chapter xvi. pp. 158-163 (Temple Classics edition); Father X.

Abougit, S.J., “Le feu du Saint-Sépulcre,” _Les Missions Catholiques_, viii. (1876) pp. 518 _sq._; Rev. C. T. Wilson, _Peasant Life in the Holy Land_ (London, 1906), pp. 45 _sq._; P. Saint-yves, “Le Renouvellement du Feu Sacré,” _Revue des Traditions Populaires_, xxvii. (1912) pp. 449 _sqq._ The distribution of the new fire in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the subject of a picture by Holman Hunt. From some printed notes on the picture, with which Mrs. Holman Hunt was so kind as to furnish me, it appears that the new fire is carried by horsemen to Bethlehem and Jaffa, and that a Russian ship conveys it from Jaffa to Odessa, whence it is distributed all over the country.

321 Father X. Abougit, S.J., “Le feu du Saint-Sépulcre,” _Les Missions Catholiques_, viii. (1876) pp. 165-168.

M106 The new fire and the burning of Judas on Easter Saturday in Greece.

322 I have described the ceremony as I witnessed it at Athens, on April 13th, 1890. Compare _Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 275. Having been honoured, like other strangers, with a place on the platform, I did not myself detect Lucifer at work among the multitude below; I merely suspected his insidious presence.

323 W. H. D. Rouse, “Folk-lore from the Southern Sporades,” _Folk-lore_, x. (1899) p. 178.

324 Mrs. A. E. Gardner was so kind as to send me a photograph of a Theban Judas dangling from a gallows and partially enveloped in smoke. The photograph was taken at Thebes during the Easter celebration of 1891.

325 G. F. Abbott, _Macedonian Folk-lore_ (Cambridge, 1903) p. 37.

M107 The new fire at Candlemas in Armenia.

326 Cirbied, “Mémoire sur le gouvernment et sur la religion des anciens Arméniens,” _Mémoires publiées par la Société Royaledes Antiquaires de France_, ii. (1820) pp. 285-287; Manuk Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_ (Leipsic, 1899), pp. 72-74. The ceremony is said to be merely a continuation of an old heathen festival which was held at the beginning of spring in honour of the fire-god Mihr. A bonfire was made in a public place, and lamps kindled at it were kept burning throughout the year in each of the fire-god’s temples.

M108 The new fire and the burning of Judas at Easter are probably relics of paganism.

_ 327 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 32, ii. 243; _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 65, 74, 75, 78, 136.

M109 The new fire at the summer solstice among the Incas of Peru. The new fire among the Indians of Mexico and New Mexico. The new fire among the Esquimaux.

328 Garcilasso de la Vega, _Royal Commentaries of the Yncas_, translated by (Sir) Clements R. Markham (Hakluyt Society, London, 1869-1871), vol. ii. pp. 155-163. Compare Juan de Velasco, “Histoire du Royaume de Quito,” in H. Ternaux-Compans’s _Voyages, Relations et Mémoires originaux pour servir à l’Histoire de la Découverte de l’Amérique_, xviii. (Paris, 1840) p. 140.

329 B. de Sahagun, _Histoire Générale des Choses de la Nouvelle Espagne_, traduite par D. Jourdanet et R. Simeon (Paris, 1880), bk. ii. chapters 18 and 37, pp. 76, 161; Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des Nations civilisées du Mexique et de l’Amérique-Centrale_ (Paris, 1857-1859), iii. 136.

330 Mrs. Matilda Coxe Stevenson, “The Zuñi Indians,” _Twenty-third Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1904), pp. 108-141, 148-162, especially pp. 108, 109, 114 _sq._, 120 _sq._, 130 _sq._, 132, 148 _sq._, 157 _sq._ I have already described these ceremonies in _Totemism and Exogamy_, iii. 237 _sq._ Among the Hopi (Moqui) Indians of Walpi, another pueblo village of this region, new fire is ceremonially kindled by friction in November. See Jesse Walter Fewkes, “The Tusayan New Fire Ceremony,” _Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History_, xxvi. 422-458; _id._, “The Group of Tusayan Ceremonials called _Katcinas_,” _Fifteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1897), p. 263; _id._, “Hopi _Katcinas_,” _Twenty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1903), p. 24.

331 Henry R. Schoolcraft, _Notes on the Iroquois_ (Albany, 1847), p. 137. Schoolcraft did not know the date of the ceremony, but he conjectured that it fell at the end of the Iroquois year, which was a lunar year of twelve or thirteen months. He says: “That the close of the lunar series should have been the period of putting out the fire, and the beginning of the next, the time of relumination, from new fire, is so consonant to analogy in the tropical tribes, as to be probable” (_op. cit._ p. 138).

332 C. F. Hall, _Life with the Esquimaux_ (London, 1864), ii. 323.

333 Franz Boas, “The Eskimo of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay,” _Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History_, xv. Part i. (New York, 1901) p. 151.

M110 The new fire in Wadai, among the Swahili, and in other parts of Africa.

334 G. Nachtigal, _Sahărâ und Sûdân_, iii. (Leipsic, 1889) p. 251.

335 Major C. Percival, “Tropical Africa, on the Border Line of Mohamedan Civilization,” _The Geographical Journal_, xlii. (1913) pp. 253 _sq._

336 Adrien Germain, “Note sur Zanzibar et la côte orientale de l’Afrique,” _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), v. Série xvi. (1868) p. 557; _Les Missions Catholiques_, iii. (1870) p. 270; Charles New, _Life, Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa_ (London, 1873), p. 65; Jerome Becker, _La Vie en Afrique_ (Paris and Brussels, 1887), ii. 36; O. Baumann, _Usambara und seine Nachbargebiete_ (Berlin, 1891), pp. 55 _sq._; C. Velten, _Sitten und Gebräuche der Suaheli_ (Göttingen, 1903), pp. 342-344.

337 Duarte Barbosa, _Description of the Coasts of East Africa and Malabar_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1866), p. 8; _id._, in _Records of South-Eastern Africa_, collected by G. McCall Theal, vol. i. (1898) p. 96; Damião de Goes, “Chronicle of the Most Fortunate King Dom Emanuel,” in _Records of South-Eastern Africa_, collected by G. McCall Theal, vol. iii. (1899) pp. 130 _sq._ The name Benametapa (more correctly _monomotapa_) appears to have been the regular title of the paramount chief, which the Portuguese took to be the name of the country. The people over whom he ruled seem to have been the Bantu tribe of the Makalanga in the neighbourhood of Sofala. See G. McCall Theal, _Records of South-Eastern Africa_, vii. (1901) pp. 481-484. It is to their custom of annually extinguishing and relighting the fire that Montaigne refers in his essay (i. 22, vol. i. p. 140 of Charpentier’s edition), though he mentions no names.

338 Sir H. H. Johnson, _British Central Africa_ (London, 1897), pp. 426, 439.

M111 The new fire among the Todas of Southern India and among the Nagas of North-Eastern India.

339 W. H. R. Rivers, _The Todas_ (London, 1906), pp. 290-292.

340 Lieut. R. Stewart, “Notes on Northern Cachar,” _Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, xxiv. (1855) p. 612.

341 A. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, ii. (Leipsic, 1866) pp. 49 _sq._; Shway Yoe, _The Burman_ (London, 1882), ii. 325 _sq._

M112 The new fire in China and Japan.

342 G. Schlegel, _Uranographie Chinoise_ (The Hague and Leyden, 1875), pp. 139-143; C. Puini, “Il fuoco nella tradizione degli antichi Cinesi,” _Giornale della Società Asiatica Italiana_, i. (1887) pp. 20-23; J. J. M. de Groot, _Les Fêtes annuellement célébrées à Émoui (Amoy)_ (Paris, 1886), i. 208 _sqq._ The notion that fire can be worn out with age meets us also in Brahman ritual. See the _Satapatha Brahmana_, translated by Julius Eggeling, Part i. (Oxford, 1882) p. 230 (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xii.).

343 W. G. Aston, _Shinto, The Way of the Gods_ (London, 1905), pp. 258 _sq._, compare p. 193. The wands in question are sticks whittled near the top into a mass of adherent shavings; they go by the name of _kedzurikake_ (“part-shaved”), and resemble the sacred _inao_ of the Aino. See W. G. Aston, _op. cit._ p. 191; and as to the _inao_, see _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 185, with note 2.

M113 The new fire in ancient Greece and Rome.

344 Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 82; Homer, _Iliad_, i. 590, _sqq._

345 Philostratus, _Heroica_, xx. 24.

346 Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 143 _sq._; Macrobius, _Saturn._ i. 12. 6.

347 Festus, ed. C. O. Müller (Leipsic, 1839), p. 106, _s.v._ “Ignis.” Plutarch describes a method of rekindling the sacred fire by means of the sun’s rays reflected from a hollow mirror (_Numa_, 9); but he seems to be referring to a Greek rather than to the Roman custom. The rule of celibacy imposed on the Vestals, whose duty it was to relight the sacred fire as well as to preserve it when it was once made, is perhaps explained by a superstition current among French peasants that if a girl can blow up a smouldering candle into a flame she is a virgin, but that if she fails to do so, she is not. See Jules Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 27; B. Souché, _Croyances, Présages et Traditions diverses_ (Niort, 1880), p. 12. At least it seems more likely that the rule sprang from a superstition of this sort than from a simple calculation of expediency, as I formerly suggested (_Journal of Philology_, xiv. (1885) p. 158). Compare _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 234 _sqq._

M114 The new fire at Hallow E’en among the old Celts of Ireland. The new fire on September 1st among the Russian peasants.

348 Geoffrey Keating, D.D., _The History of Ireland, translated from the original Gaelic, and copiously annotated_, by John O’Mahony (New York, 1857), p. 300, with the translator’s note. Compare (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London, 1888), pp. 514 _sq._

349 W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, Second Edition (London, 1872), pp. 254 _sq._

M115 Thus the ceremony of the new fire in the Eastern and Western Church is probably a relic of an old heathen rite. M116 The pagan character of the Easter fire appears from the superstitions associated with it, such as the belief that the fire fertilizes the fields and protects houses from conflagration and sickness.

350 A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; A. Kuhn, _Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen_ (Leipsic, 1859), ii. 134 _sqq._; _id._, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), pp. 312 _sq._; J. D. H. Temme, _Die Volkssagen der Altmark_ (Berlin, 1839), pp. 75 _sq._; K. Lynker, _Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen_2 (Cassel and Göttingen, 1860), p. 240; H. Pröhle, _Harzbilder_ (Leipsic, 1855), p. 63; R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), pp. 240-242; W. Kolbe, _Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche_ (Marburg, 1888), pp. 44-47; F. A. Reimann, _Deutsche Volksfeste_ (Weimar, 1839), p. 37; “Sitten und Gebräuche in Duderstadt,” _Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, ii. (1855) p. 107; K. Seifart, _Sagen, Märchen, Schwänke und Gebräuche aus Stadt und Stift Hildesheim_2 (Hildesheim, 1889), pp. 177, 180; O. Hartung, “Zur Volkskunde aus Anhalt,” _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, vii. (1897) p. 76.

M117 The Easter fires in Münsterland, Oldenburg, the Harz Mountains, and the Altmark.

351 L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), ii. pp. 43 _sq._, § 313; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 505 _sq._

352 L. Strackerjan, _op. cit._ ii. p. 43, § 313.

353 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 (Berlin, 1875-1878), i. 512; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_, pp. 506 _sq._

354 H. Pröhle, _Harzbilder_ (Leipsic, 1855), p. 63; _id._, in _Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853) p. 79; A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 373; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 507.

355 A. Kuhn, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), pp. 312 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _l.c._

356 W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 508. Compare J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1852-1857), i. 74; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 512. The two latter writers only state that before the fires were kindled it was customary to hunt squirrels in the woods.

357 A. Kuhn, _l.c._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 508.

M118 The Easter fires in Bavaria. The burning of Judas. Burning the Easter Man.

_ 358 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), iii. 956.

359 See above, pp. 116 _sq._, 119.

360 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. pp. 211 _sq._, § 233; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, pp. 507 _sq._

_ 361 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, iii. 357.

362 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. pp. 212 _sq._, § 236.

363 F. Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. pp. 78 _sq._, §§ 114, 115. The customs observed at these places and at Althenneberg are described together by W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 505.

364 A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. p. 82, § 106; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 508.

M119 The Easter fires in Baden. “Thunder poles.”

365 Elard Hugo Meyer, _Badisches Volksleben_ (Strasburg, 1900), pp. 97 _sq._

_ 366 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 349 _sqq._ See further below, vol. ii. pp. 298 _sqq._

M120 Easter fires in Holland and Sweden. The burning of Judas in Bohemia.

367 J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 75 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 506.

368 L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), p. 228.

369 W. Müller, _Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren_ (Vienna and Olmütz, 1893), pp. 321, 397 _sq._ In Wagstadt, a town of Austrian Silesia, a boy in a red waistcoat used to play the part of Judas on the Wednesday before Good Friday. He was chased from before the church door by the other school children, who pursued him through the streets with shouts and the noise of rattles and clappers till they reached a certain suburb, where they always caught and beat him because he had betrayed the Redeemer. See Anton Peter, _Volksthümliches aus österreichisch-Schlesien_ (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 282 _sq._; Paul Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_ (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 77 _sq._

M121 The Beltane fires on the first of May in the Highlands of Scotland. Description of the Beltane fires by John Ramsay of Ochtertyre in the eighteenth century. M122 Need-fire. M123 Need-fire kindled by the friction of oak wood. M124 The Beltane cake and the Beltane carline (_cailleach_). M125 Local differences in the Beltane cakes. M126 Evidence of two fires at Beltane.

_ 370 Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, from the MSS. of John Ramsay, Esq., of Ochtertyre, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii. 439-445. As to the _tein-eigin_ or need-fire, see below, pp. 269 _sqq._ The etymology of the word Beltane is uncertain; the popular derivation of the first part from the Phoenician Baal is absurd. See, for example, John Graham Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 176 _sq._: “The recognition of the pagan divinity Baal, or Bel, the Sun, is discovered through innumerable etymological sources. In the records of Scottish history, down to the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, multiplied prohibitions were issued from the fountains of ecclesiastical ordinances, against kindling _Bailfires_, of which the origin cannot be mistaken. The festival of this divinity was commemorated in Scotland until the latest date.” Modern scholars are not agreed as to the derivation of the name Beltane. See Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 268 _sq._; J. A. MacCulloch, _The Religion of the Ancient Celts_ (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 264.

M127 Beltane fires and cakes in the parish of Callander.

371 “_Bal-tein_ signifies the _fire of Baal_. _Baal_ or _Ball_ is the only word in Gaelic for _a globe_. This festival was probably in honour of the sun, whose return, in his apparent annual course, they celebrated, on account of his having such a visible influence, by his genial warmth, on the productions of the earth. That the Caledonians paid a superstitious respect to the sun, as was the practice among many other nations, is evident, not only by the sacrifice at Baltein, but upon many other occasions. When a Highlander goes to bathe, or to drink waters out of a consecrated fountain, he must always approach by going round the place, _from east to west on the south side_, in imitation of the apparent diurnal motion of the sun. When the dead are laid in the earth, the grave is approached by going round in the same manner. The bride is conducted to her future spouse, in the presence of the minister, and the glass goes round a company, in the course of the sun. This is called, in Gaelic, going round the right, or the _lucky way_. The opposite course is the wrong, or the _unlucky_ way. And if a person’s meat or drink were to affect the wind-pipe, or come against his breath, they instantly cry out _deisheal!_ which is an ejaculation praying that it may go by the right way” (Rev. J. Robertson, in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xi. 621 note). Compare J. G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 229 _sq._: “_The Right-hand Turn_ (_Deiseal_).—This was the most important of all the observances. The rule is ‘_Deiseal_ (_i.e._ the right-hand turn) for everything,’ and consists in doing all things with a motion corresponding to the course of the sun, or from left to right. This is the manner in which screw-nails are driven, and is common with many for no reason but its convenience. Old men in the Highlands were very particular about it. The coffin was taken _deiseal_ about the grave, when about to be lowered; boats were turned to sea according to it, and drams are given to the present day to a company. When putting a straw rope on a house or corn-stack, if the assistant went _tuaitheal_ (_i.e._ against the course of the sun), the old man was ready to come down and thrash him. On coming to a house the visitor should go round it _deiseal_ to secure luck in the object of his visit. After milking a cow the dairy-maid should strike it _deiseal_ with the shackle, saying ‘out and home’ (_mach ’us dachaigh_). This secures its safe return. The word is from _deas_, right-hand, and _iul_, direction, and of itself contains no allusion to the sun.” Compare M. Martin, “Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,” in J. Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, iii. 612 _sq._: “There was an ancient custom in the island of Lewis, to make a fiery circle about the houses, corn, cattle, etc., belonging to each particular family: a man carried fire in his right hand, and went round, and it was called _dessil_, from the right hand, which in the ancient language is called _dess_.... There is another way of the _dessil_, or carrying fire round about women before they are churched, after child-bearing; and it is used likewise about children until they are christened; both which are performed in the morning and at night. This is only practised now by some of the ancient midwives: I enquired their reason for this custom, which I told them was altogether unlawful; this disobliged them mightily, insomuch that they would give me no satisfaction. But others, that were of a more agreeable temper, told me that fire-round was an effectual means to preserve both the mother and the infant from the power of evil spirits, who are ready at such times to do mischief, and sometimes carry away the infant; and when they get them once in their possession, return them poor meagre skeletons; and these infants are said to have voracious appetites, constantly craving for meat. In this case it was usual with those who believed that their children were thus taken away, to dig a grave in the fields upon quarter-day, and there to lay the fairy skeleton till next morning; at which time the parents went to the place, where they doubted not to find their own child instead of this skeleton. Some of the poorer sort of people in these islands retain the custom of performing these rounds sun-ways about the persons of their benefactors three times, when they bless them, and wish good success to all their enterprizes. Some are very careful when they set out to sea that the boat be first rowed about sun-ways; and if this be neglected, they are afraid their voyage may prove unfortunate.” Probably the superstition was based entirely on the supposed luckiness of the right hand, which accordingly, in making a circuit round an object, is kept towards the centre. As to a supposed worship of the sun among the Scottish Highlanders, compare J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_, p. 304: “Both the sun (_a Ghrian_) and moon (_a Ghealach_) are feminine in Gaelic, and the names are simply descriptive of their appearance. There is no trace of a Sun-God or Moon-Goddess.” As to the etymology of Beltane, see above, p. 149 note.

372 Rev. James Robertson (Parish Minister of Callander), in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xi. 620 _sq._

M128 Pennant’s description of the Beltane fires and cakes in Perthshire.

373 Pennant’s “Tour in Scotland,” in John Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), iii. 49.

M129 Beltane cakes and fires in the parishes of Logierait and Kirkmichael. Omens drawn from the cakes.

374 Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_, v. 84.

375 Rev. Allan Stewart, in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xv. 517 note.

376 Rev. Walter Gregor, “Notes on Beltane Cakes,” _Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) pp. 2 _sq._ The Beltane cakes with the nine knobs on them remind us of the cakes with twelve knobs which the Athenians offered to Cronus and other deities (see _The Scapegoat_, p. 351). The King of the Bean on Twelfth Night was chosen by means of a cake, which was broken in as many pieces as there were persons present, and the person who received the piece containing a bean or a coin became king. See J. Boemus, _Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), p. 222; John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 22 _sq._; _The Scapegoat_, pp. 313 _sqq._

M130 Beltane fires in the north-east of Scotland to burn the witches. Burning the witches. The Beltane cake.

377 Shaw, in Pennant’s “Tour in Scotland,” printed in J. Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, iii. 136. The part of Scotland to which Shaw’s description applies is what he calls the province or country of Murray, extending from the river Spey on the east to the river Beauly on the west, and south-west to Loch Lochy.

378 Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 167.

M131 Beltane cakes and fires in the Hebrides.

379 A. Goodrich-Freer, “More Folk-lore from the Hebrides,” _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) p. 41. The St. Michael’s cake (_Strùthan na h’eill Micheil_), referred to in the text, is described as “the size of a quern” in circumference. “It is kneaded simply with water, and marked across like a scone, dividing it into four equal parts, and then placed in front of the fire resting on a quern. It is not polished with dry meal as is usual in making a cake, but when it is cooked a thin coating of eggs (four in number), mixed with buttermilk, is spread first on one side, then on the other, and it is put before the fire again. An earlier shape, still in use, which tradition associates with the female sex, is that of a triangle with the corners cut off. A _strùthan_ or _strùdhan_ (the word seems to be used for no other kind of cake) is made for each member of the household, including servants and herds. When harvest is late, an early patch of corn is mown on purpose for the _strùthan_” (A. Goodrich-Freer, _op. cit._ pp. 44 _sq._).

M132 Beltane fires and cakes in Wales.

380 Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 22-24.

M133 Welsh belief that passage over or between the fires ensured good crops.

381 Jonathan Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76.

M134 Beltane fires in the Isle of Man to burn the witches. Beltane fires in Nottinghamshire.

382 Joseph Train, _An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), i. 314 _sq._

383 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 309; _id._, “The Coligny Calendar,” _Proceedings of the British Academy, 1909-1910_, pp. 261 _sq._ See further _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 53 _sq._

384 Professor Frank Granger, “Early Man,” in _The Victoria History of the County of Nottingham_, edited by William Page, i. (London, 1906) pp. 186 _sq._

M135 Beltane fires in Ireland.

385 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 310; _id._, “Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions,” _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) pp. 303 _sq._

386 P. W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. 290 _sq._, referring to Kuno Meyer, _Hibernia Minora_, p. 49 and _Glossary_, 23.

387 J. B. Bury, _The Life of St. Patrick_ (London, 1905), pp. 104 _sqq._

388 Above, p. 147.

389 Geoffrey Keating, D.D., _The History of Ireland_, translated by John O’Mahony (New York, 1857), pp. 300 _sq._

390 (Sir) John Rhys, “Manx Folk-lore and Superstition,” _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) p. 303; _id._, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 309. Compare P. W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. 291: “The custom of driving cattle through fires against disease on the eve of the 1st of May, and on the eve of the 24th June (St. John’s Day), continued in Ireland, as well as in the Scottish Highlands, to a period within living memory.” In a footnote Mr. Joyce refers to Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica_, ii. 340, for Scotland, and adds, “I saw it done in Ireland.”

M136 Fires on the Eve of May Day in Sweden. Fires on the Eve of May Day in Austria and Saxony for the purpose of burning the witches.

391 L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), pp. 233 _sq._

392 Reinsberg - Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_ (Prague, N.D.), pp. 211 _sq._; Br. Jelínek, “Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Böhmens,” _Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, xxi. (1891) p. 13; Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch, und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 71.

393 J. A. E. Köhler, _Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande_ (Leipsic, 1867), p. 373. The superstitions relating to witches at this season are legion. For instance, in Saxony and Thuringia any one who labours under a physical blemish can easily rid himself of it by transferring it to the witches on Walpurgis Night. He has only to go out to a cross-road, make three crosses on the blemish, and say, “In the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” Thus the blemish, whatever it may be, is left behind him at the cross-road, and when the witches sweep by on their way to the Brocken, they must take it with them, and it sticks to them henceforth. Moreover, three crosses chalked up on the doors of houses and cattle-stalls on Walpurgis Night will effectually prevent any of the infernal crew from entering and doing harm to man or beast. See E. Sommer, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Sachsen und Thüringen_ (Halle, 1846), pp. 148 _sq._; _Die gestriegelte Rockenphilosophie_ (Chemnitz, 1759), p. 116.

394 See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 158 _sqq._

M137 The great season for fire-festivals in Europe is the summer solstice, Midsummer Eve or Midsummer Day, which the church has dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The bonfires, the torches, and the burning wheels of the festival.

395 As to the Midsummer Festival of Europe in general see the evidence collected in the “Specimen Calendarii Gentilis,” appended to the _Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, Pars iii. (Copenhagen, 1828) pp. 1086-1097.

396 John Mitchell Kemble, _The Saxons in England_, New Edition (London, 1876), i. 361 _sq._, quoting “an ancient MS. written in England, and now in the Harleian Collection, No. 2345, fol. 50.” The passage is quoted in part by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 298 _sq._, by R. T. Hampson, _Medii Aevi Kalendarium_ (London, 1841), i. 300, and by W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 509. The same explanations of the Midsummer fires and of the custom of trundling a burning wheel on Midsummer Eve are given also by John Beleth, a writer of the twelfth century. See his _Rationale Divinorum Officiorum_ (appended to the _Rationale Divinorum Officiorum_ of G. [W.] Durandus, Lyons, 1584), p. 556 _recto_: “_Solent porro hoc tempore_ [the Eve of St. John the Baptist] _ex veteri consuetudine mortuorum animalium ossa comburi, quod hujusmodi habet originem. Sunt enim animalia, quae dracones appellamus.... Haec inquam animalia in aere volant, in aquis natant, in terra ambulant. Sed quando in aere ad libidinem concitantur (quod fere fit) saepe ipsum sperma vel in puteos, vel in aquas fluviales ejiciunt ex quo lethalis sequitur annus. Adversus haec ergo hujusmodi inventum est remedium, ut videlicet rogus ex ossibus construeretur, et ita fumus hujusmodi animalia fugaret. Et quia istud maxime hoc tempore fiebat, idemetiam modo ab omnibus observatur.... Consuetum item est hac vigilia ardentes deferri faculas quod Johannes fuerit ardens lucerna, et qui vias Domini praeparaverit. Sed quod etiam rota vertatur hinc esse putant quia in eum circulum tunc Sol descenderit ultra quem progredi nequit, a quo cogitur paulatim descendere._” The substance of the passage is repeated in other words by G. Durandus (Wilh. Durantis), a writer of the thirteenth century, in his _Rationale Divinorum Officiorum_, lib. vii. cap. 14 (p. 442 _verso_, ed. Lyons, 1584). Compare J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 516.

With the notion that the air is poisoned at midsummer we may compare the popular belief that it is similarly infected at an eclipse. Thus among the Esquimaux on the Lower Yukon river in Alaska “it is believed that a subtle essence or unclean influence descends to the earth during an eclipse, and if any of it is caught in utensils of any kind it will produce sickness. As a result, immediately on the commencement of an eclipse, every woman turns bottom side up all her pots, wooden buckets, and dishes” (E. W. Nelson, “The Eskimo about Bering Strait,” _Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1899) p. 431). Similar notions and practices prevail among the peasantry of southern Germany. Thus the Swabian peasants think that during an eclipse of the sun poison falls on the earth; hence at such a time they will not sow, mow, gather fruit or eat it, they bring the cattle into the stalls, and refrain from business of every kind. If the eclipse lasts long, the people get very anxious, set a burning candle on the mantel-shelf of the stove, and pray to be delivered from the danger. See Anton Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), i. 189. Similarly Bavarian peasants imagine that water is poisoned during a solar eclipse (F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 297); and Thuringian bumpkins cover up the wells and bring the cattle home from pasture during an eclipse either of the sun or of the moon; an eclipse is particularly poisonous when it happens to fall on a Wednesday. See August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_ (Vienna, 1878), p. 287. As eclipses are commonly supposed by the ignorant to be caused by a monster attacking the sun or moon (E. B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_,2 London, 1873, i. 328 _sqq._), we may surmise, on the analogy of the explanation given of the Midsummer fires, that the unclean influence which is thought to descend on the earth at such times is popularly attributed to seed discharged by the monster or possibly by the sun or moon then in conjunction with each other.

M138 Th. Kirchmeyer’s description of the Midsummer festival.

_ 397 The Popish Kingdome or reigne of Antichrist, written in Latin verse by Thomas Naogeorgus and Englyshed by Barnabe Googe, 1570_, edited by R. C. Hope (London, 1880), p. 54 _verso_. As to this work see above, p. 125 note 1.

M139 The Midsummer fires in Germany. The celebration at Konz on the Moselle: the rolling of a burning wheel down hill.

398 J. Boemus, _Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), pp. 225 _sq._

399 Tessier, “Sur la fête annuelle de la roue flamboyante de la Saint-Jean, à Basse-Kontz, arrondissement de Thionville,” _Mémoires et dissertations publiés par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de France_, v. (1823) pp. 379-393. Tessier witnessed the ceremony, 23rd June 1822 (not 1823, as is sometimes stated). His account has been reproduced more or less fully by J. Grimm (_Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 515 _sq._), W. Mannhardt (_Der Baumkultus_, pp. 510 _sq._), and H. Gaidoz (“Le dieu gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la Roue,” _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 24 _sq._).

M140 The Midsummer fires in Bavaria. Cattle driven through the fire. The new fire. Omens of the harvest drawn from the fires. Burning discs thrown into the air.

_ 400 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_ (Munich, 1860-1867), i. 373 _sq._; compare _id._, iii. 327 _sq._ As to the burning discs at the spring festivals, see above, pp. 116 _sq._, 119, 143.

_ 401 Op. cit._ ii. 260 _sq._, iii. 936, 956, iv. 2. p. 360.

_ 402 Op. cit._ ii. 260.

_ 403 Op. cit._ iv. 1. p. 242. We have seen (p. 163) that in the sixteenth century these customs and beliefs were common in Germany. It is also a German superstition that a house which contains a brand from the midsummer bonfire will not be struck by lightning (J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. p. 217, § 185).

404 J. Boemus, _Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), p. 226.

M141 The Midsummer fires in Swabia. Omens drawn from the leaps over the fires. Burning wheels rolled down hill. Burning the Angel-Man at Rottenburg.

405 Karl Freiherr von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_ (Munich, 1855), pp. 181 _sqq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 510.

406 A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. pp. 96 _sqq._, § 128, pp. 103 _sq._, § 129; _id._, _Aus Schwaben_ (Wiesbaden, 1874), ii. 116-120; E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_ (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 423 _sqq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 510.

407 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. pp. 215 _sq._, § 242; _id._, ii. 549.

408 A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 99-101.

M142 The Midsummer fires in Baden. Omens drawn from leaps over the fires. Burning discs thrown into the air. Midsummer fires in Alsace, Lorraine, the Eifel, the Harz districts and Thuringia. Burning barrel swung round a pole.

409 Elard Hugo Mayer, _Badisches Volksleben_ (Strasburg, 1900), pp. 103 _sq._, 225 _sq._

410 W. von Schulenberg, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte, Jahrgang 1897_, pp. 494 _sq._ (bound up with _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xxix. 1897).

411 H. Gaidoz, “Le dieu Gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la Roue,” _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 29 _sq._

412 Bruno Stehle, “Volksglauben, Sitten und Gebräuche in Lothringen,” _Globus_, lix. (1891) pp. 378 _sq._; “Die Sommerwendfeier im St. Amarinthale,” _Der Urquell_, N.F., i. (1897) pp. 181 _sqq._

413 J. H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes_ (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 40 _sq._ According to one writer, the garlands are composed of St. John’s wort (Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube_, Iserlohn, N.D., p. 33). As to the use of St. John’s wort at Midsummer, see below, vol. ii. pp. 54 _sqq._

414 A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_ (Leipsic, 1848), p. 390.

M143 Midsummer fires kindled by the friction of wood in Germany and Switzerland. Driving away demons and witches.

415 Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), pp. 33 _sq._

416 C. L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 144 _sqq._

M144 Midsummer fires in Silesia. Scaring away the witches.

417 Philo vom Walde, _Schlesien in Sage und Brauch_ (Berlin, N.D.), p. 124; Paul Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch, und Volksglaube in Schlesien_ (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 136 _sq._

M145 The Midsummer fires in Denmark and Norway. Keeping off the witches. The Midsummer fires in Sweden.

418 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 517 _sq._

419 From information supplied by Mr. Sigurd K. Heiberg, engineer, of Bergen, Norway, who in his boyhood regularly collected fuel for the fires. I have to thank Miss Anderson, of Barskimming, Mauchline, Ayrshire, for kindly procuring the information for me from Mr. Heiberg.

The Blocksberg, where German as well as Norwegian witches gather for their great Sabbaths on the Eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) and Midsummer Eve, is commonly identified with the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz mountains. But in Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and probably elsewhere, villages have their own local Blocksberg, which is generally a hill or open place in the neighbourhood; a number of places in Pomerania go by the name of the Blocksberg. See J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 878 _sq._; Ulrich Jahn, _Hexenwesen und Zauberei in Pommern_ (Breslau, 1886), pp. 4 _sq._; _id._, _Volkssagen aus Pommern und Rügen_ (Stettin, 1886), p. 329.

420 L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), pp. 259, 265.

421 L. Lloyd, _op. cit._ pp. 261 _sq._ These springs are called “sacrificial fonts” (_Offer källor_) and are “so named because in heathen times the limbs of the slaughtered victim, whether man or beast, were here washed prior to immolation” (L. Lloyd, _op. cit._ p. 261).

M146 The Midsummer fires in Switzerland and Austria. Effigies burnt in the fires. Burning wheels rolled down hill.

422 E. Hoffmann-Krayer, _Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes_ (Zurich, 1913), p. 164.

423 Ignaz V. Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_2 (Innsbruck, 1871), ii. p. 159, § 1354.

424 I. V. Zingerle, _op. cit._ p. 159, §§ 1353, 1355, 1356; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 513.

425 W. Mannhardt, _l.c._

426 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), i. p. 210, § 231.

427 Theodor Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_ (Vienna, 1859), pp. 307 _sq._

M147 Midsummer fires in Bohemia. Wreaths thrown across the fire. Uses made of the singed wreaths. Burning wheels rolled down hill. Embers of the fire stuck in fields, gardens, and houses as a talisman against lightning and conflagration. Use of mugwort. Cattle protected against witchcraft.

428 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 519; Theodor Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_ (Vienna, 1859), p. 308; Joseph Virgil Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_ (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 80, § 636; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_ (Prague, N.D.), pp. 306-311; Br. Jelínek, “Materialien zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Böhmens,” _Mittheilungen der anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, xxi. (1891) p. 13; Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), pp. 84-86.

M148 The Midsummer fires in Moravia, Austrian Silesia, and the district of Cracow. Fire kindled by the friction of wood.

429 Willibald Müller, _Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren_ (Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), pp. 263-265.

430 Anton Peter, _Volksthümliches aus Österreichisch-Schlesien_ (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 287.

431 Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_ (Vienna, 1859), pp. 308 _sq._

M149 The Midsummer fires among the Slavs of Russia. Cattle protected against witchcraft. The fires lighted by the friction of wood.

_ 432 The Dying God_, p. 262. Compare M. Kowalewsky, in _Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 467.

433 W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, Second Edition (London, 1872), p. 240.

434 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 519; W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_ (London, 1872), pp. 240, 391.

435 W. R. S. Ralston, _op. cit._ p. 240.

436 W. R. S. Ralston, _l.c._

M150 The Midsummer fires in Prussia and Lithuania thought to protect against witchcraft, thunder, hail, and cattle disease. The fire kindled by the friction of wood.

437 W. J. A. von Tettau und J. D. H. Temme, _Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und Westpreussens_ (Berlin, 1837), p. 277.

438 M. Töppen, _Aberglauben aus Masuren_2 (Danzig, 1867), p. 71.

439 F. S. Krauss, “Altslavische Feuergewinnung,” _Globus_, lix. (1891) p. 318.

M151 The Midsummer fires among the Letts of Russia. Midsummer Day in ancient Rome.

440 J. G. Kohl, Die _deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden and Leipsic, 1841), i. 178-180, ii. 24 _sq._ Ligho was an old heathen deity, whose joyous festival used to fall in spring.

441 Ovid, _Fasti_, vi. 775 _sqq._

M152 The Midsummer fires among the South Slavs.

442 Friederich S. Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1885), pp. 176 _sq._

443 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 519.

M153 The Midsummer fires among the Magyars of Hungary.

444 H. von Wlislocki, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Magyar_ (Münster i. W., 1893), pp. 40-44.

445 A. von Ipolyi, “Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie aus Ungarn,” _Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853) pp. 270 _sq._

M154 The Midsummer fires among the Esthonians. The Midsummer fires in Oesel.

446 J.G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 268 sq.; F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 362. The word which I have translated “weeds” is in Esthonian _kaste-heinad_, in German _Thaugras_. Apparently it is the name of a special kind of weed.

447 Fr. Kreutzwald und H. Neus, _Mythische und Magische Lieder der Ehsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 62.

448 J. B. Holzmayer, “Osiliana,” _Verhandlungen der gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. (1872) pp. 62 _sq._ Wiedemann also observes that the sports in which young couples engage in the woods on this evening are not always decorous (_Aus dem inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten_, p. 362).

M155 The Midsummer fires among the Finns and Cheremiss of Russia.

449 J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 447 _sq._

450 J. G. Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs_ (St. Petersburg, 1776), p. 36; August Freiherr von Haxthausen, _Studien über die innere Zustände das Volksleben und insbesondere die ländlichen Einrichtungen Russlands_ (Hanover, 1847), i. 446 _sqq._

M156 The Midsummer fires in France. Bossuet on the Midsummer festival.

451 Alfred de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 19.

452 It is notable that St. John is the only saint whose birthday the Church celebrates with honours like those which she accords to the nativity of Christ. Compare Edmond Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), p. 571 note 1.

453 Bossuet, _Œuvres_ (Versailles, 1815-1819), vi. 276 (“Catéchisme du diocèse de Meaux”). His description of the superstitions is, in his own words, as follows: “_Danser à l’entour du feu, jouer, faire des festins, chanter des chansons deshonnêtes, jeter des herbes par-dessus le feu, en cueillir avant midi ou à jeun, en porter sur soi, les conserver le long de l’année, garder des tisons ou des charbons du feu, et autres semblables._” This and other evidence of the custom of kindling Midsummer bonfires in France is cited by Ch. Cuissard in his tract _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884).

454 Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), pp. 40 _sq._

M157 The Midsummer fires in Brittany. Uses made of the charred sticks and flowers.

455 A. Le Braz, _La Légende de la Mort en Basse-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1893), p. 279. For an explanation of the custom of throwing a pebble into the fire, see below, p. 240.

456 M. Quellien, quoted by Alexandre Bertrand, _La Religion des Gaulois_ (Paris, 1897), pp. 116 _sq._

457 Collin de Plancy, _Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 40; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1852-1857), i. p. 217, § 185; A. Breuil, “Du Culte de St. Jean Baptiste,” _Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (Amiens, 1845) pp. 189 _sq._

458 Eugène Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), p. 216; Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), p. 24.

459 Paul Sébillot, _Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1886), pp. 192-195. In Upper Brittany these bonfires are called _rieux_ or _raviers_.

460 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 219; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_, p. 216.

461 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_, pp. 219, 228, 231; E. Cortet, _op. cit._ pp. 215 _sq._

M158 The Midsummer fires in Normandy. The fires as a protection against witchcraft. The Brotherhood of the Green Wolf at Jumièges. Pretence of throwing the Green Wolf into the fire.

462 J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 219-224.

463 This description is quoted by Madame Clément (_Histoire des fêtes civiles et religieuses_, etc., _de la Belgique Méridionale_, Avesnes, 1846, pp. 394-396); F. Liebrecht (_Des Gervasius von Tilbury Otia Imperialia_, Hanover, 1856, pp. 209 _sq._); and W. Mannhardt (_Antike Wald und Feldkulte_, Berlin, 1877, pp. 323 _sqq._) from the _Magazin pittoresque_, Paris, viii. (1840) pp. 287 _sqq._ A slightly condensed account is given, from the same source, by E. Cortet (_Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_, pp. 221 _sq._).

M159 The Midsummer fires in Picardy.

464 Bazin, quoted by Breuil, in _Mémoires de la Société d’Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (1845) p. 191 note.

465 Correspondents quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion des Gaulois_ (Paris, 1897), pp. 118, 406.

466 Correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, _op. cit._ p. 407.

M160 The Midsummer fires in Beauce and Perche. The fires as a protection against witchcraft.

467 Felix Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, 1902), i. 318-320. In Perche the midsummer bonfires were called _marolles_. As to the custom formerly observed at Bullou, near Chateaudun, see a correspondent quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion des Gaulois_ (Paris, 1897), p. 117.

M161 The Midsummer fires in the Ardennes, the Vosges, and the Jura. The Midsummer fires in Franche-Comté. The Midsummer fires in Berry and other parts of Central France.

468 Albert Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes, et Contes des Ardennes_ (Charleville, 1890), pp. 88 _sq._

469 L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p. 186.

470 Désiré Monnier, _Traditions populaires comparées_ (Paris, 1854), pp. 207 sqq.; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_, pp. 217 _sq._

471 Bérenger-Féraud, _Réminiscences populaires de la Provence_ (Paris, 1885), p. 142.

472 Charles Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), p. 89. The names of the bonfires vary with the place; among them are _failles_, _bourdifailles_, _bâs_ or _baux_, _feulères_ or _folières_, and _chavannes_.

_ 473 La Bresse Louhannaise_, Juin, 1906, p. 207.

474 Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France_ (Paris, 1875), i. 78 _sqq._ The writer adopts the absurd derivation of _jônée_ from Janus. Needless to say that our old friend Baal, Bel, or Belus figures prominently in this and many other accounts of the European fire-festivals.

475 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 150.

476 Correspondent, quoted by A. Bertrand, _La Religion des Gaulois_ (Paris, 1897), p. 408.

M162 The Midsummer fires in Poitou.

477 Guerry, “Sur les usages et traditions du Poitou,” _Mémoires et dissertations publiés par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de France_, viii. (1829) pp. 451 _sq._

478 Breuil, in _Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (1845) p. 206; E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_, p. 216; Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France_, i. 83; J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_, ii. 225.

479 H. Gaidoz, “Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la roue,” _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) p. 26, note 3.

480 L. Pineau, _Le Folk-lore du Poitou_ (Paris, 1892), pp. 499 _sq._ In Périgord the ashes of the midsummer bonfire are searched for the hair of the Virgin (E. Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_, p. 219).

M163 The Midsummer fires in the departments of Vienne and Deux-Sèvres and in the provinces of Saintonge and Aunis.

481 A. de Nore, _Coutumes Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_, pp. 149 _sq._; E. Cortet, _op. cit._ pp. 218 _sq._

482 Dupin, “Notice sur quelques fêtes et divertissemens populaires du département des Deux-Sèvres,” _Mémoires et Dissertations publiés par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de France_, iv. (1823) p. 110.

483 J. L. M. Noguès, _Les mœurs d’autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), pp. 72, 178 _sq._

M164 The Midsummer fires in Southern France. Midsummer festival of fire and water in Provence. Bathing in the sea at Midsummer. Temporary Midsummer kings at Aix and Marseilles.

484 H. Gaidoz, “Le dieu soleil et le symbolisme de la roue,” _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) p. 30.

485 Ch. Cuissard, _Les Feux de la Saint-Jean_ (Orleans, 1884), pp. 22 _sq._

486 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_, p. 127.

487 Aubin-Louis Millin, _Voyage dans les Départemens du Midi de la France_ (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 341 _sq._

488 Aubin-Louis Millin, _op. cit._ iii. 28.

489 A. de Nore, _op. cit._ pp. 19 _sq._; Bérenger-Féraud, _Reminiscences populaires de la Provence_ (Paris, 1885), pp. 135-141. As to the custom at Toulon, see Poncy, quoted by Breuil, _Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie_, viii. (1845) p. 190 note. The custom of drenching people on this occasion with water used to prevail in Toulon, as well as in Marseilles and other towns in the south of France. The water was squirted from syringes, poured on the heads of passers-by from windows, and so on. See Breuil, _op. cit._ pp. 237 _sq._

490 A. de Nore, _op. cit._ pp. 20 _sq._; E. Cortet, _op. cit._ pp. 218, 219 _sq._

M165 The Midsummer fires in Belgium. Bonfires on St. Peter’s Day in Brabant. The King and Queen of the Roses. Effigies burnt in the Midsummer fires.

491 Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 416 _sq._, 439.

492 Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _op. cit._ i. 439-442.

493 Madame Clément, _Histoire des fêtes civiles et religieuses_, etc., _du Département du Nord_ (Cambrai, 1836), p. 364; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1852-1857), ii. 392; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 513.

494 E. Monseur, _Folklore Wallon_ (Brussels, N.D.), p. 130, §§ 1783, 1786, 1787.

M166 The Midsummer fires in England. Stow’s description of the Midsummer fires in London. The Midsummer fires at Eton.

495 Joseph Strutt, _The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England_, New Edition, by W. Hone (London, 1834), p. 359.

496 John Stow, _A Survay of London_, edited by Henry Morley (London, N.D.), pp. 126 _sq._ Stow’s _Survay_ was written in 1598.

497 John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 338; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. 331. Both writers refer to _Status Scholae Etonensis_ (A.D. 1560).

498 John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881), p. 26.

M167 The Midsummer fires in the north of England. The Midsummer fires in Northumberland. The Midsummer fires at Whalton in Northumberland.

499 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 300 _sq._, 318, compare pp. 305, 306, 308 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, p. 512. Compare W. Hutchinson, _View of Northumberland_, vol. ii. (Newcastle, 1778), Appendix, p. (15), under the head “Midsummer”:—“It is usual to raise fires on the tops of high hills and in the villages, and sport and danse around them; this is of very remote antiquity, and the first cause lost in the distance of time.”

500 Dr. Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, quoted by William Borlase, _Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall_ (London, 1769), p. 135 note.

_ 501 County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 76, quoting E. Mackenzie, _An Historical, Topographical, and Descriptive View of the County of Northumberland_, Second Edition (Newcastle, 1825), i. 217.

_ 502 County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour, p. 75.

_ 503 County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour, p. 75.

_ 504 The Denham Tracts_, edited by J. Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 342 _sq._, quoting _Archæologia Aeliana_, N.S., viii. 73, and the _Proceedings_ of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club, vi. 242 _sq._; _County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), pp. 75 _sq._ Whalton is a village of Northumberland, not far from Morpeth.

_ 505 County Folk-lore_, vol. vi. _East Riding of Yorkshire_, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), p. 102.

M168 The Midsummer fires in Herefordshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall. The Cornish fires on Midsummer Eve and St. Peter’s Eve.

506 John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881), p. 96, compare _id._, p. 26.

507 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 311.

508 William Borlase, LL.D., _Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall_ (London, 1769), pp. 135 _sq._ The Eve of St. Peter is June 28th. Bonfires have been lit elsewhere on the Eve or the day of St. Peter. See above, pp. 194 _sq._, 196 _sq._, and below, pp. 199 _sq._, 202, 207.

509 J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 318, 319; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. 315.

510 William Bottrell, _Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall_ (Penzance, 1870), pp. 8 _sq._, 55 _sq._; James Napier, _Folk-lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland_ (Paisley, 1879), p. 173.

511 Richard Edmonds, _The Land’s End District_ (London, 1862), pp. 66 _sq._; Robert Hunt, _Popular Romances of the West of England_, Third Edition (London, 1881), pp. 207 _sq._

M169 The Midsummer fires in Wales and the Isle of Man. Burning wheel rolled down hill.

512 Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 27 _sq._ Compare Jonathan Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76.

513 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 318.

514 Joseph Train, _Account of the Isle of Man_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 120.

M170 The Midsummer fires in Ireland. Passage of people and cattle through the fires. Cattle driven through the fire; ashes used to fertilize the fields. The White Horse at the Midsummer fire.

515 Sir Henry Piers, _Description of the County of Westmeath_, written in 1682, published by (General) Charles Vallancey, _Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis_, i. (Dublin, 1786) pp. 123 _sq._

516 J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 303, quoting the author of the _Survey of the South of Ireland_, p. 232.

517 J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 305, quoting the author of the _Comical Pilgrim’s Pilgrimage into Ireland_ (1723), p. 92.

_ 518 The Gentleman’s Magazine_, vol. lxv. (London, 1795) pp. 124 _sq._ The writer dates the festival on June 21st, which is probably a mistake.

519 T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), pp. 321 _sq._, quoting the _Liverpool Mercury_ of June 29th, 1867.

520 L. L. Duncan, “Further Notes from County Leitrim,” _Folk-lore_, v. (1894) p. 193.

521 A. C. Haddon, “A Batch of Irish Folk-lore,” _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893) pp. 351, 359.

522 G. H. Kinahan, “Notes on Irish Folk-lore,” _Folk-lore Record_, iv. (1881) p. 97.

523 Charlotte Elizabeth, _Personal Recollections_, quoted by Rev. Alexander Hislop, _The Two Babylons_ (Edinburgh, 1853), p. 53.

M171 Lady Wilde’s account of the Midsummer fires in Ireland.

524 Lady Wilde, _Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland_, (London, 1887), i. 214 _sq._

M172 Holy wells resorted to on Midsummer Eve in Ireland.

525 T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), pp. 322 _sq._, quoting the _Hibernian Magazine_, July 1817. As to the worship of wells in ancient Ireland, see P. W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. 288 _sq._, 366 _sqq._

M173 The Midsummer fires in Scotland. Fires on St. Peter’s Day (the twenty-ninth of June).

526 Rev. A. Johnstone, describing the parish of Monquhitter in Perthshire, in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xxi. 145. Mr. W. Warde Fowler writes that in Scotland “before the bonfires were kindled on midsummer eve, the houses were decorated with foliage brought from the woods” (_Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic_, London, 1899, pp. 80 _sq._). For his authority he refers to _Chambers’ Journal_, July, 1842.

527 John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, edited by A. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1888), ii. 436.

528 Rev. Mr. Shaw, Minister of Elgin, in Pennant’s “Tour in Scotland,” printed in John Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), iii. 136.

529 A. Macdonald, “Midsummer Bonfires,” _Folk-lore_, xv. (1904) pp. 105 _sq._

530 From notes kindly furnished to me by the Rev. J. C. Higgins, parish minister of Tarbolton. Mr. Higgins adds that he knows of no superstition connected with the fire, and no tradition of its origin. I visited the scene of the bonfire in 1898, but, as Pausanias says (viii. 41. 6) in similar circumstances, “I did not happen to arrive at the season of the festival.” Indeed the snow was falling thick as I trudged to the village through the beautiful woods of “the Castle o’ Montgomery” immortalized by Burns. From a notice in _The Scotsman_ of 26th June, 1906 (p. 8) it appears that the old custom was observed as usual that year.

531 Thomas Moresinus, _Papatus seu Depravatae Religionis Origo et Incrementum_ (Edinburgh, 1594), p. 56.

532 Rev. Dr. George Lawrie, in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1792) p. 105.

M174 The Midsummer fires in Spain and the Azores. Divination on Midsummer Eve in the Azores. The Midsummer fires in Corsica and Sardinia.

533 Letter from Dr. Otero Acevado of Madrid, published in _Le Temps_, September 1898. An extract from the newspaper was sent me, but without mention of the day of the month when it appeared. The fires on St. John’s Eve in Spain are mentioned also by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_, i. 317. Jacob Grimm inferred the custom from a passage in a romance (_Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 518). The custom of washing or bathing on the morning of St. John’s Day is mentioned by the Spanish historian Diego Duran, _Historia de las Indias de Nueva España_, edited by J. F. Ramirez (Mexico, 1867-1880), vol. ii. p. 293. To roll in the dew on the morning of St. John’s Day is a cure for diseases of the skin in Normandy, Périgord, and the Abruzzi, as well as in Spain. See J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_, ii. 8; A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_, p. 150; Gennaro Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), p. 157.

534 M. Longworth Dames and Mrs. E. Seemann, “Folklore of the Azores,” _Folk-lore_, xiv. (1903) pp. 142 _sq._; Theophilo Braga, _O Povo Portuguez nos seus Costumes, Crenças e Tradiçoes_ (Lisbon, 1885), ii. 304 _sq._, 307 _sq._

535 See below, pp. 234 _sqq._

536 Angelo de Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_ (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 185 note 1.

_ 537 Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 202 _sq._

M175 The Midsummer fires in the Abruzzi. Bathing on Midsummer Eve in the Abruzzi. The Midsummer fires in Sicily. The witches at Midsummer.

538 G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), pp. 154 _sq._

539 G. Finamore, _Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi_, pp. 158-160. We may compare the Provençal and Spanish customs of bathing and splashing water at midsummer. See above, pp. 193 _sq._, 208.

540 Giuseppe Pitrè, _Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane_ (Palermo, 1881), pp. 246, 308 _sq._; _id._, _Usi e Costumi, Credenze e Pregiudizi del Popolo Siciliano_ (Palermo, 1889), pp. 146 _sq._

541 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 518.

M176 The Midsummer fires in Malta.

542 V. Busuttil, _Holiday Customs in Malta, and Sports, Usages, Ceremonies, Omens, and Superstitions of the Maltese People_ (Malta, 1894), pp. 56 _sqq._ The extract was kindly sent to me by Mr. H. W. Underwood (letter dated 14th November, 1902, Birbeck Bank Chambers, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.). See _Folk-lore_, xiv. (1903) pp. 77 _sq._

M177 The Midsummer fires in Greece. The Midsummer fires in Macedonia and Albania.

543 W. R. Paton, in _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) p. 128. The custom was reported to me when I was in Greece in 1890 (_Folk-lore_, i. (1890) p. 520).

544 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 519.

545 G. Georgeakis et L. Pineau, _Le Folk-lore de Lesbos_ (Paris, 1894), pp. 308 _sq._

546 W. R. Paton, in _Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) p. 94. From the stones cast into the fire omens may perhaps be drawn, as in Scotland, Wales, and probably Brittany. See above, p. 183, and below, pp. 230 _sq._, 239, 240.

547 W. H. D. Rouse, “Folklore from the Southern Sporades,” _Folk-lore_, x. (1899) p. 179.

548 Lucy M. J. Garnett, _The Women of Turkey and their Folk-lore, the Christian Women_ (London, 1890), p. 122; G. F. Abbott, _Macedonian Folk-lore_ (Cambridge, 1903), p. 57.

549 J. G. von Hahn, _Albanesische Studien_ (Jena, 1854), i. 156.

M178 The Midsummer fires in America.

550 K. von den Steinen, _Unter den Natur-Völkern Zentral-Brasiliens_ (Berlin, 1894), p. 561.

551 Alcide d’Orbigny, _Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale_, ii. (Paris and Strasbourg, 1839-1843), p. 420; D. Forbes, “On the Aymara Indians of Bolivia and Peru,” _Journal of the Ethnological Society of London_, ii. (1870) p. 235.

M179 The Midsummer fires among the Mohammedans of Morocco and Algeria.

552 Edmond Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), pp. 566 _sq._ For an older but briefer notice of the Midsummer fires in North Africa, see Giuseppe Ferraro, _Superstizioni, Usi e Proverbi Monferrini_ (Palermo, 1886), pp. 34 _sq._: “Also in Algeria, among the Mussalmans, and in Morocco, as Alvise da Cadamosto reports in his _Relazione dei viaggi d’Africa_, which may be read in Ramusio, people used to hold great festivities on St. John’s Night; they kindled everywhere huge fires of straw (the _Palilia_ of the Romans), in which they threw incense and perfumes the whole night long in order to invoke the divine blessing on the fruit-trees.” See also Budgett Meakin, _The Moors_ (London, 1902), p. 394: “The Berber festivals are mainly those of Islam, though a few traces of their predecessors are observable. Of these the most noteworthy is Midsummer or St. John’s Day, still celebrated in a special manner, and styled _El ’Anṣarah_. In the Rîf it is celebrated by the lighting of bonfires only, but in other parts there is a special dish prepared of wheat, raisins, etc., resembling the frumenty consumed at the New Year. It is worthy of remark that the Old Style Gregorian calendar is maintained among them, with corruptions of Latin names.”

553 Edward Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in Morocco,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 28-30; _id._, _Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, Certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather_ (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 79-83.

M180 Beneficial effect ascribed to the smoke of the fires. Ill luck supposed to be burnt in the Midsummer fires.

554 E. Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in Morocco,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 30 _sq._; _id._, _Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture_, etc., pp. 83 _sq._

M181 The Midsummer festival in North Africa comprises rites concerned with water as well as with fire.

555 Edmond Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), pp. 567 _sq._

556 E. Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in Morocco,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 31 _sq._; _id._, _Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture_, etc., pp. 84-86.

M182 The Midsummer festival in North Africa is probably older than Mohammedanism. Some Mohammedans of North Africa kindle fires and observe water ceremonies at their movable New Year. Water ceremonies at New Year in Morocco.

557 See K. Vollers, in Dr. James Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) _s.v._ “Calendar (Muslim),” pp. 126 _sq._ However, L. Ideler held that even before the time of Mohammed the Arab year was lunar and vague, and that intercalation was only employed in order to fix the pilgrimage month in autumn, which, on account of the milder weather and the abundance of food, is the best time for pilgrims to go to Mecca. See L. Ideler, _Handbuch der mathematischen und techischen Chronologie_ (Berlin, 1825-1826), ii. 495 _sqq._

558 E. Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord_, pp. 496, 509, 532, 543, 569. It is somewhat remarkable that the tenth, not the first, day of the first month should be reckoned New Year’s Day.

559 E. Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in Morocco,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 40-42.

M183 The rites of fire and water at Midsummer and New Year in Morocco seem to be identical in character; the duplication of the festival is probably due to a conflict between the solar calendar of the Romans and the lunar calendar of the Arabs. The Midsummer festival in Morocco seems to be of Berber origin.

560 E. Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), pp. 541 _sq._

561 E. Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in Morocco,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) p. 42; _id._, _Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, Certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in Morocco_ (Helsingfors, 1913), p. 101.

562 E. Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in Morocco,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905), pp. 42 _sq._, 46 _sq._; _id._, _Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, etc., in Morocco_, pp. 99 _sqq._

M184 Festivals of fire in August. Russian feast of Florus and Laurus on August 18th. “Living fire” made by the friction of wood.

563 G. F. Abbott, _Macedonian Folk-lore_ (Cambridge, 1903), pp. 60 _sq._

564 “Narrative of the Adventures of four Russian Sailors, who were cast in a storm upon the uncultivated island of East Spitzbergen,” translated from the German of P. L. Le Roy, in John Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), i. 603. This passage is quoted from the original by (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Researches into the Early History of Mankind_, Third Edition (London, 1878), pp. 259 _sq._

M185 Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin on the eighth of September at Capri and Naples. M186 The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin may have replaced a pagan festival.

565 See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 166 _sq._

M187 The coincidence of the Midsummer festival with the summer solstice implies that the founders of the festival regulated their calendar by observation of the sun. M188 On the other hand the Celts divided their year, not by the solstices, but by the beginning of summer (the first of May) and the beginning of winter (the first of November). The division seems to have been neither astronomical nor agricultural but pastoral, being determined by the times when cattle are driven to and from their summer pasture.

566 E. K. Chambers, _The Mediaeval Stage_ (Oxford, 1903), i. 110 _sqq._

567 In Eastern Europe to this day the great season for driving out the cattle to pasture for the first time in spring is St. George’s Day, the twenty-third of April, which is not far removed from May Day. See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 324 _sqq._ As to the bisection of the Celtic year, see the old authority quoted by P. W. Joyce, _The Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), ii. 390: “The whole year was [originally] divided into two parts—Summer from 1st May to 1st November, and Winter from 1st November to 1st May.” On this subject compare (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 460, 514 _sqq._; _id._, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 _sqq._; J. A. MacCulloch, in Dr. James Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) p. 80.

568 See below, p. 225.

M189 The two great Celtic festivals, Beltane and Hallowe’en.

569 Above, pp. 146 _sqq._; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 59 _sqq._

M190 Hallowe’en (the evening of October 31st) seems to have marked the beginning of the Celtic year. The many forms of divination resorted to at Hallowe’en are appropriate to the beginning of a New Year. Hallowe’en also a festival of the dead.

570 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Manx and Welsh_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 316, 317 _sq._; J. A. MacCulloch, in Dr. James Hastings’s _Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics_, iii. (Edinburgh, 1910) _s.v._ “Calendar,” p. 80, referring to Kelly, _English and Manx Dictionary_ (Douglas, 1866), _s.v._ “Blein.” Hogmanay is the popular Scotch name for the last day of the year. See Dr. J. Jamieson, _Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, New Edition (Paisley, 1879-1882), ii. 602 _sq._

571 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_, i. 316 _sq._

572 Above, p. 139.

573 See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 309-318. As I have there pointed out, the Catholic Church succeeded in altering the date of the festival by one day, but not in changing the character of the festival. All Souls’ Day is now the second instead of the first of November. But we can hardly doubt that the Saints, who have taken possession of the first of November, wrested it from the Souls of the Dead, the original proprietors. After all, the Saints are only one particular class of the Souls of the Dead; so that the change which the Church effected, no doubt for the purpose of disguising the heathen character of the festival, is less great than appears at first sight.

574 In Wales “it was firmly believed in former times that on All Hallows’ Eve the spirit of a departed person was to be seen at midnight on every cross-road and on every stile” (Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_, London, 1909, p. 254).

M191 Fairies and hobgoblins let loose at Hallowe’en. Dancing with the fairies at Hallowe’en.

575 E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), p. 68.

576 A. Goodrich-Freer, “More Folk-lore from the Hebrides,” _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) p. 53.

577 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh, 1888), p. 516.

578 P. W. Joyce, _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_ (London, 1903), i. 264 _sq._, ii. 556.

579 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, p. 516.

580 Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 61 _sq._

581 Ch. Rogers, _Social Life in Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii. 258-260.

M192 Guleesh and the revels of the fairies at Hallowe’en.

582 Douglas Hyde, _Beside the Fire, a Collection of Irish Gaelic Folk Stories_ (London, 1890), pp. 104, 105, 121-128.

M193 Divination resorted to in Celtic countries at Hallowe’en.

583 P. W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_, i. 229.

584 Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 254.

585 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_, pp. 514 _sq._ In order to see the apparitions all you had to do was to run thrice round the parish church and then peep through the key-hole of the door. See Marie Trevelyan, _op. cit._ p. 254; J. C. Davies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 77.

586 Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), p. 75.

M194 Hallowe’en bonfires in the Highlands of Scotland. John Ramsay’s account of the Hallowe’en bonfires. Divination from stones at the fire. Hallowe’en fires in the parishes of Callander and Logierait. Divination from stones.

587 Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 282.

588 Thomas Pennant, “Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Hebrides in 1772,” in John Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, iii. (London, 1809) pp. 383 _sq._ In quoting the passage I have corrected what seem to be two misprints.

589 John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii. 437 _sq._ This account was written in the eighteenth century.

590 Rev. James Robertson, Parish minister of Callander, in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xi. (Edinburgh, 1794), pp. 621 _sq._

591 Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_, v. (Edinburgh, 1793) pp. 84 _sq._

M195 Hallowe’en fires on Loch Tay. Hallowe’en fires at Balquhidder.

592 Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), p. 67.

593 James Napier, _Folk Lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within this Century_ (Paisley, 1879), p. 179.

594 J. G. Frazer, “Folk-lore at Balquhidder,” _The Folk-lore Journal_, vi. (1888) p. 270.

M196 Hallowe’en fires in Buchan to burn the witches. Processions with torches at Hallowe’en in the Braemar Highlands.

595 Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), pp. 167 _sq._

596 Rev. A. Johnstone, as to the parish of Monquhitter, in Sir John Sinclair’s _Statistical Account of Scotland_, xxi. (Edinburgh, 1799) pp. 145 _sq._

597 A. Macdonald, “Some former Customs of the Royal Parish of Crathie, Scotland,” _Folk-lore_, xviii. (1907) p. 85. The writer adds: “In this way the ‘faulds’ were purged of evil spirits.” But it does not appear whether this expresses the belief of the people or only the interpretation of the writer.

M197 Divination at Hallowe’en in the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland. The stolen kail. Sowing hemp seed. The clue of blue yarn. The winnowing basket. The wet shirt. The thrown shoe.

598 Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 282 _sq._

599 Robert Burns, _Hallowe’en_, with the poet’s note; Rev. Walter Gregor, _op. cit._ p. 84; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. cit._ p. 69; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 287.

600 R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. Walter Gregor, _l.c._; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. cit._ pp. 70 _sq._; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 286.

601 R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _l.c._; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. cit._ p. 73; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 285; A. Goodrich-Freer, “More Folklore from the Hebrides,” _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) pp. 54 _sq._

602 R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit._ p. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. cit._ p. 71; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 285. According to the last of these writers, the winnowing had to be done in the devil’s name.

603 R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _l.c._; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. cit._ p. 72; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 286; A. Goodrich-Freer, “More Folklore from the Hebrides,” _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) p. 54.

604 Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 283.

M198 The white of eggs in water. The names on the chimney-piece. The nuts in the fire. The milk and meal. The apples in the water. The three plates.

605 Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ pp. 283 _sq._; A. Goodrich-Freer, _l.c._

606 Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 284.

607 R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit._ p. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. cit._ p. 70; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 284. Where nuts were not to be had, peas were substituted.

608 Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 284.

609 Rev. J. G. Campbell, _l.c._ According to my recollection of Hallowe’en customs observed in my boyhood at Helensburgh, in Dumbartonshire, another way was to stir the floating apples and then drop a fork on them as they bobbed about in the water. Success consisted in pinning one of the apples with the fork.

610 R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit._ pp. 85 _sq._; Miss E. J Guthrie, _op. cit._ pp. 72 _sq._; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 287.

M199 The sliced apple. The white of egg in water. The salt cake or salt herring.

611 R. Burns, _l.c._; Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit._ p. 85; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _op. cit._ pp. 69 _sq._; Rev. J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 285. It is the last of these writers who gives what may be called the Trinitarian form of the divination.

612 Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), pp. 74 _sq._

613 A. Goodrich-Freer, “More Folk-lore from the Hebrides,” _Folk-lore_, xiii. (1902) p. 55.

M200 Hallowe’en fires in Wales. Omens drawn from stones thrown into the fire. Divination by stones in the ashes.

614 Pennant’s manuscript, quoted by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 389 _sq._

615 Sir Richard Colt Hoare, _The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales __A.D.__ MCLXXXVIII. by Giraldus de Barri_ (London, 1806), ii. 315; J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, i. 390. The passage quoted in the text occurs in one of Hoare’s notes on the Itinerary. The dipping for apples, burning of nuts, and so forth, are mentioned also by Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 253, 255.

616 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Heathendom_ (London and Edinburgh, 1888), pp. 515 _sq._ As to the Hallowe’en bonfires in Wales compare J. C. Davies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 77.

617 See above, p. 183.

618 See above, p. 231.

M201 Divination as to love and marriage at Hallowe’en in Wales.

619 Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), pp. 254 _sq._

M202 Divination at Hallowe’en in Ireland.

620 (General) Charles Vallancey, _Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis_, iii. (Dublin, 1786), pp. 459-461.

M203 Divination at Hallowe’en in Queen’s County. Divination at Hallowe’en in County Leitrim. Divination at Hallowe’en in County Roscommon.

621 Miss A. Watson, quoted by A. C. Haddon, “A Batch of Irish Folk-lore,” _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893) pp. 361 _sq._

622 Leland L. Duncan, “Further Notes from County Leitrim,” _Folk-lore_, v. (1894) pp. 195-197.

623 H. J. Byrne, “All Hallows Eve and other Festivals in Connaught,” _Folk-lore_, xviii. (1907) pp. 437 _sq._

M204 Hallowe’en fires in the Isle of Man. Divination at Hallowe’en in the Isle of Man.

624 Joseph Train, _Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 123; (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 315 _sqq._

625 (Sir) John Rhys, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 318-321.

M205 Hallowe’en fires and divination in Lancashire. Candles lighted to keep off the witches. Divination at Hallowe’en in Northumberland. Hallowe’en fires in France.

626 John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk-lore_ (Manchester and London, 1882), pp. 3 _sq._

627 J. Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, _op. cit._ p. 140.

628 Annie Milner, in William Hone’s _Year Book_ (London, preface dated January, 1832), coll. 1276-1279 (letter dated June, 1831); R. T. Hampson, _Medii Acvi Kalendarium_ (London, 1841), i. 365; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. 395.

_ 629 County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 78. Compare W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England_ (London, 1879), pp. 96 _sq._

630 Baron Dupin, in _Mémoires publiées par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de France_, iv. (1823) p. 108.

M206 A Midwinter festival of fire. Christmas the continuation of an old heathen festival of the sun.

631 The evidence for the solar origin of Christmas is given in _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp 254-256.

M207 The Yule log is the Midwinter counterpart of the Midsummer bonfire.

632 For the various names (Yu-batch, Yu-block, Yule-log, etc.) see Francis Grose, _Provincial Glossary_, New Edition (London, 1811), p. 141; Joseph Wright, _The English Dialect Dictionary_ (London, 1898-1905), vi. 593, _s.v._ “Yule.”

633 “I am pretty confident that the Yule block will be found, in its first use, to have been only a counterpart of the Midsummer fires, made within doors because of the cold weather at this winter solstice, as those in the hot season, at the summer one, are kindled in the open air” (John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_, London, 1882-1883, i. 471). His opinion is approved by W. Mannhardt (_Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_, p. 236).

M208 The Yule log in Germany and Switzerland.

634 “_Et arborem in nativitate domini ad festivum ignem suum adducendam esse dicebat_” (quoted by Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 522).

635 Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 12. The Sieg and Lahn are two rivers of Central Germany, between Siegen and Marburg.

636 J. H. Schmitz, _Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes_ (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 4.

637 Adalbert Kuhn, _Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen_ (Leipsic, 1859), ii. § 319, pp. 103 sq.

638 A. Kuhn, _op. cit._ ii. § 523, p. 187.

639 August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_ (Vienna, 1878), p. 172.

640 E. Hoffmann-Krayer, _Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes_ (Zurich, 1913), pp. 108 _sq._

M209 The Yule log in Belgium.

641 Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Calendrier Belge_ (Brussels, 1861-1862), ii. 326 _sq._ Compare J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen, 1852-1858), i. 117.

M210 The Yule log in France.

642 J. B. Thiers, _Traité des Superstitions_5 (Paris, 1741), i. 302 _sq._; Eugène Cortet, _Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 266 _sq._

M211 French superstitions as to the Yule log.

643 J. B. Thiers, _Traité des Superstitions_ (Paris, 1679), p 323.

M212 The Yule log at Marseilles and in Perigord. Virtues ascribed to the charcoal and ashes of the burnt log. The Yule log in Berry.

644 Aubin-Louis Millin, _Voyage dans les Départements du Midi de la France_ (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 336 _sq._ The fire so kindled was called _caco fuech_.

645 Alfred de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 151 _sq._ The three festivals during which the Yule log is expected to burn are probably Christmas Day (December 25th), St. Stephen’s Day (December 26th), and St. John the Evangelist’s Day (December 27th). Compare J. L. M. Noguès, _Les Mœurs d’autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), pp. 45-47. According to the latter writer, in Saintonge it was the mistress of the house who blessed the Yule log, sprinkling salt and holy water on it; in Poitou it was the eldest male who officiated. The log was called the _cosse de Nô_.

646 Laisnel de Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France_ (Paris, 1875), i. 1-3.

M213 The Yule log in Normandy and Brittany.

647 Jules Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 291. The author speaks of the custom as still practised in out-of-the-way villages at the time when he wrote. The usage of preserving the remains of the Yule-log (called _tréfouet_) in Normandy is mentioned also by Melle Amélie Bosquet, _La Nortnandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse_ (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 294.

648 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 256.

649 Paul Sébillot, _Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1886), pp. 217 sq.

M214 The Yule log in the Ardennes.

650 Albert Meyrac, _Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes et Contes des Ardennes_ (Charleville, 1890), pp. 96 _sq._

651 See above, p. 251.

652 Lerouze, in _Mémoires de l’Academie Celtique_, iii. (1809) p. 441, quoted by J. Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 469 note.

M215 The Yule log in the Vosges. The Yule log in Franche-Comté and Burgundy.

653 L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), pp. 370 _sq._

654 Charles Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), p. 183.

655 A. de Nore, Coutumes, _Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 302 _sq._

M216 The Yule log and the Yule candle in England.

656 John Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), i. 467.

657 J. Brand, _op. cit._ i. 455; _The Denham Tracts_, edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 25 _sq._

658 Herrick, _Hesperides_, “Ceremonies for Christmasse”:

“_Come, bring with a noise,_ _ My merrie merrie boyes,_ _ The Christmas log to the firing; ..._ _ With the last yeeres brand_ _ Light the new block._”

And, again, in his verses, “Ceremonies for Candlemasse Day”:

“_Kindle the Christmas brand, and then_ _ Till sunne-set let it burne;_ _ Which quencht, then lay it up agen,_ _ Till Christmas next returne._ _ Part must be kept, wherewith to teend_ _ The Christmas log next yeare;_ _ And where ’tis safely kept, the fiend_ _ Can do no mischiefe there._”

See _The Works of Robert Herrick_ (Edinburgh, 1823), vol. ii. pp. 91, 124. From these latter verses it seems that the Yule log was replaced on the fire on Candlemas (the second of February).

659 Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_ (London, 1883), p. 398 note 2. See also below, pp. 257, 258, as to the Lincolnshire, Herefordshire, and Welsh practice.

M217 The Yule log in the North of England, in Lincolnshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire. The Yule log in Wales.

660 Francis Grose, _Provincial Glossary_, Second Edition (London, 1811), pp. 141 _sq._; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p. 466.

_ 661 County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour and edited by Northcote W. Thomas (London, 1904), p. 79.

_ 662 County Folk-lore_, vol. ii. _North Riding of Yorkshire, York and the Ainsty_, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1901), pp. 273, 274, 275 _sq._

_ 663 County Folk-lore_, vol. vi. _East Riding of Yorkshire_, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), pp. 23, 118, compare p. 114.

664 John Aubrey, _Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme_ (London, 1881), p. 5.

_ 665 County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 219. Elsewhere in Lincolnshire the Yule-log seems to have been called the Yule-clog (_op. cit._ pp. 215, 216).

666 Mrs. Samuel Chandler (Sarah Whateley), quoted in _The Folk-lore Journal_, i. (1883), pp. 351 _sq._

667 Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_ (London, 1883), pp. 397 _sq._ One of the informants of these writers says (_op. cit._ p. 399): “In 1845 I was at the Vessons farmhouse, near the Eastbridge Coppice (at the northern end of the Stiperstones). The floor was of flags, an unusual thing in this part. Observing a sort of roadway through the kitchen, and the flags much broken, I enquired what caused it, and was told it was from the horses’ hoofs drawing in the ‘Christmas Brund.’ ”

668 Mrs. Ella Mary Leather, _The Folk-lore of Herefordshire_ (Hereford and London, 1912), p. 109. Compare Miss C. S. Burne, “Herefordshire Notes,” _The Folk-lore Journal_, iv. (1886) p. 167.

669 Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 28.

M218 The Yule log in Servia. The cutting of the oak tree to form the Yule log. M219 Prayers to Colleda. M220 The bringing in of the Yule log.

670 “In earlier ages, and even so late as towards the middle of the nineteenth century, the Servian village organisation and the Servian agriculture had yet another distinguishing feature. The dangers from wild beasts in old time, the want of security for life and property during the Turkish rule, or rather misrule, the natural difficulties of the agriculture, more especially the lack in agricultural labourers, induced the Servian peasants not to leave the parental house but to remain together on the family’s property. In the same yard, within the same fence, one could see around the ancestral house a number of wooden huts which contained one or two rooms, and were used as sleeping places for the sons, nephews and grandsons and their wives. Men and women of three generations could be often seen living in that way together, and working together the land which was considered as common property of the whole family. This expanded family, remaining with all its branches together, and, so to say, under the same roof, working together, dividing the fruits of their joint labours together, this family and an agricultural association in one, was called _Zadrooga_ (The Association). This combination of family and agricultural association has morally, economically, socially, and politically rendered very important services to the Servians. The headman or chief (called _Stareshina_) of such family association is generally the oldest male member of the family. He is the administrator of the common property and director of work. He is the executive chairman of the association. Generally he does not give any order without having consulted all the grown-up male members of the _Zadrooga_” (Chedo Mijatovich, _Servia and the Servians_, London, 1908, pp. 237 _sq._). As to the house-communities of the South Slavs see further Og. M. Utiešenovič, _Die Hauskommunionen der Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1859); F. Demelié, _Le Droit Coutumier des Slaves Méridionaux_ (Paris, 1876), pp. 23 _sqq._; F. S. Krauss, _Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1885), pp. 64 _sqq._ Since Servia, freed from Turkish oppression, has become a well-regulated European state, with laws borrowed from the codes of France and Germany, the old house-communities have been rapidly disappearing (Chedo Mijatovich, _op. cit._ p. 240).

M221 The ceremony with the straw. The Yule candle. M222 The roast pig. The drawing of the water. M223 The Christmas visiter (_polaznik_).

671 Chedo Mijatovich, _Servia and the Servians_ (London, 1908), pp. 98-105.

M224 The Yule log among the Servians of Slavonia. The Christmas visiter (_polazenik_).

672 Baron Rajacsich, _Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebräuche der im Kaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1873), pp. 122-128.

M225 The Yule log among the Servians of Dalmatia, Herzegovina, and Montenegro. The Yule log in Albania.

673 Baron Rajacsich, _Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebräuche der im Kaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven_ (Vienna, 1873), pp. 129-131. The Yule log (_badnyak_) is also known in Bulgaria, where the women place it on the hearth on Christmas Eve. See A. Strausz, _Die Bulgaren_ (Leipsic, 1898), p. 361.

674 M. Edith Durham, _High Albania_ (London, 1909), p. 129.

675 R. F. Kaindl, _Die Huzulen_ (Vienna, 1894) p. 71.

M226 Belief that the Yule log protects against fire and lightning.

676 See above, pp. 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 258. Similarly at Candlemas people lighted candles in the churches, then took them home and kept them, and thought that by lighting them at any time they could keep off thunder, storm, and tempest. See Barnabe Googe, _The Popish Kingdom_ (reprinted London, 1880), p. 48 _verso_.

677 See above, pp. 248, 250, 251, 257, 258, 263.

678 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 356 _sqq._

679 See above, pp. 248, 249, 250, 251, 264.

M227 Public celebrations of the fire-festival at Midwinter. The bonfire on Christmas Eve at Schweina in Thuringia.

680 August Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_ (Vienna, 1878), pp. 171 _sq._

M228 Bonfires on Christmas Eve in Normandy.

681 Jules Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 289 _sq._

M229 Bonfires on St. Thomas’s Day in the Isle of Man. The “Burning of the Clavie” at Burghead on the last day of December. The old rampart at Burghead.

682 Joseph Train, _Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man_ (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 124, referring to Cregeen’s _Manx Dictionary_, p. 67.

683 R. Chambers, _The Book of Days_ (London and Edinburgh, 1886), ii. 789-791, quoting _The Banffshire Journal_; Miss C. F. Gordon Cumming, _In the Hebrides_ (London, 1883), p. 226; Miss E. J. Guthrie, _Old Scottish Customs_ (London and Glasgow, 1885), pp. 223-225; Ch. Rogers, _Social Life in Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1884-1886), iii. 244 _sq._; _The Folk-lore Journal_, vii. (1889) pp. 11-14, 46. Miss Gordon Cumming and Miss Guthrie say that the burning of the Clavie took place upon Yule Night; but this seems to be a mistake.

684 Caesar, _De bello Gallico_, vii. 23.

685 Hugh W. Young, F.S.A. Scot., _Notes on the Ramparts of Burghead as revealed by recent Excavations_ (Edinburgh, 1892), pp. 3 _sqq._; _Notes on further Excavations at Burghead_ (Edinburgh, 1893), pp. 7 _sqq._ These papers are reprinted from the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, vols. xxv., xxvii. Mr. Young concludes as follows: “It is proved that the fort at Burghead was raised by a people skilled in engineering; who used square-headed nails, axes and chisels of iron; who shot balista stones over 20 lbs. in weight; and whose daily food was the _bos longifrons_. A people who made paved roads, and sunk artesian wells, and used Roman beads and pins. The riddle of Burghead should not now be very difficult to read” (_Notes on further Excavations at Burghead_, pp. 14 _sq._). For a loan of Mr. Young’s pamphlets I am indebted to the kindness of Sheriff-Substitute David J. Mackenzie of Kilmarnock.

M230 Procession with burning tar-barrels on Christmas Eve (Old Style) at Lerwick.

686 Robert Cowie, M.A., M.D., _Shetland, Descriptive and Historical_ (Aberdeen, 1871), pp. 127 _sq._; _County Folk-lore_, vol. iii. _Orkney and Shetland Islands_, collected by G. F. Black and edited by Northcote W. Thomas (London, 1903), pp. 203 _sq._ A similar celebration, known as Up-helly-a’, takes place at Lerwick on the 29th of January, twenty-four days after Old Christmas. See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 167-169. Perhaps the popular festival of Up-helly-a’ has absorbed some of the features of the Christmas Eve celebration.

M231 Persian festival of fire at the winter solstice.

687 Thomas Hyde, _Historia Religionis veterum Persarum_ (Oxford, 1700), pp. 255-257.

M232 European festivals of fire in seasons of distress and calamity. The need-fire.

688 On the need-fire see Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 501 _sqq._; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen and Leipsic, 1852-1857), i. 116 _sq._, ii. 378 _sqq._; Adalbert Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_2 (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 41 _sqq._; Walter K. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_ (London, 1863), pp. 48 _sqq._; W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 _sqq._; Charles Elton, _Origins of English History_ (London, 1882), pp. 293 _sqq._; Ulrich Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht_ (Breslau, 1884), pp. 26 _sqq._ Grimm would derive the name _need_-fire (German, _niedfyr_, _nodfyr_, _nodfeur_, _nothfeur_) from _need_ (German, _noth_), “necessity,” so that the phrase need-fire would mean “a forced fire.” This is the sense attached to it in Lindenbrog’s glossary on the capitularies, quoted by Grimm, _op. cit._ i. p. 502: “_Eum ergo ignem_ nodfeur _et nodfyr, quasi necessarium ignem vocant._” C. L. Rochholz would connect _need_ with a verb _nieten_ “to churn,” so that need-fire would mean “churned fire.” See C. L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 149 _sq._ This interpretation is confirmed by the name _ankenmilch bohren_, which is given to the need-fire in some parts of Switzerland. See E. Hoffmann-Krayer, “Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen Volksbrauch,” _Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde_, xi. (1907) p. 245.

M233 The need-fire in the Middle Ages. The need-fire at Neustadt in 1598.

689 “_Illos sacrilegos ignes, quos_ niedfyr _vocant_,” quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 502; R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 312.

_ 690 Indiculus Superstitionum et Paganiarum_, No. XV., “De _igne fricato de ligno_ _i.e._ nodfyr.” A convenient edition of the _Indiculus_ has been published with a commentary by H. A. Saupe (Leipsic, 1891). As to the date of the work, see the editor’s introduction, pp. 4 _sq._

691 Karl Lynker, _Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen_2 (Cassel and Göttingen, 1860), pp. 252 _sq._, quoting a letter of the mayor (_Schultheiss_) of Neustadt to the mayor of Marburg dated 12th December 1605.

692 Bartholomäus Carrichter, _Der Teutschen Speisskammer_ (Strasburg, 1614), Fol. pag. 17 and 18, quoted by C. L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 148 _sq._

M234 Method of kindling the need-fire.

693 Joh. Reiskius, _Untersuchung des Notfeuers_ (Frankfort and Leipsic, 1696), p. 51, quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 502 sq.; R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 313.

M235 The mode of kindling the need-fire about Hildesheim.

694 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 503 _sq._

695 J. Grimm, _op. cit._ i. 504.

M236 The mode of kindling the need-fire in the Mark.

696 Adalbert Kuhn, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), p. 369.

M237 The mode of kindling the need-fire in Mecklenburg.

697 Karl Bartsch, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_ (Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 149-151.

M238 The mode of kindling the need-fire in Hanover.

698 Carl und Theodor Colshorn, _Märchen und Sagen_ (Hanover, 1854), pp. 234-236, from the description of an eye-witness.

M239 The mode of kindling the need-fire in the Harz Mountains.

699 Heinrich Pröhle, _Harzbilder, Sitten und Gebräuche aus dem Harzgebirge_ (Leipsic, 1855), pp. 74 _sq._ The date of this need-fire is not given; probably it was about the middle of the nineteenth century.

M240 The mode of kindling the need-fire in Brunswick.

700 R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), pp. 313 _sq._

701 R. Andree, _op. cit._ pp. 314 _sq._

702 Montanus, _Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube_ (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 127.

M241 The mode of kindling the need-fire in Silesia and Bohemia.

703 Paul Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_ (Leipsic, 1903-1906), ii. 204.

704 Anton Peter, _Volksthümliches aus Österreichisch - Schlesien_ (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 250.

705 Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 209.

706 C. L. Rochholz, _Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_ (Berlin, 1867), ii. 149.

M242 The use of the need-fire in Switzerland.

707 E. Hoffmann-Krayer, “Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen Volksbrauch,” _Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde_, xi. (1907) pp. 244-246.

708 E. Hoffmann-Krayer, _op. cit._ p. 246.

M243 The mode of kindling the need-fire in Sweden and Norway. The need-fire as a protection against witchcraft.

709 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 505.

710 “Old-time Survivals in remote Norwegian Dales,” _Folk-lore_, xx. (1909) pp. 314, 322 _sq._ This record of Norwegian folk-lore is translated from a little work _Sundalen og Öksendalens Beskrivelse_ written by Pastor Chr. Glükstad and published at Christiania “about twenty years ago.”

M244 The need-fire among the Slavonic peoples.

711 Prof. Vl. Titelbach, “Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven,” _Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, xiii. (1900) pp. 2 _sq._ We have seen (above, p. 220) that in Russia the need-fire is, or used to be, annually kindled on the eighteenth of August. As to the need fire in Bulgaria see also below, pp. 284 _sq._

712 F. S. Krauss, “Altslavische Feuergewinnung,” _Globus_, lix. (1891) p. 318, quoting P. Ljiebenov, _Baba Ega_ (Trnovo, 1887), p. 44.

M245 The need-fire in Russia, Poland, and Slavonia..

713 F. S. Krauss, _op. cit._ p. 319, quoting _Wisla_, vol. iv. pp. 1, 244 _sqq._

714 F. S. Krauss, _op. cit._ p. 318, quoting Oskar Kolberg, in _Mazowsze_, vol. iv. p. 138.

715 F. S. Krauss, “Slavische Feuerbohrer,” _Globus_, lix. (1891) p. 140. The evidence quoted by Dr. Krauss is that of his father, who often told of his experience to his son.

M246 The need-fire in Servia.

716 Prof. Vl. Titelbach, “Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven,” _Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, xiii. (1900) p. 3.

717 See below, vol. ii. pp. 168 _sqq._

M247 The need-fire in Bulgaria.

718 Adolf Strausz, _Die Bulgaren_ (Leipsic, 1898), pp. 194-199.

M248 The need-fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

_ 719 Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen aus Bosnien und der Hercegovina_, redigirt von Moriz Hoernes, iii. (Vienna, 1895) pp. 574 _sq._

M249 The need-fire in England, in Yorkshire.

720 “_Pro fidei divinae integritate servanda recolat lector quod, cum hoc anno in Laodonia pestis grassaretur in pecudes armenti, quam vocant usitate Lungessouth, quidam bestiales, habitu claustrales non animo, docebant idiotas patriae ignem confrictione de lignis educere et simulachrum Priapi statuere, et per haec bestiis succurrere_,” quoted by J. M. Kemble, _The Saxons in England_ (London, 1849), i. 358 _sq._; A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Güttertranks_2 (Gütersloh, 1886), p. 43; Ulrich Jahn, _Die deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht_ (Breslau, 1884) p. 31.

721 W. G. M. Jones Barker, _The Three Days of Wensleydale_ (London, 1854), pp. 90 _sq._; _County Folk-lore_, vol. ii., _North Riding of Yorkshire, York and the Ainsty_, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1901), p. 181.

_ 722 The Denham Tracts, a Collection of Folklore by Michael Aislabie Denham_, edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 50.

723 Harry Speight, _Tramps and Drives in the Craven Highlands_ (London, 1895), p. 162. Compare, _id._, _The Craven and North-West Yorkshire Highlands_ (London, 1892), pp. 206 _sq._

724 J. M. Kemble, _The Saxons in England_ (London, 1849), i. 361 note.

M250 The need-fire in Northumberland.

725 E. Mackenzie, _An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive View of the County of Northumberland_, Second Edition (Newcastle, 1825), i. 218, quoted in _County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 45. Compare J. T. Brockett, _Glossary of North Country Words_, p. 147, quoted by Mrs. M. C. Balfour, _l.c._: “_Need-fire_ ... an ignition produced by the friction of two pieces of dried wood. The vulgar opinion is, that an angel strikes a tree, and that the fire is thereby obtained. Need-fire, I am told, is still employed in the case of cattle infected with the murrain. They were formerly driven through the smoke of a fire made of straw, etc.” The first edition of Brockett’s _Glossary_ was published in 1825.

726 W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders_ (London, 1879), pp. 167 _sq._ Compare _County Folk-lore_, vol. iv. _Northumberland_, collected by M. C. Balfour (London, 1904), p. 45. Stamfordham is in Northumberland. The vicar’s testimony seems to have referred to the first half of the nineteenth century.

M251 Martin’s account of the need-fire in the Highlands of Scotland.

727 M. Martin, “Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,” in J. Pinkerton’s _General Collection of Voyages and Travels_, iii. (London, 1809), p. 611. The second edition of Martin’s book, which Pinkerton reprints, was published at London in 1716. For John Ramsay’s account of the need-fire, see above, pp. 147 _sq._

M252 The need-fire in the island of Mull. Sacrifice of a heifer.

728 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 506, referring to Miss Austin as his authority.

729 As to the custom of sacrificing one of a plague-stricken herd or flock for the purpose of saving the rest, see below, pp. 300 _sqq._

M253 The need-fire in Caithness.

730 John Jamieson, _Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, New Edition, revised by J. Longmuir and D. Donaldson, iii. (Paisley, 1880) pp. 349 _sq._, referring to “Agr. Surv. Caithn., pp. 200, 201.”

M254 The need-fire in Caithness.

731 R. C. Maclagan, “Sacred Fire,” _Folk-lore_, ix. (1898) pp. 280 _sq._ As to the fire-drill see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 207 _sqq._

M255 Another account of the need-fire in the Highlands.

732 W. Grant Stewart, _The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1823), pp. 214-216; Walter K. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_ (London, 1863), pp. 53 _sq._

M256 Alexander Carmichael’s account of the need-fire in the Highlands of Scotland during the nineteenth century. M257 The need-fire in Arran. M258 The need-fire in North Uist. M259 The need-fire in Reay, Sutherland.

733 Alexander Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica_ (Edinburgh, 1900), ii. 340 _sq._

M260 The Beltane fires a precaution against witchcraft.

734 See above, pp. 154, 156, 157, 159 _sq._

_ 735 Census of India, 1911_, vol. xiv. _Punjab_, Part i. _Report_, by Pandit Harikishan Kaul (Lahore, 1912), p. 302. So in the north-east of Scotland “those who were born with their feet first possessed great power to heal all kinds of sprains, lumbago, and rheumatism, either by rubbing the affected part, or by trampling on it. The chief virtue lay in the feet. Those who came into the world in this fashion often exercised their power to their own profit.” See Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), pp. 45 _sq._

M261 The need-fire in Aberdeenshire.

736 Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 186. The fumigation of the byres with juniper is a charm against witchcraft. See J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 11. The “quarter-ill” is a disease of cattle, which affects the animals only in one limb or quarter. “A very gross superstition is observed by some people in Angus, as an antidote against this ill. A piece is cut out of the thigh of one of the cattle that has died of it. This they hang up within the chimney, in order to preserve the rest of the cattle from being infected. It is believed that as long as it hangs there, it will prevent the disease from approaching the place. It is therefore carefully preserved; and in case of the family removing, transported to the new farm, as one of their valuable effects. It is handed down from one generation to another” (J. Jamieson, _Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, revised by J. Longmuir and D. Donaldson, iii. 575, _s.v._ “Quarter-ill”). See further Rev. W. Gregor, _op. cit._ pp. 186 _sq._: “The fore-legs of one of the animals that had died were cut off a little above the knee, and hung over the fire-place in the kitchen. It was thought sufficient by some if they were placed over the door of the byre, in the ‘crap o’ the wa’.’ Sometimes the heart and part of the liver and lungs were cut out, and hung over the fireplace instead of the fore-feet. Boiling them was at times substituted for hanging them over the hearth.” Compare W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders_ (London, 1879), p. 167: “A curious aid to the rearing of cattle came lately to the knowledge of Mr. George Walker, a gentleman of the city of Durham. During an excursion of a few miles into the country, he observed a sort of rigging attached to the chimney of a farmhouse well known to him, and asked what it meant. The good wife told him that they had experienced great difficulty that year in rearing their calves; the poor little creatures all died off, so they had taken the leg and thigh of one of the dead calves, and hung it in a chimney by a rope, since which they had not lost another calf.” In the light of facts cited below (pp. 315 _sqq._) we may conjecture that the intention of cutting off the legs or cutting out the heart, liver, and lungs of the animals and hanging them up or boiling them, is by means of homoeopathic magic to inflict corresponding injuries on the witch who cast the fatal spell on the cattle.

M262 The need-fire in Perthshire.

_ 737 The Mirror_, 24th June, 1826, quoted by J. M. Kemble, _The Saxons in England_ (London, 1849), i. 360 note 2.

M263 The need-fire in Ireland.

738 Leland L. Duncan, “Fairy Beliefs and other Folklore Notes from County Leitrim,” _Folk-lore_, vii. (1896) pp. 181 _sq._

M264 The use of the need-fire a relic of a time when all fires were kindled by the friction of wood.

739 (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Researches into the Early History of Mankind_, Third Edition (London, 1878), pp. 237 _sqq._; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 207 _sqq._

M265 The belief that the need-fire cannot kindle if any other fire remains alight in the neighbourhood.

740 For some examples of such extinctions, see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 261 _sqq._, 267 _sq._; _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 311, ii. 73 _sq._; and above, pp. 124 _sq._, 132-139. The reasons for extinguishing fires ceremonially appear to vary with the occasion. Sometimes the motive seems to be a fear of burning or at least singeing a ghost, who is hovering invisible in the air; sometimes it is apparently an idea that a fire is old and tired with burning so long, and that it must be relieved of the fatiguing duty by a young and vigorous flame.

741 Above, pp. 147, 154. The same custom appears to have been observed in Ireland. See above, p. 158.

M266 The need-fire among the Iroquois of North America.

742 J. N. B. Hewitt, “New Fire among the Iroquois,” _The American Anthropologist_, ii. (1889) p. 319.

M267 The burnt sacrifice of a calf in England and Wales. Burnt sacrifice of a pig in Scotland.

743 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 507.

744 See above, p. 290.

745 William Hone, _Every-day Book_ (London, preface dated 1827), i. coll. 853 _sq._ (June 24th), quoting Hitchin’s _History of Cornwall_.

746 Hunt, _Romances and Drolls of the West of England_, 1st series, p. 237, quoted by W. Henderson, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders_ (London, 1879), p. 149. Compare J. G. Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), p. 184: “Here also may be found a solution of that recent expedient so ignorantly practised in the neighbouring kingdom, where one having lost many of his herd by witchcraft, as he concluded, burnt a living calf to break the spell and preserve the remainder.”

747 Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 23.

748 W. Henderson, _op. cit._ pp. 148 _sq._

749 Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 186.

750 R. N. Worth, _History of Devonshire_, Second Edition (London, 1886), p. 339. The diabolical nature of the toad probably explains why people in Herefordshire think that if you wear a toad’s heart concealed about your person you can steal to your heart’s content without being found out. A suspected thief was overheard boasting, “They never catches _me_: and they never ooll neither. I allus wears a toad’s heart round my neck, _I_ does.” See Mrs. Ella M. Leather, in _Folk-lore_, xxiv. (1913) p. 238.

M268 The calf is burnt in order to break a spell which has been cast on the herd.

751 Above, p. 301.

752 Robert Hunt, _Popular Romances of the West of England_, Third Edition (London, 1881), p. 320. The writer does not say where this took place; probably it was in Cornwall or Devonshire.

753 Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 184.

M269 Mode in which the burning of a bewitched animal is supposed to break the spell.

_ 754 County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk_, collected and edited by the Lady Eveline Camilla Gurdon (London, 1893), pp. 190 _sq._, quoting _Some Materials for the History of Wherstead_ by F. Barham Zincke (Ipswich, 1887), p. 168.

_ 755 County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk_, p. 191, referring to Murray’s _Handbook for Essex, Suffolk_, etc., p. 109.

M270 In burning the bewitched animal you burn the witch herself. M271 Practice of burning cattle and sheep as sacrifices in the Isle of Man.

756 (Sir) John Rhys, “Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions,” _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) pp. 300-302; repeated in his _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 306 _sq._ Sir John Rhys does not doubt that the old woman saw, as she said, a live sheep being burnt on old May-day; but he doubts whether it was done as a sacrifice. He adds: “I have failed to find anybody else in Andreas or Bride, or indeed in the whole island, who will now confess to having ever heard of the sheep sacrifice on old May-day.” However, the evidence I have adduced of a custom of burnt sacrifice among English rustics tends to confirm the old woman’s statement, that the burning of the live sheep which she witnessed was not an act of wanton cruelty but a sacrifice performed for the public good.

M272 By burning a bewitched animal you compel the witch to appear.

757 (Sir) John Rhys, “Manx Folk-lore and Superstitions,” _Folk-lore_, ii. (1891) pp. 299 _sq._; _id._, _Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx_ (Oxford, 1901), i. 304 _sq._ We have seen that by burning the blood of a bewitched bullock a farmer expected to compel the witch to appear. See above, p. 303.

M273 Magic sympathy between the witch and the bewitched animal. M274 Parallel belief in magic sympathy between the animal shape of a were-wolf and his or her ordinary human shape: by wounding the wolf you simultaneously wound the man or woman.

758 Olaus Magnus, _Historia de Gentium Septentrionalium Conditionibus_, lib xviii. cap. 47, p. 713 (ed. Bâle, 1567).

759 Collin de Plancy, _Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 473 _sq._, referring to Boguet.

760 Collin de Plancy, _op. cit._ iii. 473.

761 Felix Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, 1902), i. 239 _sq._ The same story is told in Upper Brittany. See Paul Sébillot, _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1882), i. 292. It is a common belief that a man who has once been transformed into a were-wolf must remain a were-wolf for seven years unless blood is drawn from him in his animal shape, upon which he at once recovers his human form and is delivered from the bondage and misery of being a were-wolf. See F. Chapiseau, _op. cit._ i. 218-220; Amélie Bosquet, _La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse_ (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 233. On belief in were-wolves in general, see W. Hertz, _Der Werwolf_ (Stuttgart, 1862); J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 915 _sqq._; (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_2 (London, 1873), i. 308 _sqq._; R. Andree, _Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche_ (Stuttgart, 1878), pp. 62-80. In North Germany it is believed that a man can turn himself into a wolf by girding himself with a strap made out of a wolf’s hide. Some say that the strap must have nine, others say twelve, holes and a buckle; and that according to the number of the hole through which the man inserts the tongue of the buckle will be the length of time of his transformation. For example, if he puts the tongue of the buckle through the first hole, he will be a wolf for one hour; if he puts it through the second, he will be a wolf for two days; and so on, up to the last hole, which entails a transformation for a full year. But by putting off the girdle the man can resume his human form. The time when were-wolves are most about is the period of the Twelve Nights between Christmas and Epiphany; hence cautious German farmers will not remove the dung from the cattle-stalls at that season for fear of attracting the were-wolves to the cattle. See Adalbert Kuhn, _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (Berlin, 1843), p. 375; Ulrich Jahn, _Volkssagen aus Pommern und Rügen_ (Stettin, 1886), pp. 384, 386, Nos. 491, 495. Down to the time of Elizabeth it was reported that in the county of Tipperary certain men were annually turned into wolves. See W. Camden, _Britain_, translated into English by Philemon Holland (London, 1610), “Ireland,” p. 83.

M275 Were-wolves in China.

762 J. J. M. de Groot, _The Religious System of China_, v. (Leyden, 1907) P. 548.

M276 Were-wolves among the Toradjas of Central Celebes. The were-wolf in human shape.

763 A. C. Kruijt, “De weerwolf bij de Toradja’s van Midden-Celebes,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xli. (1899) pp. 548-551, 557-560.

764 A. C. Kruijt, _op. cit._ pp. 552 _sq._

765 A. C. Kruijt, _op. cit._ pp. 553. For more evidence of the belief in were-wolves, or rather in were-animals of various sorts, particularly were-tigers, in the East Indies, see J. J. M. de Groot, “De Weertijger in onze Kolonien en op het oostaziatische Vasteland,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, xlix. (1898) pp. 549-585; G. P. Rouffaer, “Matjan Gadoengan,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, l. (1899) pp. 67-75; J. Knebel, “De Weertijger op Midden-Java, den Javaan naverteld,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xli. (1899) pp. 568-587; L. M. F. Plate, “Bijdrage tot de kennis van de lykanthropie bij de Sasaksche bevolking in Oost-Lombok,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, liv. (1912) pp. 458-469; G. A. Wilken, “Het animisme bij de volken van den Indischen Archipel,” _Verspreide Geschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), iii. 25-30.

M277 Were-wolves in the Egyptian Sudan.

766 Ernst Marno, _Reisen im Gebiete des blauen und weissen Nil_ (Vienna, 1874), pp. 239 _sq._

M278 The were-wolf story in Petronius.

767 Petronius, _Sat._ 61 _sq._ (pp. 40 _sq._, ed. Fr. Buecheler,3 Berlin, 1882). The Latin word for a were-wolf (_versipellis_) is expressive: it means literally “skin-shifter,” and is equally appropriate whatever the particular animal may be into which the wizard transforms himself. It is to be regretted that we have no such general term in English.

The bright moonlight which figures in some of these were-wolf stories is perhaps not a mere embellishment of the tale but has its own significance; for in some places it is believed that the transformation of were-wolves into their bestial shape takes place particularly at full moon. See A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 99, 157; J. L. M. Noguès, _Les Mœurs d’autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), p. 141.

M279 Witches like were-wolves can temporarily transform themselves into animals.

768 J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 6: “In carrying out their unhallowed cantrips, witches assumed various shapes. They became gulls, cormorants, ravens, rats, mice, black sheep, swelling waves, whales, and very frequently cats and hares.” To this list of animals into which witches can turn themselves may be added horses, dogs, wolves, foxes, pigs, owls, magpies, wild geese, ducks, serpents, toads, lizards, flies, wasps, and butterflies. See A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 150 § 217; L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. 327 § 220; Ulrich Jahn, _Hexenwesen und Zauberei in Pommern_ (Breslau, 1886), p. 7. In his _Topography of Ireland_ (chap. 19), a work completed in 1187 A.D., Giraldus Cambrensis records that “it has also been a frequent complaint, from old times as well as in the present, that certain hags in Wales, as well as in Ireland and Scotland, changed themselves into the shape of hares, that, sucking teats under this counterfeit form, they might stealthily rob other people’s milk.” See _The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis_, revised and edited by Thomas Wright (London, 1887), p. 83.

_ 769 The Folk-lore Journal_, iv. (1886) p. 266; Collin de Plancy, _Dictionnaire Infernal_ (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 475; J. L. M. Noguès, _Les Mœurs d’autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), p. 141. In Scotland the cut was known as “scoring above the breath.” It consisted of two incisions made crosswise on the witch’s forehead, and was “confided in all throughout Scotland as the most powerful counter-charm.” See Sir Walter Scott, _Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft_ (London, 1884), p. 272; J. G. Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), pp. 531 _sq._; M. M. Banks, “Scoring a Witch above the Breath,” _Folk-lore_, xxiii. (1912) p. 490.

770 J. L. M. Noguès, _l.c._; L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p. 187.

771 M. Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_ (Leipsic, 1899), p. 117. The wolf-skin is supposed to fall down from heaven and to return to heaven after seven years, if the were-wolf has not been delivered from her unhappy state in the meantime by the burning of the skin.

772 J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 8; compare A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 150 § 217. Some think that the sixpence should be crooked. See Rev. W. Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), pp. 71 _sq._, 128; _County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75.

773 J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 30.

M280 Wounds inflicted on an animal into which a witch has transformed herself are inflicted on the witch herself.

774 J. G. Campbell, _op. cit._ p. 33.

775 (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_2 (London, 1873), i. 314.

776 Joseph Glanvil, _Saducismus Triumphatus or Full and Plain Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions_ (London, 1681), Part ii. p. 205.

777 Rev. J. C. Atkinson, _Forty Years in a Moorland Parish_ (London, 1891), pp. 82-84.

_ 778 County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), pp. 79, 80.

779 Leland L. Duncan, “Folk-lore Gleanings from County Leitrim,” _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893) pp. 183 _sq._

M281 Wounded witches in the Vosges.

780 L. F. Sauvé, _Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges_ (Paris, 1889), p. 176.

781 L. F. Sauvé, _op. cit._ pp. 176 _sq._

M282 Wounded witches in Swabia.

782 Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_ (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 184 _sq._, No. 203.

783 E. Meier, _op. cit._ pp. 191 _sq._, No. 215. A similar story of the shoeing of a woman in the shape of a horse is reported from Silesia. See R. Kühnau, _Schlesische Sagen_ (Berlin, 1910-1913), iii. pp. 27 _sq._, No. 1380.

M283 The miller’s wife and the two grey cats.

784 R. Kühnau, _Schlesische Sagen_ (Berlin, 1910-1913), iii. pp. 23 _sq._, No. 1375. Compare _id._, iii. pp. 28 _sq._, No. 1381.

M284 The analogy of were-wolves confirms the view that the reason for burning bewitched animals is either to burn the witch or to compel her to appear.

785 See for example L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. pp. 328, 329, 334, 339; W. von Schulenburg, _Wendische Volkssagen und Gebräuche aus dem Spreewald_ (Leipsic, 1880), pp. 164, 165 _sq._; H. Pröhle, _Harzsagen_ (Leipsic, 1859), i. 100 _sq._ The belief in such things is said to be universal among the ignorant and superstitious in Germany. See A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 150, § 217. In Wales, also, “the possibility of injuring or marking the witch in her assumed shape so deeply that the bruise remained a mark on her in her natural form was a common belief” (J. Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_, Aberystwyth, 1911, p. 243). For Welsh stories of this sort, see J. Ceredig Davies, _l.c._; Rev. Elias Owen, _Welsh Folk-lore_ (Oswestry and Wrexham, N.D., preface dated 1896), pp. 228 _sq._; M. Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 214.

786 L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 361, § 239.

M285 There is the same reason for burning bewitched things.

787 Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 210.

788 L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 358, § 238.

789 L. Strackerjan, _op. cit._ i. p. 360, § 238e.

M286 Similarly by burning alive a person whose form a witch has assumed, you compel the witch to disclose herself. The burning alive of a supposed witch in Ireland in 1895.

790 “The ‘Witch-burning’ at Clonmell,” _Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) pp. 373-384. The account there printed is based on the reports of the judicial proceedings before the magistrates and the judge, which were published in _The Irish Times_ for March 26th, 27th, and 28th, April 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 8th, and July 6th, 1895.

M287 Sometimes bewitched animals are buried alive instead of being burned.

791 John Graham Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1834), p. 185. In this passage “quick” is used in the old sense of “living,” as in the phrase “the quick and the dead.” _Nois_ is “nose,” _hoill_ is “hole,” _quhilk_ (_whilk_) is “which,” and _be_ is “by.”

792 J. G. Dalyell, _op. cit._ p. 186. _Bestiall_ = animals; _seik_ = sick; _calling_ = driving; _guidis_ = cattle.

793 John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, edited by Alexander Allardyce (Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii. 446 _sq._ As to the custom of cutting off the leg of a diseased animal and hanging it up in the house, see above, p. 296, note 1.

794 (Sir) Arthur Mitchell, A.M., M.D., _On Various Superstitions in the North-West Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1862), p. 12 (reprinted from the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, vol. iv.).

M288 Calves killed and buried to save the rest of the herd.

_ 795 County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock (London, 1908), p. 75, quoting Rev. R. M. Heanley, “The Vikings: traces of their Folklore in Marshland,” a paper read before the Viking Club, London, and printed in its _Saga-Book_, vol. iii. Part i. Jan. 1902. The wicken-tree is the mountain-ash or rowan tree, which is a very efficient, or at all events a very popular protective against witchcraft. See _County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, pp. 26 _sq._, 98 _sq._; Mabel Peacock, “The Folklore of Lincolnshire,” _Folk-lore_, xii. (1901) p. 175; J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 11 _sq._; Rev. Walter Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 188. See further _The Scapegoat_, pp. 266 _sq._

M289 General resemblance of the European fire-festivals to each other.

796 Above, pp. 116 _sq._, 119, 143, 165, 166, 168 _sq._, 172.

797 Above, pp. 116, 117 _sq._, 119, 141, 143, 161, 162 _sq._, 163 _sq._, 166, 173, 191, 201.

M290 Two explanations suggested of the fire-festivals. According to W. Mannhardt, they are charms to secure a supply of sunshine; according to Dr. E. Westermarck they are purificatory, being intended to burn and destroy all harmful influences.

798 W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 521 _sqq._

799 E. Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in Morocco,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) pp. 44 _sqq._; _id._, _The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_ (London, 1906-1908), i. 56; _id._, _Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in Morocco_ (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 93-102.

800 E. Mogk, “Sitten und Gebräuche im Kreislauf des Jahres,” in R. Wuttke’s _Sächsische Volkskunde_2 (Dresden, 1901), pp. 310 _sq._

M291 The two explanations are perhaps not mutually exclusive.

_ 801 The Golden Bough_, Second Edition (London, 1900), iii. 312: “The custom of leaping over the fire and driving cattle through it may be intended, on the one hand, to secure for man and beast a share of the vital energy of the sun, and, on the other hand, to purge them of all evil influences; for to the primitive mind fire is the most powerful of all purificatory agents”; and again, _id._ iii. 314: “It is quite possible that in these customs the idea of the quickening power of fire may be combined with the conception of it as a purgative agent for the expulsion or destruction of evil beings, such as witches and the vermin that destroy the fruits of the earth. Certainly the fires are often interpreted in the latter way by the persons who light them; and this purgative use of the element comes out very prominently, as we have seen, in the general expulsion of demons from towns and villages. But in the present class of cases this aspect of fire may be secondary, if indeed it is more than a later misinterpretation of the custom.”

M292 Theory that the fire-festivals are charms to ensure a supply of sunshine.

_ 802 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 311 _sqq._

M293 Coincidence of two of the festivals with the solstices.

803 See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 254 _sqq._

M294 Attempt of the Bushmen to warm up the fire of Sirius in midwinter by kindling sticks.

804 Manilius, _Astronom._ v. 206 _sqq._:

“_Cum vero in vastos surget Nemeaeus hiatus,_ _ Exoriturque Canis, latratque Canicula flammas_ _ Et rabit igne suo geminatque incendia solis,_ _ Qua subdente facem terris radiosque movente_,” etc.

Pliny, _Naturalis Historia_, xviii. 269 _sq._: “_Exoritur dein post triduum fere ubique confessum inter omnes sidus ingens quod canis ortum vocamus, sole partem primam leonis ingresso. Hoc fit post solstitium XXIII. die. Sentiunt id maria et terrae, multae vero et ferae, ut suis locis diximus. Neque est minor ei veneratio quam descriptis in deos stellis, accenditque solem et magnam aestus obtinet causam._”

_ 805 Specimens of Bushman Folklore_, collected by the late W. H. I. Bleek, Ph.D., and L. C. Lloyd (London, 1911), pp. 339, 341. In quoting the passage I have omitted the brackets which the editors print for the purpose of indicating the words which are implied, but not expressed, in the original Bushman text.

806 “The sun is a little warm, when this star appears in winter” (Editors of _Specimens of Bushman Folklore_).

807 “With the stick that he had held in the fire, moving it up and down quickly” (Editors).

808 “They take one arm out of the kaross, thereby exposing one shoulder blade to the sun” (Editors).

M295 The burning wheels and discs of the fire-festivals may be direct imitations of the sun.

809 See above, pp. 161, 162 _sq._ On the wheel as an emblem of the sun, see J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 585; A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_2 (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 45 _sqq._; H. Gaidoz, “Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la roue,” _Revue Archéologique_, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 14 _sqq._; William Simpson, _The Buddhist Praying Wheel_ (London, 1896), pp. 87 _sqq._ It is a popular Armenian idea that “the body of the sun has the shape of the wheel of a water-mill; it revolves and moves forward. As drops of water sputter from the mill-wheel, so sunbeams shoot out from the spokes of the sun-wheel” (M. Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_, Leipsic, 1899, p. 41). In the old Mexican picture-books the usual representation of the sun is “a wheel, often brilliant with many colours, the rays of which are so many blood-stained tongues, by means of which the Sun receives his nourishment” (E. J. Payne, _History of the New World called America_, Oxford, 1892, i. 521).

810 Above, p. 169.

811 Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_ (Stuttgart, 1852), p. 225; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 240; Anton Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 57, 97; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 510.

M296 The wheel sometimes used to kindle the fire by friction may also be an imitation of the sun.

812 Compare J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 521; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Göttingen und Leipsic, 1852-1857), ii. 389; Adalbert Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_2 (Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 41 _sq._, 47; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 521. Lindenbrog in his Glossary on the Capitularies (quoted by J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 502) expressly says: “The rustics in many parts of Germany, particularly on the festival of St. John the Baptist, wrench a stake from a fence, wind a rope round it, and pull it to and fro till it catches fire. This fire they carefully feed with straw and dry sticks and scatter the ashes over the vegetable gardens, foolishly and superstitiously imagining that in this way the caterpillar can be kept off. They call such a fire _nodfeur_ or _nodfyr_, that is to say need-fire.”

813 Above, pp. 144 _sq._, 147 _sq._, 155, 169 _sq._, 175, 177, 179.

814 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 509; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. 117; A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers_,2 pp. 47 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 521; W. E. Kelly, _Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_ (London, 1863), p. 49.

815 A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_2 (Gütersloh, 1886), p. 47.

816 Above, p. 179.

817 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 240, § 443.

818 Above, p. 177.

M297 The influence which the fires are supposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may be thought to be due to an increase of solar heat produced by the fires.

819 Above, pp. 187 _sq._

820 Above, pp. 279 _sq._

821 Above, p. 188.

822 Above, p. 159.

823 Above, p. 116.

824 Above, p. 201.

825 L. Decle, _Three Years in Savage Africa_ (London, 1898), pp. 160 _sq._

826 Rev. J. Shooter, _The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country_ (London, 1857), p. 18.

827 Above, pp. 140, 142.

828 Above, pp. 119, 165, 166, 173, 203.

829 Above, p. 140.

830 Above, p. 121.

831 Above, pp. 141, 170, 190, 203, 248, 250, 264.

832 Above, p. 251.

833 Above, pp. 119, 165, 166, 168, 173, 174.

834 Above, pp. 118, 163 _sq._

835 Above, p. 201.

M298 The effect which the bonfires are supposed to have in fertilizing cattle and women may also be attributed to an increase of solar heat produced by the fires.

836 Above, p. 203.

837 Above, p. 250.

838 Above, pp. 251, 262, 263, 264.

839 Above, p. 112.

840 Above, p. 141.

841 Above, p. 214.

842 Above, p. 204.

843 Above, p. 194.

844 Above, pp. 185, 189; compare p. 174.

845 Above, p. 166.

846 Above, pp. 249, 250.

847 Above, pp. 107, 109, 111, 119; compare pp. 116, 192, 193.

848 Above, p. 115.

849 Above, p. 180.

M299 The custom of carrying lighted torches about the country at the festivals may be explained as an attempt to diffuse the sun’s heat.

850 Above, pp. 113, 142, 170, 233. The torches of Demeter, which figure so largely in her myth and on her monuments, are perhaps to be explained by this custom. See _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 57. W. Mannhardt thought (_Baumkultus_, p. 536) that the torches in the modern European customs are imitations of lightning. At some of their ceremonies the Indians of North-West America imitate lightning by means of pitch-wood torches which are flashed through the roof of the house. See J. G. Swan, quoted by Franz Boas, “The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians,” _Report of the United States National Museum for 1895_ (Washington, 1897), p. 639.

851 Above, p. 203.

852 Amélie Bosquet, _La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse_ (Paris and Rouen, 1845), pp. 295 _sq._; Jules Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 126-129. See _The Scapegoat_, pp. 316 _sq._

853 Br. Jelínek, “Materialen zur Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde Böhmens,” _Mittheilungen der anthropolog. Gesellschaft in Wien_, xxi. (1891) p. 13 note.

854 Mrs. Bishop, _Korea and her Neighbours_ (London, 1898), ii. 56 _sq._

855 Above, pp. 190 _sq._

856 Above, pp. 178, 205, 206.

M300 Theory that the fires at the festivals are purificatory, being intended to burn up all harmful things. M301 The purificatory or destructive effect of the fires is often alleged by the people who light them. The great evil against which the fire at the festivals is directed appears to be witchcraft.

857 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 311 _sqq._

858 Above, pp. 108, 109, 116, 118 _sq._, 121, 148, 154, 156, 157, 159, 160, 170, 171, 174, 175, 176, 180, 183, 185, 188, 232 _sq._, 245, 252, 253, 280, 292, 293, 295, 297. For more evidence of the use of fire to burn or expel witches on certain days of the year, see _The Scapegoat_, pp. 158 _sqq._ Less often the fires are thought to burn or repel evil spirits and vampyres. See above, pp. 146, 170, 172, 202, 252, 282, 285. Sometimes the purpose of the fires is to drive away dragons (above, pp. 161, 195).

859 Above, pp. 107, 116, 118 _sq._, 159.

860 “In short, of all the ills incident to the life of man, none are so formidable as witchcraft, before the combined influence of which, to use the language of an honest man who had himself severely suffered from its effects, the great laird of Grant himself could not stand them if they should fairly yoke upon him” (W. Grant Stewart, _The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 202 _sq._). “Every misfortune and calamity that took place in the parish, such as ill-health, the death of friends, the loss of stock, and the failure of crops; yea to such a length did they carry their superstition, that even the inclemency of the seasons, were attributed to the influence of certain old women who were supposed to be in league, and had dealings with the Devil. These the common people thought had the power and too often the inclination to injure their property, and torment their persons” (_County Folk-lore_, vol. v. _Lincolnshire_, collected by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacock, London, 1908, p. 76). “The county of Salop is no exception to the rule of superstition. The late vicar of a parish on the Clee Hills, startled to find that his parishioners still believed in witchcraft, once proposed to preach a sermon against it, but he was dissuaded from doing so by the parish schoolmaster, who assured him that the belief was so deeply rooted in the people’s minds that he would be more likely to alienate them from the Church than to weaken their faith in witchcraft” (Miss C. F. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, London, 1883, p. 145). “Wherever a man or any living creature falls sick, or a misfortune of any kind happens, without any natural cause being discoverable or rather lying on the surface, there in all probability witchcraft is at work. The sudden stiffness in the small of the back, which few people can account for at the time, is therefore called a ‘witch-shot’ and is really ascribed to witchcraft” (L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_, Oldenburg, 1867, i. p. 298, § 209). What Sir Walter Scott said less than a hundred years ago is probably still true: “The remains of the superstition sometimes occur; there can be no doubt that the vulgar are still addicted to the custom of scoring above the breath (as it is termed), and other counter-spells, evincing that the belief in witchcraft is only asleep, and might in remote corners be again awakened to deeds of blood” (_Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft_, London, 1884, p. 272). Compare L. Strackerjan, _op. cit._ i. p. 340, § 221: “The great power, the malicious wickedness of the witches, cause them to be feared and hated by everybody. The hatred goes so far that still at the present day you may hear it said right out that it is a pity burning has gone out of fashion, for the evil crew deserve nothing else. Perhaps the hatred might find vent yet more openly, if the fear were not so great.”

M302 Amongst the evils for which the fire-festivals are deemed remedies the fore-most is cattle-disease, and cattle-disease is often supposed to be an effect of witchcraft.

861 For some evidence, see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 52-55, 330 _sqq._ It is a popular belief, universally diffused in Germany, that cattle-plagues are caused by witches (A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_,2 Berlin, 1869, p. 149 § 216). The Scotch Highlanders thought that a witch could destroy the whole of a farmer’s live stock by hiding a small bag, stuffed with charms, in a cleft of the stable or byre (W. Grant Stewart, _The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland_, Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 201 _sq._).

_ 862 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 330 _sqq._

863 Above, pp. 282, 284 _sq._

M303 Again, the bonfires are thought to avert hail, thunder, lightning, and other maladies, all of which are attributed to the maleficent arts of witches.

864 Above, pp. 118, 121, 144, 145, 176.

865 Above, pp. 121, 122, 124, 140 _sq._, 145, 146, 174, 176, 183, 184, 187, 188, 190, 191, 192, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 258.

866 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 908 _sqq._; J. V. Grohmann, _Aberglauben und. Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_ (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 32 § 182; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), pp. 149 _sq._, § 216; J. Ceredig Davies, _Folk-lore of West and Mid-Wales_ (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 230; Alois John, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen_ (Prague, 1905), p. 202.

867 Above, pp. 108, 121, 140, 146, 165, 183, 188, 196, 250, 255, 256, 258.

868 Above, pp. 107, 195 _sq._

869 Above, pp. 162, 163, 166, 171, 174.

870 A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 351, § 395.

871 Above, pp. 165, 168, 189, compare 190.

872 A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 351, § 395; L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 298, § 209. See above, p. 343 note.

M304 The burning wheels rolled down hills and the burning discs and brooms thrown into the air may be intended to burn the invisible witches.

873 In the Ammerland, a district of Oldenburg, you may sometimes see an old cart-wheel fixed over the principal door or on the gable of a house; it serves as a charm against witchcraft and is especially intended to protect the cattle as they are driven out and in. See L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 357, § 236. Can this use of a wheel as a talisman against witchcraft be derived from the practice of rolling fiery wheels down hill for a similar purpose?

874 F. S. Krauss, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Südslaven_ (Münster i. W., 1890), pp. 118 _sq._

M305 On this view the fertility supposed to follow the use of fire results indirectly from breaking the spells of witches.

875 In German such spells are called _Nestelknüpfen_; in French, _nouer l’aiguilette_. See J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 897, 983; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 252 § 396; E. Doutté, _Magie et Religion dans l’Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), pp. 87 _sq._, 294 _sqq._; J.L.M. Noguès, _Les Mœurs d’autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_ (Saintes, 1891), pp. 171 _sq._

M306 On the whole the theory of the purificatory or destructive intention of the fire-festivals seems the more probable.