Footnote 371: (return)"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.
Footnote 372: (return)Rev. James Robertson (Parish Minister of Callander), in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1791-1799), xi. 620 sq.
Footnote 373: (return)Pennant's "Tour in Scotland," in John Pinkerton's Voyages and Travels (London, 1808-1814), iii. 49.
Footnote 374: (return)Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, v. 84.
Footnote 375: (return)Rev. Allan Stewart, in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, xv. 517 note.
Footnote 376: (return)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.
Footnote 377: (return)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.
Footnote 378: (return)Rev. Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland (London, 1881), p. 167.
Footnote 379: (return)A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore 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 strùhthan or strùhdhan (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..)
Footnote 380: (return)Marie Trevelyan, Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales (London, 1909), pp. 22-24.
Footnote 381: (return)Jonathan Ceredig Davies, Folklore of West and Mid-Wales (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 76.
Footnote 382: (return)Joseph Train, An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), i. 314 sq.
Footnote 383: (return)(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.
Footnote 384: (return)Professor Frank Granger, "Early Man," in The Victoria History of the County of Nottingham, edited by William Page, i. (London, 1906) pp. 186 sq.
Footnote 385: (return)(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.
Footnote 386: (return)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.
Footnote 389: (return)Geoffrey Keating, D.D., The History of Ireland, translated by John O'Mahony (New York, 1857), pp. 300 sq.
Footnote 390: (return)(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."
Footnote 392: (return)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, Branch, und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen (Prague, 1905), p. 71.
Footnote 393: (return)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.
Footnote 395: (return)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.
Footnote 396: (return)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 ejicunt 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, idem etiam 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.
Footnote 397: (return)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.
Footnote 399: (return)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.).
Footnote 403: (return)Op. cit. iv. i. 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).
Footnote 405: (return)Karl Freiherr von Leoprechting, Aus dem Lechrain (Munich, 1855), pp. 181 sqq.; W. Mannhardt, Der Baumkultus, p. 510.
Footnote 406: (return)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.
Footnote 407: (return)F. Panzer, Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie (Munich, 1848-1855), i. pp. 215 sq., § 242; id., ii. 549.
Footnote 408: (return)A. Birlinger, Volksthümliches aus Schwaben (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 99-101.
Footnote 409: (return)Elard Hugo Mayer, Badisches Volksleben (Strasburg, 1900), pp. 103 sq., 225 sq.
Footnote 410: (return)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).
Footnote 411: (return)H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu Gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la Roue," Revue Archéologique, iii. Série, iv. (1884) pp. 29 sq.
Footnote 412: (return)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.
Footnote 413: (return)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.
Footnote 414: (return)A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz, Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche (Leipsic, 1848), p. 390.
Footnote 415: (return)Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube (Iserlohn, N.D.), pp. 33 sq.
Footnote 417: (return)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.
Footnote 419: (return)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.
Footnote 421: (return)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).
Footnote 422: (return)E. Hoffmann-Krayer, Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes (Zurich, 1913), p. 164.
Footnote 423: (return)Ignaz V. Zingerle, Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes,2 (Innsbruck, 1871), ii. p. 159, § 1354.
Footnote 424: (return)I.V. Zingerle, op. cit. p. 159, §§ 1353, 1355, 1356; W. Mannhardt, Der Baumkultus, p. 513.
Footnote 426: (return)F. Panzer, Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie (Munich, 1848-1855), i. p. 210, § 231.
Footnote 427: (return)Theodor Vernaleken, Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich (Vienna, 1859), pp. 307 sq.
Footnote 428: (return)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 Bohmen und Mähren (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 80, § 636; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Fest-Kalender aus Bohmen (Prague, N.D.), pp. 306-311; Br. Jelfnek, "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.
Footnote 429: (return)Willibald Müller, Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren (Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), pp. 263-265.
Footnote 430: (return)Anton Peter, Volksthümliches aus Österreichisch-Schlesien (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 287.
Footnote 431: (return)Th. Vernaleken, Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich (Vienna, 1859), pp. 308 sq.
Footnote 432: (return)The Dying God, p. 262. Compare M. Kowalewsky, in Folk-lore, i. (1890) p. 467.
Footnote 433: (return)W.R.S. Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, Second Edition (London, 1872), p. 240.
Footnote 434: (return)J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 i. 519; W.R.S. Ralston, Songs of the Russian People (London, 1872), pp. 240, 391.
Footnote 437: (return)W.J.A. von Tettau und J.D.H. Temme, Die Volkssagen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und Westpreussens (Berlin, 1837), p. 277.
Footnote 440: (return)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.
Footnote 442: (return)Friederich S. Krauss, Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven (Vienna, 1885), pp. 176 sq.
Footnote 444: (return)H. von Wlislocki, Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Magyar (Münster i. W., 1893), pp. 40-44.
Footnote 445: (return)A. von Ipolyi, "Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie aus Ungarn," Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde, i. (1853) pp. 270 sq.
Footnote 446: (return)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.
Footnote 447: (return)Fr. Kreutzwald und H. Neus, Mythische und Magische Lieder der Ehsten (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 62.
Footnote 448: (return)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).
Footnote 450: (return)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.
Footnote 451: (return)Alfred de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 19.
Footnote 452: (return)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 I.
Footnote 453: (return)Bossuet, Oeuvres (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 deshonnètes, 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).
Footnote 456: (return)M. Quellien, quoted by Alexandre Bertrand, La Religion des Gaulois (Paris, 1897), pp. 116 sq.
Footnote 457: (return)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.
Footnote 458: (return)Eugene Cortet, Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses (Paris, 1867), p. 216; Ch. Cuissard, Les Feux de la Saint-Jean (Orleans, 1884), p. 24.
Footnote 459: (return)Paul Sébillot, Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne (Paris, 1886), pp. 192-195. In Upper Brittany these bonfires are called rieux or raviers.
Footnote 460: (return)A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 219; E. Cortet, Essai sur les Fétes Religieuses, p. 216.
Footnote 461: (return)A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France, pp. 219, 228, 231; E. Cortet, op. cit. pp. 215 sq.
Footnote 462: (return)J. Lecoeur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 219-224.
Footnote 463: (return)This description is quoted by Madame Clément (Histoire des fêtes civites 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.).
Footnote 464: (return)Bazin, quoted by Breuil, in Mémoires de la Société d' Antiquaires de Picardie, viii. (1845) p. 191 note.
Footnote 465: (return)Correspondents quoted by A. Bertrand, La Religion des Gaulois (Paris, 1897), pp. 118, 406.
Footnote 467: (return)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.
Footnote 468: (return)Albert Meyrac, Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes, et Contes des Ardennes (Charleville, 1890), pp. 88 sq.
Footnote 470: (return)Désiré Monnier, Traditions populaires comparées (Paris, 1854), pp. 207 sqq.; E. Cortet, Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses, pp. 217 sq.
Footnote 471: (return)Bérenger-Féraud, Réminiscences populaires de la Provence (Paris, 1885), p. 142.
Footnote 472: (return)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.
Footnote 474: (return)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.
Footnote 475: (return)A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 150.
Footnote 476: (return)Correspondent, quoted by A. Bertrand, La Religion des Gaulois (Paris, 1897), p. 408.
Footnote 477: (return)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.
Footnote 478: (return)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. Lecoeur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand, ii. 225.
Footnote 479: (return)H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu gaulois du soleil et le symbolisme de la roue," Revue Archéologique, iii. Série, iv. (1884) p. 26, note 3.
Footnote 480: (return)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).
Footnote 481: (return)A. de Nore, Coutumes Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France, pp. 149 sq.; E. Cortet, op. cit. pp. 218 sq.
Footnote 482: (return)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.
Footnote 483: (return)J.L.M. Noguès, Les moeurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis (Saintes, 1891), pp. 72, 178 sq.
Footnote 484: (return)H. Gaidoz, "Le dieu soleil et le symbolisme de la roue," Revue Archéologique, iii. Série, iv. (1884) p. 30.
Footnote 487: (return)Aubin-Louis Millin, Voyage dans les Départemens du Midi de la France (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 341 sq.
Footnote 489: (return)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.
Footnote 491: (return)Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Calendrier Belge (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 416 sq. 439.
Footnote 493: (return)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.
Footnote 495: (return)Joseph Strutt, The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England, New Edition, by W. Hone (London, 1834), p. 359.
Footnote 496: (return)John Stow, A Survay of London, edited by Henry Morley (London, N.D.), pp. 126 sq. Stow's Survay was written in 1598.
Footnote 497: (return)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).
Footnote 499: (return)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."
Footnote 500: (return)Dr. Lyttelton, Bishop of Carlisle, quoted by William Borlase, Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall (London, 1769), p. 135 note.
Footnote 501: (return)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.
Footnote 504: (return)The Denham Tracts, edited by J. Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 342 sq., quoting Archælogia Aeliana, N.S., vii. 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.
Footnote 505: (return)County Folk-lore, vol. vi. East Riding of Yorkshire, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), p. 102.
Footnote 506: (return)John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme (London, 1881), p. 96, compare id., p. 26.
Footnote 508: (return)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.
Footnote 509: (return)J. Brand, op. cit. i. 318, 319; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs (London, 1876), p. 315.
Footnote 510: (return)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.
Footnote 511: (return)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.
Footnote 512: (return)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.
Footnote 514: (return)Joseph Train, Account of the Isle of Man (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 120.
Footnote 515: (return)Sir Henry Piers, Description of the County of Westmeath, written in 1682, published by (General) Charles Vallancey, Collectanea de Rebus Hibernieis, i. (Dublin, 1786) pp. 123 sq.
Footnote 516: (return)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.
Footnote 517: (return)J. Brand, op. cit. i. 305, quoting the author of the Comical Pilgrim's Pilgrimage into Ireland (1723), p. 92.
Footnote 518: (return)The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxv. (London, 1795) pp. 124 sq. The writer dates the festival on June 21st, which is probably a mistake.
Footnote 519: (return)T.F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs (London, 1876), pp. 321 sq., quoting the Liverpool Mercury of June 29th, 1867.
Footnote 520: (return)L.L. Duncan, "Further Notes from County Leitrim," Folk-lore, v. (1894) p. 193.
Footnote 521: (return)A.C. Haddon, "A Batch of Irish Folk-lore," Folk-lore, iv. (1893) pp. 351, 359.
Footnote 522: (return)G.H. Kinahan, "Notes on Irish Folk-lore," Folk-lore Record, iv. (1881) p. 97.
Footnote 523: (return)Charlotte Elizabeth, Personal Recollections, quoted by Rev. Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons (Edinburgh, 1853), p. 53.
Footnote 524: (return)Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland (London, 1887), i. 214 sq.
Footnote 525: (return)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.
Footnote 526: (return)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.
Footnote 527: (return)John Ramsay, of Ochtertyre, Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century, edited by A. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1888), ii. 436.
Footnote 528: (return)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.
Footnote 530: (return)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.
Footnote 531: (return)Thomas Moresinus, Papatus seu Depravatae Religionis Origo et Incrementum (Edinburgh, 1594), p. 56.
Footnote 532: (return)Rev. Dr. George Lawrie, in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, iii. (Edinburgh, 1792) p. 105.
Footnote 533: (return)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. Lecoeur, 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.
Footnote 534: (return)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.
Footnote 536: (return)Angelo de Gubernatis, Mythologie des Plantes (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 185 note 1.
Footnote 540: (return)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.
Footnote 542: (return)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.
Footnote 543: (return)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).
Footnote 545: (return)G. Georgeakis et L. Pineau, Le Folk-lore de Lesbos (Paris, 1894), pp. 308 sq.
Footnote 547: (return)W.H.D. Rouse, "Folklore from the Southern Sporades," Folk-lore, x. (1899) p. 179.
Footnote 548: (return)Lucy M.J. Garnett, The Women of Turkey and their Folk-lore, the Christian Women (London, 1890), p. 122; G.F. Abbott, Macedonian Folklore (Cambridge, 1903), p. 57.
Footnote 550: (return)K. von den Steinen, Unter den Natur-Völkern Zentral-Brasiliens (Berlin, 1894), p. 561.
Footnote 551: (return)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.
Footnote 552: (return)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 Ansarah. 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."
Footnote 553: (return)Edward Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," Folklore, 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.
Footnote 554: (return)E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," Folk-lore, xvi. (1905) pp. 30 sq.; id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, etc., pp. 83 sq.
Footnote 555: (return)Edmond Doutté, Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord (Algiers, 1908), pp. 567 sq.
Footnote 556: (return)E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," Folk-lore, xvi. (1905) pp. 31 sq.; id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, etc., pp. 84-86.
Footnote 557: (return)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.
Footnote 558: (return)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.
Footnote 559: (return)E. Westermarck, "Midsummer Customs in Morocco," Folk-lore, xvi. (1905) pp. 40-42.
Footnote 560: (return)E. Doutté, Magie et Religion dans l'Afrique du Nord (Algiers, 1908), pp. 541 sq.
Footnote 561: (return)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.
Footnote 562: (return)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.
Footnote 564: (return)"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.