Footnote 567: (return)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.
Footnote 570: (return)(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.
Footnote 573: (return)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.
Footnote 574: (return)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).
Footnote 576: (return)A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides," Folk-lore, xiii. (1902) p. 53.
Footnote 578: (return)P.W. Joyce, A Social History of Ancient Ireland (London, 1903), i. 264 sq., ii. 556.
Footnote 580: (return)Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Glasgow, 1900), pp. 61 sq.
Footnote 582: (return)Douglas Hyde, Beside the Fire, a Collection of Irish Gaelic Folk Stories (London, 1890), pp. 104, 105, 121-128.
Footnote 585: (return)(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.
Footnote 587: (return)Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Glasgow, 1902), p. 282.
Footnote 588: (return)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.
Footnote 589: (return)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.
Footnote 590: (return)Rev. James Robertson, Parish minister of Callander, in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, xi. (Edinburgh, 1794), pp. 621 sq.
Footnote 591: (return)Rev. Dr. Thomas Bisset, in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland v. (Edinburgh, 1793) pp. 84 sq.
Footnote 593: (return)James Napier, Folk Lore, or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within this Century (Paisley, 1879), p. 179.
Footnote 594: (return)J. G. Frazer, "Folk-lore at Balquhidder," The Folk-lore Journal, vi. (1888) p. 270.
Footnote 595: (return)Rev. Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland (London, 1881), pp. 167 sq.
Footnote 596: (return)Rev. A. Johnstone, as to the parish of Monquhitter, in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, xxi. (Edinburgh, 1799) pp. 145 sq.
Footnote 597: (return)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.
Footnote 598: (return)Rev. John Gregorson Campbell, Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 282 sq.
Footnote 599: (return)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.
Footnote 600: (return)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.
Footnote 601: (return)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.
Footnote 602: (return)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.
Footnote 603: (return)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," Folklore, xiii. (1902) p. 54.
Footnote 607: (return)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.
Footnote 609: (return)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.
Footnote 610: (return)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.
Footnote 611: (return)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.
Footnote 612: (return)Miss E.J. Guthrie, Old Scottish Customs (London and Glasgow, 1885), pp. 74 sq.
Footnote 613: (return)A. Goodrich-Freer, "More Folklore from the Hebrides," Folk-lore, xiii. (1902) p. 55.
Footnote 614: (return)Pennant's manuscript, quoted by J. Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1882-1883), i. 389 sq.
Footnote 615: (return)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.
Footnote 616: (return)(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.
Footnote 619: (return)Marie Trevelyan, Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales (London, 1909), pp. 254 sq.
Footnote 620: (return)(General) Charles Vallancey, Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, iii. (Dublin, 1786), pp. 459-461.
Footnote 621: (return)Miss A. Watson, quoted by A.C. Haddon, "A Batch of Irish Folk-lore," Folk-lore, iv. (1893) pp. 361 sq.
Footnote 622: (return)Leland L. Duncan, "Further Notes from County Leitrim," Folk-lore, v. (1894) pp. 195-197.
Footnote 623: (return)H.J. Byrne, "All Hallows Eve and other Festivals in Connaught," Folk-lore, xviii. (1907) pp. 437 sq.
Footnote 624: (return)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.
Footnote 625: (return)(Sir) John Rhys, Celtic Folk-lore, Welsh and Manx (Oxford, 1901), i. 318-321.
Footnote 626: (return)John Harland and T.T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-lore (Manchester and London, 1882), pp. 3 sq.
Footnote 628: (return)Annie Milner, in William Hone's Year Book (London, preface dated January, 1832), coll. 1276-1279 (letter dated June, 1831); R.T. Hampson, Medii Aevi Kalendarium (London, 1841), i. 365; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs (London, 1876), p. 395.
Footnote 629: (return)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.
Footnote 630: (return)Baron Dupin, in Mémoires publiées par la Société Royale des Antiquaires de France, iv. (1823) p. 108.
Footnote 631: (return)The evidence for the solar origin of Christmas is given in Adonis, Attis, Osiris, Second Edition, pp. 254-256.
Footnote 632: (return)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."
Footnote 633: (return)"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).
Footnote 634: (return)"Et arborem in nativitate domini ad festivum ignem suum adducendam esse dicebat" (quoted by Jacob Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, i. 522).
Footnote 635: (return)Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbrauche und deutscher Volksglaube (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 12. The Sieg and Lahn are two rivers of Central Germany, between Siegen and Marburg.
Footnote 636: (return)J.H. Schmitz, Sitten und Sagen, Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 4.
Footnote 637: (return)Adalbert Kuhn, Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen (Leipsic, 1859), ii. § 319, pp. 103 sq.
Footnote 639: (return)August Witzschel, Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen (Vienna, 1878), p. 172.
Footnote 640: (return)K. Hoffmann-Krayer, Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes (Zurich, 1913), pp. 108 sq.
Footnote 641: (return)Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Calendrier Belge (Brussels, 1861-1862), ii. 326 sq. Compare J.W. Wolf, Beiträgezur deutschen Mythologie (Göttingen, 1852-1858), i. 117.
Footnote 642: (return)J.B. Thiers, Traité des Superstitions,5 (Paris, 1741), i. 302 sq.; Eugène Cortet, Essai sur les Fêtes Religieuses (Paris, 1867), pp. 266 sq.
Footnote 644: (return)Aubin-Louis Millin, Voyage dans les Départemens du Midi de la France (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 336 sq. The fire so kindled was called caco fuech.
Footnote 645: (return)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 Moeurs 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.
Footnote 646: (return)Laisnel de Salle, Croyances et Légendes du Centres de la France (Paris, 1875), i. 1-3.
Footnote 647: (return)Jules Lecoeur, 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 M'elle Amélie Bosquet, La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 294.
Footnote 648: (return)A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 256.
Footnote 649: (return)Paul Sébillot, Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne (Paris, 1886), pp. 217 sq.
Footnote 650: (return)Albert Meyrac, Traditions, Coutumes, Légendes et Contes des Ardennes (Charleville, 1890), pp. 96 sq.
Footnote 652: (return)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.
Footnote 655: (return)A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 302 sq.
Footnote 656: (return)John Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1882-1883), i. 467.
Footnote 657: (return)J. Brand, op. cit. i. 455; The Denham Tracts, edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 25 sq.
Footnote 658: (return)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 neiv 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).
Footnote 660: (return)Francis Grose, Provincial Glossary, Second Edition (London, 1811), pp. 141 sq.; T.F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs (London, 1876), p. 466.
Footnote 661: (return)County Folk-lore, vol. iv. Northumberland, collected by M.C. Balfour and edited by Northcote W. Thomas (London, 1904), p. 79.
Footnote 662: (return)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.
Footnote 663: (return)County Folk-lore, vol. vi. East Riding of Yorkshire, collected and edited by Mrs. Gutch (London, 1912), pp. 23, 118, compare p. 114.
Footnote 665: (return)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).
Footnote 666: (return)Mrs. Samuel Chandler (Sarah Whateley), quoted in The Folk-lore Journal, i. (1883) pp. 351 sq.
Footnote 667: (return)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.'"
Footnote 668: (return)Mrs. Ella Mary Leather, The Folklore of Herefordshire (Hereford and London, 1912), p. 109. Compare Miss C.S. Burne, "Herefordshire Notes," The Folk-lore Journal, iv. (1886) p. 167.
Footnote 670: (return)"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 Zadroega" (Chedo Mijatovich, Servia and the Servians, London, 1908, pp. 237 sq.). As to the house-communities of the South Slavs see further Og. M. Utiesenovic, Die Hauskommunionen der Südslaven (Vienna, 1859); F. Demelic, 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).
Footnote 672: (return)Baron Rajacsich, Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebräuche der im Kaiserthume Oesterreich lebenden Südslaven (Vienna, 1873), pp. 122-128.
Footnote 673: (return)Baron Rajacsich, Das Leben, die Sitten und Gebrauche 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.
Footnote 676: (return)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.
Footnote 680: (return)August Witzschel, Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen (Vienna, 1878), pp. 171 sq.
Footnote 681: (return)Jules Lecoeur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 289 sq.
Footnote 682: (return)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.
Footnote 683: (return)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 Gumming and Miss Guthrie say that the burning of the Clavie took place upon Yule Night; but this seems to be a mistake.
Footnote 685: (return)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 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.
Footnote 686: (return)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.
Footnote 687: (return)Thomas Hyde, Historia Religionis veterum Persarum (Oxford, 1700), pp. 255-257.
Footnote 688: (return)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 Herabkunjt 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 interpretion 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 Volkskünde, xi. (1907) p. 245.
Footnote 689: (return)"Illos sacrilegos ignes, quos niedfyr vocant," quoted by J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 i. 502; R. Andree, Braunschweiger Volkskunde (Brunswick, 1896), p. 312.
Footnote 690: (return)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.
Footnote 691: (return)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.
Footnote 692: (return)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.
Footnote 693: (return)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.
Footnote 697: (return)Karl Bartsch, Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg (Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 149-151.
Footnote 698: (return)Carl und Theodor Colshorn, Märchen und Sagen (Hanover, 1854), pp. 234-236, from the description of an eye-witness.
Footnote 699: (return)Heinrich Pröhle, Harzbilder, Sitten und Gebräuche aus dem Harz-gebirge (Leipsic, 1855), pp. 74 sq. The date of this need-fire is not given; probably it was about the middle of the nineteenth century.
Footnote 702: (return)Montanus, Die deutschen Volks-feste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube (Iserlohn, N.D.), p. 127.
Footnote 703: (return)Paul Drechsler, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien (Leipsic, 1903-1906), ii. 204.
Footnote 704: (return)Anton Peter, Volksthümliches aus Österreichisch-Schlesien (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 250.
Footnote 705: (return)Alois John, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen (Prague, 1905), p. 209.
Footnote 707: (return)E. Hoffmann-Krayer, "Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen Volksbrauch," Schweizerisches Archiv fur Volkskunde, xi. (1907) pp. 244-246.
Footnote 710: (return)"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."
Footnote 711: (return)Prof. VI. Titelbach, "Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven," Inter-nationales 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.
Footnote 712: (return)F.S. Krauss, "Altslavische Feuergewinnung," Globus, lix. (1891) p. 318, quoting P. Ljiebenov, Baba Ega (Trnovo, 1887), p. 44.
Footnote 714: (return)F.S. Krauss, op. cit. p. 318, quoting Oskar Kolberg, in Mazowsze, vol. iv. p. 138.
Footnote 715: (return)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.
Footnote 716: (return)Prof. Vl. Titelbach, "Das heilige Feuer bei den Balkanslaven," Internationales Archiv fur Ethnographie, xiii. (1900) p. 3.
Footnote 719: (return)Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen aus Bosnien und der Hercegovina, redigirt von Moriz Hoernes, iii. (Vienna, 1895) pp. 574 sq.
Footnote 720: (return)"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 Göttertranks,2 (Gütersloh, 1886), p. 43; Ulrich Jahn, Die deutschen Opfergebräuche bei Ackerbau und Viehzucht (Breslau, 1884) p. 31.
Footnote 721: (return)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.
Footnote 722: (return)The Denham Tracts, a Collection of Folklore by Michael Aislabie Denham, edited by Dr. James Hardy (London, 1892-1895), ii. 50.
Footnote 723: (return)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.
Footnote 725: (return)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.
Footnote 726: (return)W. Henderson, Notes on the Folklore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders (London, 1879), pp. 167 sq. Compare County Folklore, 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.
Footnote 727: (return)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.
Footnote 728: (return)J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 i. 506, referring to Miss Austin as his authority.
Footnote 730: (return)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."
Footnote 731: (return)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.
Footnote 732: (return)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.
Footnote 735: (return)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.
Footnote 736: (return)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. ii. 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 forelegs 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.
Footnote 737: (return)The Mirror, 24th June, 1826, quoted by J. M. Kemble, The Saxons in England (London, 1849), i. 360 note 2.
Footnote 738: (return)Leland L. Duncan, "Fairy Beliefs and other Folklore Notes from County Leitrim," Folk-lore, vii. (1896) pp. 181 sq.
Footnote 739: (return)(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.
Footnote 740: (return)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.
Footnote 742: (return)J.N.B. Hewitt, "New Fire among the Iroquois," The American Anthropologist, ii. (1889) p. 319.
Footnote 745: (return)William Hone, Every-day Book (London, preface dated 1827), i. coll. 853 sq. (June 24th), quoting Hitchin's History of Cornwall.
Footnote 746: (return)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 maybe 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."
Footnote 749: (return)Rev. Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland (London, 1881), p. 186.
Footnote 750: (return)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.
Footnote 752: (return)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.
Footnote 753: (return)Rev. Walter Gregor, Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland (London, 1881), p. 184.
Footnote 754: (return)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.
Footnote 755: (return)County Folk-lore, Printed Extracts, No. 2, Suffolk, p. 191, referring to Murray's Handbook for Essex, Suffolk, etc., p. 109.
Footnote 756: (return)(Sir) John Rhys, "Manx Folklore 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 per formed for the public good.
Footnote 757: (return)(Sir) John Rhys, "Manx Folklore and Superstitions," Folk-lore, ii. (1891) pp. 299 sq.; id., Celtic Folklore, 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.
Footnote 758: (return)Olaus Magnus, Historia de Gentium Septentrionalium Conditionibus, lib xviii. cap. 47, p. 713 (ed. Bâle, 1567).
Footnote 759: (return)Collin de Plancy, Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris, 1825-1826), iii. 473 sq., referring to Boguet.
Footnote 761: (return)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 werewolf 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 the 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.
Footnote 763: (return)A. C. Kruijt, "De weerwolf bij de Toradja's van Midden-Celebes," Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Landen Volkenkunde, xli. (1899) pp. 548-551, 557-560.