iii. 352;

seclusion of girls at puberty among the, x. 42 _sq._

Wiradjuri or Wirajuri tribe of South-East Australia, the headman always a magician, i. 335 _sq._; their belief as to sorcery, iii. 269

Wissowa, Professor G., on Manius Egerius, i. 22 _n._ 5; on altar at Nemi, i. 23 _n._ 2; on sacrifices to Janus, ii. 382 _n._ 1; on Janus as the god of doors, ii. 383 _n._ 3; on introduction of Phrygian rites at Rome, v. 267 _n._; on Orcus, vi. 231 _n._ 5; on Ops and Consus, vi. 233 _n._ 6; on the marriage of the Roman gods, vi. 236 _n._ 1

Wit, Miss Augusta de, on the importance of rice for Java, vii. 200 _n._ 1

Witch, Mac Crauford, the great arch, x. 293

Witch burnt in Ireland, i. 236, x. 323 _sq._; soul departs from her in sleep, iii. 39, 41, 42; burned at St. Andrews, iii. 309; name given to the last corn cut after sunset, vii. 140; effigy of, burnt on first Sunday in Lent, x. 116, 118 _sq._; effigy of, burnt on Walpurgis Night, x. 159; compelled to appear by burning an animal or part of an animal which she has bewitched, x. 303, 305, 307 _sq._, 321 _sq._; in form of a toad, x. 323. _See also_ Witches

——, Old, burning the, on the last day of harvest in Yorkshire, vii. 224; on Twelfth Day in Herefordshire, ix. 319

“Witch-shot,” a sudden stiffness in the back, x. 343 _n._, 345

Witch’s herb, St. John’s wort, xi. 56 _n._ 1

“—— nest,” a tangle of birch-branches, xi. 185

Witchcraft, precautions against, on May Day, ii. 52 _sqq._; the rowan a protection against, ii. 53, 54, ix. 267, x. 154, 327 _n._ 1, xi. 184 _n._ 4, 185, 281; strangers suspected of practising, iii. 102; almost universal dread of, iii. 281; the harvest Maiden a protection against, vii. 156; singed sheepskin a protection against, viii. 324; practised in cures in Scotland, ix. 38 _sq._; on the Congo, dread of, ix. 77 _n._ 2; the belief in, persists under the higher religions, ix. 89 _sq._; in Moravia, precautions against, ix. 162; bonfires a protection against, x. 108, 109; holy water a protection against, x. 123; cattle driven through Midsummer fire as a protection against, x. 175; burs and mugwort a preservative against, x. 177, xi. 59 _sq._; Midsummer fires a protection against, x. 185, 188; a broom a protection against, x. 210; need-fire kindled to counteract, x. 280, 292 _sq._, 293, 295; in Devonshire, x. 302; great dread of, in Europe, x. 340; the fire-festivals regarded as a protection against, x. 342; stiffness in the back attributed to, x. 343 _n._, 345; colic and sore eyes attributed to, x. 344; a wheel a charm against, x. 345 _n._; thought to be the source of almost all calamities, xi. 19 _sq._; leaping over bonfires as a protection against, xi. 40; its treatment by the Christian Church, xi. 42; and sorcery, Midsummer herbs and flowers a protection against, xi. 45, 46, 49, 54, 55, 59, 60, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 72; St. John’s wort a protection against, xi. 54; dwarf-elder used to detect, xi. 64; fern root a protection against, xi. 67; mistletoe a protection against, xi. 85 _sq._, 282, 283, 294; fatal to milk and butter, xi. 86; oak log a protection against, xi. 92; children passed through a ring of yarn as a protection against, xi. 185; a “witch’s nest” (tangle of birch-branches) a protection against, xi. 185. _See also_ Witch, Witches, _and_ Sorcery

Witches sink ships, i. 135; raise the wind, i. 322, 326; in the wind, knives thrown at, i. 329; souls of dead, said to pass into trees, ii. 32; buried under trees, ii. 32; steal milk of cows on May Day or Walpurgis Night, ii. 52 _sqq._, ix. 267; precautions against, ii. 52 _sqq._; in the shape of hares suck the milk of cows, ii. 53; steal butter, ii. 53; burned out on May Day, ii. 54; driven away by the sound of church bells, ii. 127; steal milk from cows on Midsummer Eve, ii. 127, x. 176, xi. 74; steal milk on Eve of St. George, ii. 334 _sqq._; as cats and dogs, ii.334, 335; make use of cut hair, iii. 270, 271, 279, 282; wedding rings a protection against, iii. 314, 314 _sq._; steal cows’ milk, iii. 314 _sq._, x. 343; burnt alive in Africa, ix. 18, 19; special precautions against, at certain seasons of the year, ix. 157 _sqq._; annually expelled in Calabria, Silesia, and other parts of Europe, ix. 157 _sqq._; active during the Twelve Days from Christmas to Twelfth Night, ix. 158 _sqq._; the burning out of the, in the Tyrol, ix. 158 _sq._, in Bohemia, ix. 161, in Silesia and Saxony, ix. 163; shooting the, ix. 164; driving out the, ix. 164; burnt in Scotland, ix. 165; beaten with rods of buckthorn on Good Friday, ix. 266; not allowed to touch the bare ground, x. 5 _sq._; burnt and beheaded, x. 6; effigies of, burnt in bonfires, x. 107, 116 _sq._, 118 _sq._, 342, xi. 43; charm to protect fields against, x. 121; Beltane fires a protection against, x. 154; cast spells on cattle, x. 154; steal milk from cows at Beltane, x. 154; in the form of hares and cats, x. 157, 315 _n._ 1, 316 _sqq._, 317, 318, 319 _sq._, xi. 41, 311 _sq._; burnt on May Day, x. 157, 159, 160; fires to burn the witches on the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night), x. 159 _sq._, xi. 20 _n._; abroad on Walpurgis Night, x. 159 _sq._; kept out by crosses, x. 160 _n._ 2; driving away the, x. 160, 170, 171; resort to the Blocksberg, x. 171; Midsummer fires a protection against, x. 176, 180; steal milk and butter at Midsummer, x. 185; active on Midsummer Eve, x. 210, xi. 19; abroad at Hallowe’en, x. 226, 245; burnt in Hallowe’en fires, x. 232 _sq._; the Yule log a protection against, x. 258; thought to cause cattle disease, x. 302 _sq._; at Ipswich, x. 304 _sq._; transformed into animals, x. 315 _sqq._; as cockchafers, x. 322; come to borrow, x. 322, 323, xi. 73; cause hail and thunder-storms, x. 344; brought down from the clouds by shots and smoke, x. 345 _sq._; burning missiles hurled at, x. 345; active on Hallowe’en and May Day, xi. 19, 73 _sqq._, 184 _n._ 4, 185; burnt or banned by fire, xi. 19 _sq._; gather noxious plants on Midsummer Eve, xi. 47; gather St. John’s wort on St. John’s Eve, xi. 56; purple loosestrife a protection against, xi. 65; tortured in India, xi. 159; animal familiars of, xi. 202. _See also_ “Burning the Witches”

“Witches, Burning the,” a popular name for the fires of the festivals, xi. 43

—— and hares in Yorkshire, xi. 197

—— and were-wolves, parallelism between, x. 315, 321

—— and wizards thought to keep their strength in their hair, xi. 158 _sq._; put to death by the Aztecs, xi. 159

—— and wolves the two great foes dreaded by herdsmen in Europe, ii. 330 _sqq._, x. 343

Witches’ Sabbath on the Eve of St. George, ii. 335, 338; on the Eve of May Day and Midsummer Eve, x. 171 _n._ 3, 181, xi. 73, 74

Witchetty grubs, ceremony for the multiplication of, among the Arunta, i. 85

“Withershins,” against the sun, in curses and excommunication at Hallowe’en, x. 234

Wittichenau, in Silesia, custom at end of threshing at, vii. 149

Witurna, a spirit whose voice is heard in the sound of the bull-roarer,