F. Rossi, San Francisco ;
Professor O. M. Johnston, Stanford University.

Dr. William Popper delivered a lecture on " Superstitions of the
Arabs," based on his researches and personal experiences among
the Arabic-speaking peoples of the Orient.

A vote of thanks was tendered the trustees of the Unitarian
Society for the privilege of using the church.

One hundred and thirty-five persons attended the meeting.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

BERKELEY FOLK-LORE CLUB.

The second regular meeting of the Club during 1905 was held in
the Faculty Club of the University of California, Tuesday evening,
November 28. President Lange called the meeting to order.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The
following new members were elected : Professor H. F. Overstreet,
Mr. A. H. Allen, and Professor W. F. Bade.

Professor F. B. Dresslar read a paper on " Some Studies in Super-
stition," based on superstitions known to and in part credited by
advanced school students on the Pacific coast. Special attention
was paid to the degree of credence given to superstitions. Particu-
lar attention was also given by the speaker to the subject of mental

Proceedings of the California Branch. 63

preference for odd numbers. At its conclusion Professor Dresslar's
paper was discussed by the members.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

The third regular meeting of the Berkeley Folk-Lore Club during
1905-06 was held in the Faculty Club of the University of California
on Wednesday evening, January 31. President A. F. Lange pre-
sided, Professor W. F. Bade acting as secretary /n? tevi. Dr. W.
Popper and Dr. A. W. Ryder were proposed for membership in the
Club and unanimously elected. Professor G. R. Noyes presented
the paper of the evening on " Servian Heroic Ballads." Mr. Niko-
litzsch, who was present as the guest of the Club, read one of the
ballads in the original. The paper was discussed at length by the
members.

A. L. Kroeber, Secretary.

64 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

RECORD OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

NORTH AMERICA.

Algonkian. New England. In the " American Anthropologist "
(vol. vii, n. s., pp. 490-508) for July-September, 1905, Charles C.
Willoughby writes of "Dress and Ornament of the New England
Indians." The topics treated are : Hair-dressing (considerable va-
riety, styles due to age and station), tattooing (" confined principally
to the cheeks, upon which totemic figures were made "), face-paint-
ing (" common with both sexes, and among the men more especially
when on war raids ; " various colors used ; women painted for mourn-
ing), clothing; headdress (eagle and turkey feathers; curious head
ornament of colored deer hair), ornaments in general (bracelets, neck-
laces, head-bands, common especially among the women ; native cop-
per ornaments never common ; shell beads, wampiim. Of wampum
the author says (p. 508) : "Besides its use as currency, wampum was
woven into garters, belts, bracelets, collars, ear-pendants, neck-orna-
ments, head-bands, etc. It was used for ornamenting bags, wallets,
and various articles of dress. The wampum belt, woven of purple
and white beads in symbolic figures, served as an inviolable and
sacred pledge, which guaranteed messages, promises, and treaties."
Also : " Both discoidal and tubular beads of shell were used in New
England at an early date, but they were probably rare and highly
prized in prehistoric days." — Virginian. In the same periodical
(pp. 524-528) Mr. W. W. Tooker has an article, "Some More about
Virginia Names," in which he discusses the etymologies proposed
in a previous number by Mr. W. R. Gerard. The words considered
are : Wijiauk, CluckaJiominy, Werozvacomaco, PowcoJiicora, Moekannu,
Wunnananoiinnck. In all of these, according to Mr. Tooker, Mr.
Gerard is radically mistaken as to etymological analyses. — Mr. Ge-
rard's paper, entitled " Some Virginia Indians' Words," appeared in
the number for April, 1905 (vol. vii, n. s., pp. 222-249) and treated
the subject in considerable detail in criticism of a previous article by
Mr. Tooker.

Athapascan. Apache. In the " American Anthropologist " (vol.
vii, n. s., pp. 480-495) for July-September, 1905, Dr. A. HrdliCka
published "Notes on the San Carlos Apaches." Habitat, dwellings
{khuva, built by women), manufactured objects (old objects of their
own manufacture rare ; basketry made in limited quantity by women ;
baby-board leads to occipital compression ; pottery gradually ceased
in the last twenty years ; musical instruments, " a flageolet and a
peculiar one-string violin ") ; habits and customs (few preserved ;

Record of Americmi Folk- Lore. 65

hair-dressing of women ; tattooing now practised by the young,
•'especially the school-girls," — learned from the Mohave, not in use
among the old San Carlos people ; record-keeping ; mother-in-law
taboo reciprocal ; puberty feast now abandoned ; play of children,
"no highly specialized children's games seen," girls play more than
boys, and, " except about the schools, playmates are restricted to chil-
dren of the same family or to relatives," little difference between
child play of Indian and white, except, perhaps, former shows more
patience and perseverance ; training of children, — father and grand-
father, mother and grandmother are the teachers of boys and girls
respectively ; burial in natural rock-shelters, on hillsides, in nooks
of small, unfrequented canons) ; antiquities (Talklai nuns ; Apache
attributes them to the na-ilh-ki-de, "ancient ones," burial of cre-
mated dead in jars is indicated). Of the lore of these Apaches in
general, the author observes : " The fact should not be overlooked,
however, that their traditions are meagre. Many of the men who
would have preserved their lore were killed during their almost inces-
sant warfare, and the younger element know little beyond personal
recollection."

Caddoan. Kitkehaki Pazvnee. In the "American Anthropolo-
gist" (vol. vii, n. s., pp. 496-498) for July-September, 1905, Dr. George
A. Dorsey, under the title "A Pawnee Personal Medicine Shrine,"
gives the English text of the description by " Shooter, one of the
oldest of the Kitkehaki tribe of Pawnee," of the personal medicine
shrine of his father, who, born a poor boy, grew to be very success-
ful in war, etc. This was through making offerings, smoking and
praying to a "stone man" in the midst of a grove of cedars in a
deep ravine. When the " god " disappeared, the place where he had
stood was honored. Others than the original worshipper found suc-
cess through this shrine.

California. In the "American Anthropologist" (vol. vii, n. s.,
pp. 594-606) for October-December, 1905, Professor C. Hart Mer-
riam has an article on " The Indian Population of California." The
author estimates that the population, exceptionally large (by reason
of climate and food supply), has decreased from 260,000 in 1800 to
15,500 in 1900. The chief cause of such decrease has been the im-
poverishment of the Indians due to the "gradual but progressive
and relentless confiscation of their lands and homes."

Lutuamian. Klamath. In the " American Anthropologist " (vol.
vii, n. s., pp. 360, 361) for April-June, 1905, Dr. A. HrdliCka has a
note on " Head Deformation among the Klamath." Deformed
heads (produced chiefly by means of a bag of water-lily seeds, tied
over the forehead of the infant) are known as " good heads," while
"long-heads," or undeformed heads, are termed "slave-like," it being

VOL. XIX. — NO. 72. 5

66 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

said that " their slaves had such, and a man with such a head is not
fit to be a great man in the tribe." So far as known, "the process
of deforming the head of the child has no deleterious effect." Rev.
J. Kirk, an educated Klamath, exhibits the deformity.

Mission Indians. In the "American Anthropologist" (vol. vii,
n. s., pp. 620-629) for October-December, 1905, Miss C. G. Du Bois
has an article on " Religious Ceremonies and Myths of the Mission
Indians." The various fiestas of the Dieguenos (the tolacJie, or pu-
berty initiation-feast for boys ; the akeel, the corresponding feast for
girls ; the wukaruk, or feast of the images of the dead ; the eagle
feast preparatory to the wukaruk) are briefly treated (after Boscana)
and the English text of the myth of the wukaruk, called " The Ori-
gin of Song and Dance," given as related by an aged woman of Man-
zanita. Some notes on the religious observances of the Luisenos
are given on pages 628, 629.

Pueblos. Pueblo Bonito. In the "American Anthropologist"
for April-June, 1905 (vol. vii, n. s., pp. 183-197, 4 pi), Mr. George
H. Pepper has an article on "Ceremonial Objects and Ornaments
from Pueblo Bonito, New Mexico," in which are described inlaid
scrapers of bone, a jet frog, a jet buckle, jet pendant, beads and but-
tons, turquoise beads, pendants and beads, found in 1897 in Room 38
of the ruins of Pueblo Bonito, a locality in the Chaco canon, whose
inhabitants had had no intercourse with the Spaniards, to judge by
archaeological evidence. At p. 575 of the July-September number
Dr. J. Walter Fewkes has a note on " Inlaid Objects," in correcting a
statement of Mr. Pepper concerning Pueblo mosaics. — Jcniez. In
the "American Anthropologist " for April-June, 1905 (vol. vii, n. s.,
pp. 198-212), Professor W. H. Holmes has an article, " Notes on the
Antiquities of Jemez Valley, New Mexico," embodying the results of
investigations made in 1889, hitherto unpublished. The ruins of
Vallecito viejo, Patokwa (San Juan de Jemez), Astialakwa, Giusewa
(San Diego de Jemez), Amoxiumqua, and several unnamed sites in
the neighborhood of Jemez are briefly considered. Some of these
pueblos were in use in Spanish times, others are only pre-Spanish.

Salishan. R. de La Grasserie's paper in the "Journ. de la Soc.
des Americanistes de Paris" (n. s., vol. ii, 1905, pp. 333-338), "Ren-
seignements sur les noms de parente dans plusieures langues am^ri-
caines," treats of the relationship-terms in several Salishan dialects
(Skqomic, Bilqula, Stlat'lEmch, Shushwap, Kalispelm).

Shasta-Achomawi. In the " American Anthropologist " (vol. vii,
n. s., pp. 607-612) for October-December, 1905, Dr. Roland B. Dixon
has a brief article on " The Mythology of the Shasta-Achomawi."
Until recently these Indians have been regarded as two distinct
linguistic families, but Dr. Dixon thinks that " they may regarded as

Record of American Folk-Lore. 67

probably related members of a single stock, though in many respects
quite distinct." In mythology, as in language, " the two compo-
nents of the stock are alike, yet different." The eastern (Achomawi)
branch resembles the Maidu in having " much of the systematic
sequent quality " characteristic of the latter ; likewise in the im-
portance attached to a creator and the episode of creation. Dr.
Dixon gives the outline of the Achomawi creation-myth. With the
Shasta " of the creation proper, or the making of the animals, there
seems to be little trace." The coyote, however, "names the animals,
and is responsible for the introduction of death into the world, but
in a manner wholly different from that in the Achomawi or the
Maidu." With the Shasta, "we find a considerably greater agree-
ment with the Achomawi in the coyote and miscellaneous tales than
in the creation series." The Shasta coyote " is not so purely a trick-
ster as the Achomawi," and he figures as an important character in
a larger number of tales. The mythologic data, on the whole, con-
firm the linguistic evidence of the relationship of the Shasta-Acho-
mawi. According to Dr. Dixon, "we may, perhaps, regard the
Shasta, at least, as comparatively recent comers into the area south
of the Siskiyou mountains." — In connection with this should be
read Dr. Dixon's previous article (vol. vii, n. s., pp. 213-217) in the
same journal on "The Shasta-Achomawi : A New Linguistic Stock,
with Four New Dialects," based on investigations in 1900 and 1902-
04. The Achomawi is not a single language, as hitherto believed,
but "in reality consists of two markedly divergent languages," — the
Achomawi and the Atsuge'wi. The relationship of the Achomawi
and the Shasta is regarded by Dr. Dixon as certain, and the name
Shasta-Achomawi suggested for the stock.

MEXICO.

Nahuatlan. Aztecan. In the " American Anthropologist " for
April-June, 1905 (vol. vii, n. s., pp. 218-221, 2 pi.), Mr. D. J. Bush-
nell, Jr., describes "Two Ancient Mexican Atlatls." These objects,
" true gems of ancient Aztec Art," are now in the Florence Anthro-
pological Museum. They are regarded as " probably the finest
existing examples of the throwing-sticks of the ancient Mexicans."
The high degree of skill shown in the design and execution of the
carving indicates that "they were ceremonial or sacred objects, and
not intended for actual use." Their history is not known, — they
have been in Florence for centuries. They were originally (like the
specimen in the Kircheriana Museum in Rome) covered with a thin
layer of gold.

Mixteco-Zapotec. In the " Journ. de la Soc. des Americanistes de
Paris " (vol. ii, n. s., 1905, pp. 241-280), W. Lehmann writes of " Les

68 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

peintures Mixteco-Zapot^ques et quelques documents apparentes."
The article enumerates, with historical sketch, bibliographic refer-
ences, etc., the group of picture-writings (35 MSS. in all) dominated
by the Codex Borgia and influenced by Zapotecan culture.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

Mayan. KekcJii. In the "American Anthropologist " (vol. vii, n. s.,
pp. 271-294) for April-June, 1905, Mr. Robert Burkitt writes on
" A Kekchi Will of the Sixteenth Century," giving the original text,
phonetic rendering, interpretative notes, and vocabulary. The will,
that of a dying widow, is dated December 3, 1583. It contains (ex-
clusive of repetitions) some 112 Kekchi and 36 Spanish words, — of
the dubious ones 10 or 11 are probably Kekchi and 5 or 6 Spanish.
The language itself is interesting as bearing testimony against the
instability so commonly attributed to the speech of savage and bar-
barous peoples. Says Mr. Burkitt, " If ' Juan Mendez, scribe,' had
been a better scribe, there would be little but the date to show that
his Indian was not written yesterday." After 320 years surprisingly
few serious changes have taken place. — Maya Dates. In the
"American Anthropologist " (vol. vii, n. s., pp. 642-647) for October-
December, 1905, Mr. J. T. Goodman has an article on "Maya Dates."
According to the author, the only possible way of aligning ancient
Maya chronology with ours is by correlating the Xin (reckoning
by a cycle of 13 kahuns ; designated by their terminal day num-
ber) and the Archaic (cycle of 20 kahuns ; numbered in order of
succession) systems. The Xins migrated from a region where the
Archaic calendar was in use, and adopted the current day and year
count of the new home, but retained their chronological one in order
to keep their records unbroken. Its results from the author's com-
parisons that " Copan, Quirigua, Tikal, Menche, Piedras Negras,
and the other more modern capitals, flourished from the sixth to the
ninth century of our era, speaking in round terms, and that Palenque
was in existence 3143 years before Christ." A certain general di-
versity in a system where everything else was uniform indicates that
"every city, in addition to the standard chronology, common to the
whole race, had a reckoning from the date of its founding, — like
Rome." — Mayan. Of the papers translated in " Mexican and Cen-
tral American Antiquities, Calendar Systems and History " (Wash-
ington, 1904), which forms Bulletin 28 of the Bureau of American
Ethnology, the following relate to the Mayan stock : Seler, E. : An-
tiquities of Guatemala (pp. 75-121), The Bat God of the Maya Race
(pp. 231-241), The Signification of the Maya Calendar for Historic
Chronology (pp. 325-337). Forstemann, E. : Aids to the Deciphering
of the Maya Manuscripts (pp. 393-475), Maya Chronology (pp. 473-

Record of American Folk-Lore. 69

489), The Time Periods of the Mayas (pp. 491-498), The Maya Glyphs
(pp. 499-513), The Central American Calendar (pp. 515-519), The
Pleiades among the Mayas (pp. 521-524), Central American, Tonala-
matl (pp. 525-533), Recent Maya Investigations (pp. 535-543), The
Inscription for the Cross of Palenque (pp. 545-555), The Day Gods
of the Mayas (pp. 557-572), The Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque
(pp. 573-580), Three Inscriptions of Palenque (pp. 581-589). Schell-
has, P. : Comparative Studies in the Field of Maya Antiquities (pp.
591-622), Sapper, C. : The Independent States of Yucatan (pp.
623-634). Dieseldorff, E. P., Seler, E., and Forstemann, E. : Two