Chapter XVI: Part 16

_Greek Festivals._--Perhaps the annual Attic festival in honour of Erechtheus alluded to in the _Iliad_ (ii. 550) ought to be regarded as an instance of ancestor-worship; but the seasonal character of the [Greek: heorte] or new-moon feast in _Od._ xx. 156, and of the [Greek: thalusia] or harvest-festival in _Il._ ix. 533, is generally acknowledged. The older Homeric poems, however, give no such express indications of a fully-developed system of festivals as are to be met with in the so-called "Homeric" hymns, in the _Works and Days_ of Hesiod, in the pages of Herodotus, and so abundantly in most authors of the subsequent period; and it is manifest that the calendar of Homer or even of Herodotus must have been a much simpler matter than that of the Tarentines, for example, came to be, of whom we are told by Strabo that their holidays were in excess of their working days. Each demos of ancient Greece during the historical period had its own local festivals ([Greek: heortai demotikai]), often largely attended and splendidly solemnized, the usages of which, though essentially alike, differed very considerably in details. These details have in many cases been wholly lost, and in others have reached us only in a very fragmentary state. But with regard to the Athenian calendar, the most interesting of all, our means of information are fortunately very copious. It included some 50 or 60 days on which all business, and especially the administration of justice, was by order of the magistrates suspended. Among these [Greek: hieromeniai] were included--in Gamelion (January), the _Lenaea_ or festival of vats in honour of Dionysus; in Anthesterion (February), the _Anthesteria_, also in honour of Dionysus, lasting three days (Pithoigia, Choes and Chytri); the _Diasia_ in honour of Zeus, and the lesser _Eleusinia_; in Elaphebolion (March), the _Pandia_ (? of Zeus), the _Elaphebolia_ of Artemis, and the greater _Dionysia_; in Munychion, the _Munychia_ of Artemis as the moon goddess ([Greek: Mounuchia]) and the _Delphinia_ of Apollo; in Thargelion (May), the _Thargelia_ of Apollo and the _Plynteria_ and _Callynteria_ of Athena; in Scirophorion (June), the _Diipolia_ of Zeus and the _Scirophoria_ of Athena; in Hekatombaion, hecatombs were offered to Apollo the summer-god, and the _Cronia_ of Cronus and the _Panathenaea_ of Athena were held; in Metageitnion, the _Metageitnia_ of Apollo; in Boedromion, the _Boedromia_ of Apollo the helper,[8] the _Nekusia_ or _Nemeseia_ (the festival of the dead), and the greater _Eleusinia_; in Pyanepsion, the _Pyanepsia_ of Apollo, the _Oschophoria_ of Dionysus (probably), the _Chalkeia_ or _Athenaea_ of Athena, the _Thesmophoria_ of Demeter, and the _Apaturia_; in Maimacterion, the _Maimacteria_ of Zeus; and in Poseideon (December), the lesser _Dionysia_.

Of these some are commemorative of historical events, and one at least may perhaps be regarded as a relic of ancestor-worship; but the great majority are nature-festivals, associating themselves in the manner that has already been indicated with the phenomena of the seasons, the equinoxes and the solstices.[9] In addition to their numerous public festivals, the Greeks held various family celebrations, also called [Greek: heortai], in connexion with weddings, births and similar domestic occurrences. For the great national [Greek: panegureis]--Olympian, Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian--see the article GAMES, CLASSICAL.

_Roman Festivals._--For the purpose of holding _comitia_ and administering justice, the days of the Roman year were regarded as being either _dies fasti_ or _dies nefasti_--the _dies fasti_ being the days on which it was lawful for the praetors to administer justice in the public courts, while on the _dies nefasti_ neither courts of justice nor meetings of _comitia_ were allowed to be held. Some days were _fasti_ during one portion and _nefasti_ during another; these were called _dies intercisi_. For the purposes of religion a different division of the year was made; the days were treated as _festi_ or as _profesti_,--the former being consecrated to acts of public worship, such as sacrifices, banquets and games, while the latter (whether _fasti_ or _nefasti_) were not specially claimed for religious purposes. The _dies festi_ or _feriae publicae_[10] were either _stativae_, _conceptivae_ or _imperativae_. The _stativae_ were such as were observed regularly, each on a definite day; the _conceptivae_ were observed annually on days fixed by the authorities for the time being; the _imperativae_ were publicly appointed as occasion called for them. In the Augustan age the _feriae stativae_ were very numerous, as may be seen from what we possess of the _Fasti_ of Ovid. The number was somewhat fluctuating. Festivals frequently fell into desuetude or were revived, were increased or diminished, were shortened or prolonged at the will of the emperor, or under the caprice of the popular taste. Thus Augustus restored the Compitalia and Lupercalia; while Marcus Antoninus in his turn found it expedient to diminish the number of holidays.

The following is an enumeration of the stated festivals as given by Ovid and contemporary writers. The first day of January was observed somewhat as is the modern New Year's day: clients sent presents to their patrons, slaves to their masters, friends and relatives to one another. On the 9th the _Agonalia_ were held, apparently in honour of Janus. On the 11th the _Carmentalia_ were kept as a half-holiday, but principally by women; so also on the 15th. On the 13th of February were the _Faunalia_, on the 15th the _Lupercalia_, on the 17th the _Quirinalia_, on the 18th the _Feralia_, on the 23rd (at one time the last day of the Roman year) the _Terminalia_, on the 24th the _Regifugium_ or _Fugalia_, and on the 27th the _Equiria_ (of Mars). On the 1st of March were the _Matronalia_, on the 14th a repetition of the _Equiria_, on the 15th the festival of Anna Perenna, on the 17th the _Liberalia_ or _Agonalia_, and from the 19th to the 23rd the _Quinquatria_ (of Minerva). On the 4th of April were the _Megalesia_ (of Cybele), on the 12th the _Cerealia_, on the 21st the _Palilia_, on the 23rd the _Vinalia_, on the 25th the _Robigalia_, and on the 28th the _Floralia_. The 1st of May was the festival of the _Lares Praestites_; on the 9th, 11th and 13th the _Lemuria_ were celebrated; on the 12th the _Ludi Martiales_, and on the 15th those of Mercury. June 5 was sacred to _Semo Sancus_; the _Vestalia_ occurred on the 9th, the _Matralia_ on the 11th, and the _Quinquatrus Minusculae_ on the 13th. The _Ludi Apollinares_ were on the 5th, and the _Neptunalia_ on the 23rd of July. On the 13th of August were the _Nemoralia_, in honour of Diana; on the 18th the _Consualia_, on the 19th the _Vinalia Rustica_, and on the 23rd the _Vulcanalia_. The _Ludi Magni_, in honour of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, began on September 4. The _Meditrinalia_ (new wine) were on the 11th of October, the _Faunalia_ on the 13th, and the _Equiria_ on the 15th. The _Epulum Jovis_ was on 13th November. The December festivals were--on the 5th _Faunalia_, and towards the close _Opalia_, _Saturnalia_, _Larentalia_.

The calendar as it stood at the Augustan age was known to contain many comparatively recent accessions, brought in under the influence of two "closely allied powers, the foreign priest and the foreign cook" (Mommsen). The _Megalesia_, for example, had been introduced 204 B.C. The _Ludi Apollinares_ could not be traced farther back than 208 B.C. The _Floralia_ and _Cerealia_ had not come in much earlier. Among the oldest feasts were undoubtedly the _Lupercalia_, in honour of Lupercus, the god of fertility; the _Equiria_, in honour of Mars; the _Palilia_; the great September festival; and the _Saturnalia_.

Among the feriae conceptivae were the very ancient _feriae Latinae_, held in honour of Jupiter on the Alban Mount, and attended by all the higher magistrates and the whole body of the senate. The time of their celebration greatly depended on the state of affairs at Rome, as the consuls were not allowed to take the field until they had held the _Latinae_, which were regarded as days of a sacred truce. The _feriae sementivae_ were held in the spring, and the _Ambarvalia_ in autumn, both in honour of Ceres. The _Paganalia_ of each _pagus_, and the _Compitalia_ of each _vicus_ were also _conceptivae_. Of _feriae imperativae_,--that is to say, festivals appointed by the senate, or magistrates, or higher priests to commemorate some great event or avert some threatened disaster,--the best known is the _Novendiale_, which used to be celebrated as often as stones fell from heaven (Livy xxi. 62, xxv. 7, &c.). In addition to all those already mentioned, there occasionally occurred _ludi votivi_, which were celebrated in fulfilment of a vow; _ludi funebres_, sometimes given by private persons; and _ludi seculares_, to celebrate certain periods marked off in the Etrusco-Roman religion.

_Feasts of the Jews_.--By Old Testament writers a festival or feast is generally called either [Hebrew: hag] (compare the Arabic Hadj), from [Hebrew: hagag] to rejoice, or [Hebrew: moed], from [Hebrew: yaad], to appoint. The words [Hebrew: shabat] and [Hebrew: mikra kodesh] are also occasionally used. In the Talmud the three principal feasts are called [Hebrew: regalim], after Exod. xxiii. 14. Of the Jewish feasts which are usually traced to a pre-Mosaic origin the most important and characteristic was the weekly Sabbath, but special importance was also attached from a very early date to the lunar periods. It is probable that other festivals also, of a seasonal character, were observed (see Exod. v. 1). In common with most others, the Mosaic system of annual feasts groups itself readily around the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In Lev. xxiii., where the list is most fully given, they seem to be arranged with a conscious reference to the sacred number seven (compare Numb. xxviii.). Those belonging to the vernal equinox are three in number; a preparatory day, that of the Passover, leads up to the principal festival, that of unleavened bread, which again is followed by an after-feast, that of Pentecost (see PASSOVER, PENTECOST). Those of the autumnal equinox are four; a preparatory day on the new moon of the seventh month (the Feast of Trumpets) is followed by a great day of rest, the day of Atonement (which, however, was hardly a _festival_ in the stricter sense of the word), by the Feast of Tabernacles, and by a great concluding day (Lev. xxiii. 36; John vii. 37). If the feast of the Passover be excepted, it will be seen that all these celebrations or commemorations associate themselves more readily with natural than with historical events.[11] There was also a considerable number of post-Mosaic festivals, of which the principal were that of the Dedication (described in 1 Macc. iv. 52-59; comp. John x. 22) and that of Purim, the origin of which is given in the book of Esther (ix. 20 seq.). It has probably no connexion with the Persian festival Furdigan (see ESTHER).[12]

_Earlier Christian Festivals._--While making it abundantly manifest that Christ and his disciples observed the appointed Jewish feasts, the New Testament nowhere records the formal institution of any distinctively Christian festival. But we have unambiguous evidence of the actual observance, from a very early period, of the first day of the week as a holy day (John xx. 19, 26; 1 Cor. xvi. 2; Acts xx. 7; Rev. i. 10). Pliny in his letter to Trajan describes the Christians of Bithynia as meeting for religious purposes on a set day; that this day was Sunday is put beyond all reasonable doubt by such a passage as that in the _Apology_ of Justin Martyr, where he says that "on Sunday ([Greek: te tou heliou legomene hemera]) all the Christians living either in the city or the country met together." The Jewish element, in some churches at least, and especially in the East, was strong enough to secure that, along with the _dies dominica_, the seventh day should continue to be kept holy. Thus in the _Apostolic Constitutions_ (ii. 59) we find the Saturday specially mentioned along with the Sunday as a day for the assembling of the church; in v. 15 it is ordained that there shall be no fasting on Saturday, while in viii. 33 it is added that both on Saturday and Sunday slaves are to have rest from their labours. The 16th canon of the council of Laodicea almost certainly means that solemn public service was to be held on Saturday as well as on Sunday. In other quarters, however, the tendency to regard both days as equally sacred met with considerable resistance. The 36th canon of the council of Illiberis, for example, deciding that Saturday should be observed as a fast-day, was doubtless intended to enforce the distinction between Saturday and Sunday. At Milan in Ambrose's time Saturday was observed as a festival; but Pope Innocent is found writing to the bishop of Eugubium to urge that it should be kept as a fast. Ultimately the Christian church came to recognize but one weekly festival.

The numerous yearly festivals of the later Christian church, when historically investigated, can be traced to very small beginnings. Indeed, while it appears to be tolerably certain that Jewish Christians for the most part retained all the festivals which had been instituted under the old dispensation, it is not at all probable that either they or their Gentile brethren recognized any yearly feasts as of distinctively Christian origin or obligation. It cannot be doubted, however, that gradually, in the course of the 2nd century, the universal church came to observe the anniversaries of the death and resurrection of Christ--the [Greek: pascha staurosimon] and the [Greek: pascha hanastasimon], as they were respectively called (see EASTER and GOOD FRIDAY). Not long afterwards Whitsunday also came to be fixed in the usage of Christendom as a great annual festival. Even Origen (in the 8th book _Against Celsus_) enumerates as Christian festivals the Sunday, the [Greek: paraskeue], the Passover with the feast of the Resurrection, and Pentecost; under which latter term, however, he includes the whole period between Easter and Whitsuntide. About Cyprian's time we find individual Christians commemorating their departed friends, and whole churches commemorating their martyrs; in particular, there are traces of a local and partial observance of the feast of the Innocents. Christmas day and Epiphany were among the later introductions, the feast of the Epiphany being somewhat the earlier of the two. Both are alluded to indeed by Clemens Alexandrinus (i. 340), but only in a way which indicates that even in his time the precise date of Christ's birth was unknown, that its anniversary was not usually observed, and that the day of his baptism was kept as a festival only by the followers of Basilides (see EPIPHANY).

When we come down to the 4th century we find that, among the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost, Ascension Day has come into new prominence. Augustine, for example, enumerates as anniversaries celebrated by the whole church those of Christ's passion, resurrection and ascension, along with that of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, while he is silent with regard to Christmas and Epiphany. The general tendency of this and the following centuries was largely to increase the festivals of the Church, and by legislation to make them more fixed and uniform. Many passages, indeed, could be quoted from Chrysostom, Jerome and Augustine to show that these fathers had not by any means forgotten that comparative freedom with regard to outward observances was one of the distinctive excellences of Christianity as contrasted with Judaism and the various heathen systems (compare Socrates, _H.E._ v. 22). But there were many special circumstances which seemed to the leaders of the Church at that time to necessitate the permission and even legislative sanction of a large number of new feasts. The innovations of heretics sometimes seemed to call for rectification by the institution of more orthodox observances; in other instances the propensity of rude and uneducated converts from paganism to cling to the festal rites of their forefathers proved to be invincible, so that it was seen to be necessary to seek to adapt the old usages to the new worship rather than to abolish them altogether;[13] moreover, although the empire had become Christian, it was manifestly expedient that the old holidays should be recognized as much as possible in the new arrangements of the calendar. Constantine soon after his conversion enacted that on the _dies dominica_ there should be no suits or trials in law; Theodosius the Great added a prohibition of all public shows on that day, and Theodosius the younger extended the prohibition to Epiphany and the anniversaries of martyrdoms, which at that time included the festivals of St Stephen, and of St Peter and St Paul, as also that of the Maccabees. In the 21st canon of the council of Agde (506), besides Easter, Christmas, Epiphany, Ascension and Pentecost, we find the Nativity of John the Baptist already mentioned as one of the more important festivals on which attendance at church was regarded as obligatory. To these were added, in the centuries immediately following, the feasts of the Annunciation, the Purification, and the Assumption of the Virgin; as well as those of the Circumcision, of St Michael and of All Saints.

Festivals were in practice distinguished from ordinary days in the following ways: all public and judicial business was suspended,[14] as well as every kind of game or amusement which might interfere with devotion; the churches were specially decorated; Christians were expected to attend public worship, attired in their best dress; love feasts were celebrated, and the rich were accustomed to show special kindness to the poor; fasting was strictly forbidden, and public prayers were said in a standing posture.

_Later Practice._--In the present calendar of the Roman Catholic Church the number of feast days is very large. Each is celebrated by an appropriate office, which, according to its character, is either duplex, semi-duplex or simplex. A duplex again may be either of the first class or of the second, or a major or a minor. The distinctions of ritual for each of these are given with great minuteness in the general rubrics of the breviary; they turn chiefly on the number of Psalms to be sung and of lessons to be read, on the manner in which the antiphons are to be given and on similar details. The duplicia of the first class are the Nativity, the Epiphany, Easter with the three preceding and two following days, the Ascension, Whitsunday and the two following days, Corpus Christi, the Nativity of John Baptist, Saints Peter and Paul, the Assumption of the Virgin, All Saints, and, for each church, the feast proper to its patron or title and the feast of its dedication. The duplicia of the second class are the Circumcision, the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, of the Holy Trinity, and of the Most Precious Blood of Christ, the feasts of the Purification, Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity and Conception of the Virgin, the Natalitia of the Twelve Apostles, the feasts of the Evangelists, of St Stephen, of the Holy Innocents, of St Joseph and of the Patrocinium of Joseph, of St Lawrence, of the Invention of the Cross and of the Dedication of St Michael. The Dominicae majores of the first class are the first Sunday in Advent, the first in Lent, Passion Sunday, Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, Dominica in Albis, Whitsunday and Trinity Sunday; the Dominicae majores of the second class are the second, third and fourth in Advent, Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays, and the second, third and fourth Sundays in Lent.

In the canons and decrees of the council of Trent repeated allusions are made to the feast days, and their fitness, when properly observed, to promote piety. Those entrusted with the cure of souls are urged to see that the feasts of the Church be devoutly and religiously observed, the faithful are enjoined to attend public worship on Sundays and on the greater festivals at least, and parish priests are bidden to expound to the people on such days some of the things which have been read in the office for the day. Since the council of Trent the practice of the Church with respect to the prohibition of servile work on holidays has varied considerably in different Catholic countries, and even in the same country at different times. Thus in 1577, in the diocese of Lyons, there were almost forty annual festivals of a compulsory character. By the concordat of 1802 the number of such festivals was for France reduced to four, namely, Christmas day, Ascension day, the Assumption of the Virgin, and All Saints day.

The calendar of the Greek Church is even fuller than that of the Latin, especially as regards the [Greek: heortai ton hagion]. Thus on the last Sunday in Advent the feast of All Saints of the Old Covenant is celebrated; while Adam and Eve, Job, Elijah, Isaiah, &c., have separate days. The distinctions of ritual are analogous to those in the Western Church. In the Coptic Church there are seven great festivals, Christmas, Epiphany, the Annunciation, Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, Ascension and Whitsunday, on all of which the Copts "wear new clothes (or the best they have), feast and give alms" (Lane). They also observe, as minor festivals, Maundy Thursday, Holy Saturday, the feast of the Apostles (11th July), and that of the Discovery of the Cross.

In common with most of the churches of the Reformation, the Church of England retained a certain number of feasts besides all Sundays in the year. They are, besides Monday and Tuesday both in Easter-week and Whitsun-week, as follows: the Circumcision, the Epiphany, the Conversion of St Paul, the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, St Matthias the Apostle, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, St Mark the Evangelist, St Philip and St James (Apostles), the Ascension, St Barnabas, the Nativity of St John Baptist, St Peter the Apostle, St James the Apostle, St Bartholomew, St Matthew, St Michael and all Angels, St Luke the Evangelist, St Simon and St Jude, All Saints, St Andrew, St Thomas, Christmas, St Stephen, St John the Evangelist, the Holy Innocents. The 13th canon enjoins that all manner of persons within the Church of England shall from henceforth celebrate and keep the Lord's day, commonly called Sunday, and other holy days, according to God's holy will and pleasure, and the orders of the Church of England prescribed in that behalf, that is, in hearing the Word of God read and taught, in private and public prayers, in acknowledging their offences to God and amendment of the same, in reconciling themselves charitably to their neighbours where displeasure hath been, in oftentimes receiving the communion of the body and blood of Christ, in visiting of the poor and sick, using all godly and sober conversation. (Compare Hooker, _E.P._ v. 70.) In the _Directory for the Public Worship of God_ which was drawn up by the Westminster Assembly, and accepted by the Church of Scotland in 1645, there is an appendix which declares that there is no day commanded in Scripture to be kept holy under the gospel but the Lord's day, which is the Christian Sabbath; festival days, vulgarly called holy-days, having no warrant in the Word of God, are not to be continued; nevertheless it is lawful and necessary, upon special emergent occasions, to separate a day or days for public fasting or thanksgiving, as the several eminent and extraordinary dispensations of God's providence shall administer cause and opportunity to his people.

Several attempts have been made at various times in western Europe to reorganize the festival system on some other scheme than the Christian. Thus at the time of the French Revolution, during the period of Robespierre's ascendancy, it was proposed to substitute a tenth day (Decadi) for the weekly rest, and to introduce the following new festivals: that of the Supreme Being and of Nature, of the Human Race, of the French people, of the Benefactors of Mankind, of Freedom and Equality, of the Martyrs of Freedom, of the Republic, of the Freedom of the World, of Patriotism, of Hatred of Tyrants and Traitors, of Truth, of Justice, of Modesty, of Fame and Immortality, of Friendship, of Temperance, of Heroism, of Fidelity, of Unselfishness, of Stoicism, of Love, of Conjugal Fidelity, of Filial Affection, of Childhood, of Youth, of Manhood, of Old Age, of Misfortune, of Agriculture, of Industry, of our Forefathers, of Posterity and Felicity. The proposal, however, was never fully carried out, and soon fell into oblivion.

_Mahommedan Festivals._--These are chiefly two--the 'Eed es-Sagheer (or minor festival) and the 'Eed el-Kebeer (or great festival), sometimes called 'Eed el-Kurban. The former, which lasts for three days, immediately follows the month Ramadan, and is generally the more joyful of the two; the latter begins on the tenth of Zu-l-Heggeh (the last month of the Mahommedan year), and lasts for three or four days. Besides these festivals they usually keep holy the first ten days of Moharram (the first month of the year), especially the tenth day, called Yom Ashoora; the birthday of the prophet, on the twelfth day of the third month; the birthday of El-Hoseyn, in the fourth month; the anniversary of the prophet's miraculous ascension into heaven, in the seventh month; and one or two other anniversaries. Friday, called the day of El-Gumah (the assembly), is a day of public worship; but it is not usual to abstain from public business on that day except during the time of prayer.

_Hindu and Buddhist Festivals._--In modern India the leading popular festivals are the Holi, which is held in March or April and lasts for five days, and the Dasahara, which occurs in October. Although in its origin Buddhism was a deliberate reaction against all ceremonial, it does not now refuse to observe festivals. By Buddhists in China, for example, three days in the year are especially observed in honour of the Buddha,--the eighth day of the second month, when he left his home; the eighth day of the fourth month, the anniversary of his birthday; and the eighth of the twelfth, when he attained to perfection and entered Nirvana. In Siam the eighth and fifteenth days of every month are considered holy, and are observed as days for rest and worship. At Trut, the festival of the close of the year, visiting and play-going are universal. The new year (January) is celebrated for three days; in February is another holiday; in April is a sort of Lent, ushering in the rainy season; on the last day of June presents are made of cakes of the new rice; in August is the festival of the angel of the river, "whose forgiveness is then asked for every act by which the waters of the Meinam have been rendered impure." See Bowring's _Siam_ and Carne's _Travels in Indo-China and the Chinese Empire_. Copious details of the elaborate festival-system of the Chinese may be found in Doolittle's _Social Life of the Chinese_.

LITERATURE.--For Christian feasts see K.A. H. Kellner, _Heortologie_
(Freiburg im Breisgau, 1906); Hippolyte Delehaye, _Les Legendes
hagiographiques_ (Brussels, 1905); J. Rendel Harris, _The Cult of the
Heavenly Twins_ (Cambridge, 1906); de Rossi-Duchesne, _Martyrologium
Hieronymianum_.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "To feast" is simply to keep a festum or festival. The etymology
of the word is uncertain; but probably it has no connexion with the
Gr. [Greek: hestian].

[2] See Spencer, _Principles of Sociology_, i. 170, 280, 306.

[3] Haug, _Parsis_, 224, 225.

[4] "May the heavens, the waters, the firmament, be kind to us; may
the lord of the field be gracious to us.... May the oxen (draw)
happily, the men labour happily; may the traces bind happily, wield
the goad happily" (Wilson's translation, iii. 224).

[5] See Haug's _Aitareya-brahmanam of the Rig-Veda_; Max Muller's
_Chips from a German Workshop_, i. 115.

[6] Visperad. See Haug, _Parsis_, 192; Richardson's _Dissertation on
the Language, &c., of Eastern Nations_, p. 184; Morier's _Journey
through Persia_.

[7] Plutarch, _De Iside et Osiride_; Macrobius, _Saturnalia_, i. 21.

[8] In this month the anniversaries of the battle of Marathon, and of
the downfall of the thirty tyrants, were also publicly celebrated.

[9] See Schoemann, _Griechische Altertumer_, ii. 439 seq.; Mommsen
_Heortologie_.

[10] _Feriae privatae_, such as anniversaries of births, deaths, and
the like, were observed by separate clans, families or individuals.

[11] In the "parallel" passages, there is considerable variety in the
designation and arrangement of these feasts. While Ex. xii.
approximates most closely to Lev. xxiii. and Num. xxviii., Ex. xxiii.
has stronger affinities with Deut. xvi. The relations of these
passages are largely discussed by Graf, _Die geschichtlichen Bucher
des A. T._, pp. 34-41, and by other recent critics.

[12] On the whole subject of Jewish festivals see Reland, _Antiq.
Hebr._; Knobel, _Leviticus_ (c. 23); George, _Die judischen Feste_;
Edersheim, _The Temple; its Ministry and Services_; Ewald,
_Altertumer des Volkes Israel_; articles in Bible dictionaries.

[13] As, at a later period (601), Gregory the Great instructed his
Anglo-Saxon missionaries so to Christianize the temples, festivals,
&c., of the heathen "ut durae mentes gradibus vel passibus, non autem
saltibus, eleventur."

[14] Manumission, however, was lawful on any day.

FEATHER (O. Eng. _fether_, Ger. _Feder_, from an Indo-European root seen also in Gr. [Greek: pteron], and [Greek: petesthai], to fly), a horny outgrowth of the skin of birds homologous with the scale of the reptile. The body-covering of birds is, without exception, comprised of feathers, and by this character alone birds may be distinguished from all other animals.

The most perfect form of feather is made up of a long, tapering rod, fringed on either side, for the greater part of its length, by a secondary series of slender and tapering rods forming a more or less acute angle with the central axis. This fringe is known as the _vexillum_ or "vane" (fig. 1 a). The central axis is divisible into two distinct parts,--a hollow, cylindrical, transparent _calamus_, or "quill," the base of which is inserted into the skin, and a solid, quadrangular _rhachis_ or "shaft" which supports the vane. At the lower end of the quill is a small hole--the lower _umbilicus_--through which the nutritive pulp passes during the growth of the feather: while at the upper end, where it passes into the shaft, a similar hole will be found,--the upper _umbilicus_--and from this the last remains of the capsules which contained the nutritive pulp may sometimes be seen protruding. If the quill is cut open a series of these capsules will be found fitting one into the other throughout the whole length of the tubular chamber.

a, Outline of a feather showing the relation of the barbs and barbules
to the central axis or shaft.

b, Section across two of the barbs shown in a, highly magnified.

c, Two barbules of the posterior series--seen only in cross-section in
b.

d, A barbule of the anterior series.

e, Section across the base of three anterior barbules showing
attachment to barb.

f, A portion of the hooklet of the anterior series showing the method
of interlocking with the barbules of the posterior series.]

The rods comprising the lateral fringe, or vane, are known as the _rami_ or the "barbs," and will be found, on microscopic examination, to be lath-shaped and to taper to a point. Further, each barb supports a double series of smaller outgrowths known as the _radii_, or "barbules"; so that each barb may be likened to a feather in miniature. These "barbules," however, differ markedly in structure on the two sides of the barb, those pointing towards the tip of the feather--the "anterior barbules"--being ribbon-shaped from the base outwards for about half their length, when they become cut up to form a series of long and very delicate hooklets (fig. 1 d). On the opposite side of the barb the barbules are also ribbon-shaped for about half their length, but the ribbon is curved trough-fashion, so that the whole series of posterior barbules forms a number of deep valleys, and into these the hooklets are thrust so as to catch hold of the upper edges of the troughs, which are set so that the upper edge is towards the upper, and the lower edge towards the under surface of the feather. The manner in which this beautiful mechanism works may be seen in fig. 1 b.

In one of the primary or "quill" feathers of the wing of a crane, each barb of the inner side of the vane was found to bear about 600 pairs of barbules, which would make about 800,000 barbules for the inner web of the vane alone, or more than a million for the whole feather (H.F. Gadow). It is to the agency of these hooklets alone that the closely-knit, elastic vanes of the flight feathers and the body feathers are due. Where these hooklets are wanting the barbs do not adhere together, resulting in a loose "discontinuous" vane such as, for example, is found in the plumes of the ostrich.

Many feathers, in addition to the main axis, bear a second, generally much shorter axis, supporting a loose discontinuous vane; this shorter branch is known as the "aftershaft" and arises from the under surface of the feather. Only in the cassowary and emu among adult birds is the aftershaft as large as the main shaft.

There are several different kinds of feathers--contour feathers, semiplumes, down-feathers, filoplumes and powder-down. Contour feathers, as their name implies, are those which form the contour or outline of the body, and are all that can generally be seen. Those which form the "flight feathers" of the wing, and the tail feathers, are the most perfectly developed. Semiplumes are degenerate contour feathers. The down-feathers are generally completely hidden by the contour feathers: they form in many birds, such as gulls and ducks, a thick underclothing comparable to the under-fur of mammals such as the seals. In all cases they are of a loose, soft, "fluffy" structure, the barbs being of great length and slenderness, while the barbules are often long and provided with knob-like thickenings answering to the hooklets of the more perfectly developed contour feathers; these thickenings help to "felt" the separate down-feathers together, the barbs of one down-feather interlocking with those of its neighbour. Down-feathers differ from semiplumes both in their relation to contour feathers and in that they do not possess a main axis, all the barbs arising from a common centre.

Filoplumes are degenerate structures having a superficial resemblance to hairs, but they always bear a minute vane at the tip. They occur in all birds, in clusters of varying number, about the bases of contour feathers. In some birds they attain a great length, and may project beyond the contour feathers, sometimes forming conspicuous white patches, as for example in the necks of cormorants. In their early stages of development they often possess a large aftershaft made up of a number of barbs, but these quickly disappear, leaving only the degenerate main shaft. The eyelashes and bristles round the mouth found in many birds appear to be akin to filoplumes.

Powder-down feathers are degenerate down-feathers which appear to secrete a dry, waxy kind of powder. This powder rapidly disintegrates and becomes distributed over the plumage, adding thereto a quite peculiar bloom. In birds of the heron tribe powder-down feathers have reached a high degree of development, forming large patches in the breast and thighs, while in some hawks, and in the parrots, these mysterious feathers are scattered singly over the greater part of the body.

Nestling down.

The nature of the covering of nestling birds is of a more complex character than has hitherto been suspected. The majority of young birds, as is well known, either emerge from the egg clothed in down-feathers, or they develop these within a day or two afterwards. But this covering, though superficially similar in all, may, as a matter of fact, differ widely in its constitution, even in closely related forms, while only in a very few species can the complete history of these feathers be made out.

The brown or tawny owl (_Syrnium aluco_) is one of these. At hatching, the young of this species is thickly clad in white, woolly down-feathers, of the character known as umbelliform--that is to say, the central axis or main shaft is wanting, so that the barbs all start from a common centre. These feathers occupy the position of the ultimate contour feathers. They are shortly replaced by a second down-like covering, superficially resembling, and generally regarded as, true down. But they differ in that their barbs spring from a central axis as in typical contour feathers. Feathers of this last description indeed have now made their appearance in the shape of the "flight" or quill feathers (_remiges_) and of the tail feathers. This plumage is worn until the autumn, when the downy feathers give place to the characteristic adult plumage. The down feathers which appear at hatching-time are known as _pre-pennae_, or _pre-plumulae_, as the case may be; the first generation of pre-pennae, in the case of the tawny owl for example, is made up of _protoptyles_, while the succeeding plumage is made up of _mesoptyles_, and these in turn give place to the _teleoptyles_ or adult feathers. The two forms of nestling plumage--pre-pennae and pre-plumulae--may be collectively called "neossoptyles," a term coined by H.F. Gadow to distinguish the plumage of the nestling from that of the adult--the "teleoptyle" plumage.

As a rule the nestling develops but one of these generations of neossoptyles, and this generally answers to the mesoptyle plumage, though this is of a degenerate type. In some birds, as in the Megapodes, the "protoptyle" or first of these two generations of pre-pennae is developed and shed while the chick is yet in the shell, so that at hatching the mesoptyle plumage is well developed. But in the majority of birds, probably, the mesoptyle plumage only is developed, while the earlier, and apparently more degenerate, dress is suppressed. In the penguins both of these nestling plumages are developed, but the mesoptyle dress has degenerated so that umbelliform feathers now take the place of feathers having a central axis.

The Anatidae show traces of the earlier, first generation of feathers in one or two species only, e.g. _Cloephaga rubidiceps_. In all the remaining species mesoptyles only occur. And this is true also of the game-birds. In both the Tinamous, the duck-tribe and the game-birds this mesoptyle plumage shows, in different species, every gradation between feathers having a well-developed main shaft and aftershaft, and those which are mere umbelliform tufts.

As development proceeds and the contour feathers make their appearance they thrust the mesoptyle feathers out of their follicles--the pockets in the skin in which they were rooted--and these will often be found adhering to the tips of the contour feathers for many weeks after the bird has left the nest. This occurs because the development of the contour feather begins before that of the mesoptyles has completed.

The plumage in nestling birds is still further complicated by the fact that it may be almost, or entirely, composed of pre-plumulae; that is to say, of down-feathers which are later succeeded by adult _down-feathers_. This is the case among the accipitrine birds for example, and thereby it differs entirely from that of the owls, which develop neither pre-plumulae nor adult down. The cormorants are, so far as is known, the only birds which have a nestling plumage composed entirely of pre-plumulae.

The colours of feathers.

In variety and brilliancy the colours of birds are not surpassed by those of any other group of animals. Yet the pigments to which these colours are due are but few in number, while a large number of the most resplendent hues are produced by structural peculiarities of the colourless horny surface of the feathers, and hence are known as subjective or optical colours.

The principal colour pigments are (a) _melanin pigments_, derived possibly from the haemoglobin of the blood, but more probably from the blood plasma, and (b) _lipochrome_ or "fat" pigments, which are regarded as reserve products; though in the case of birds it is exceedingly doubtful whether they have this significance.

The melanin pigments (_zoomelanin_) occur in the form of granules and give rise to the black, brown and grey tones; or they may combine with those of the lipochrome series.

The lipochrome pigments (_zoonerythrin_ and _zooxanthin_) tend to be diffused throughout the substance of the feather, and give rise respectively to the red and yellow colours.

In addition to these must be reckoned _turacin_, a reddish-purple pigment consisting of the same elements as zoomelanin, but remarkable for the fact that it contains from 5 to 8% of copper, which can be extracted by a weak alkaline solution, such as ammonia, and with the addition of acetic acid it can be filtered off as a metallic red or blue powder. The presence of metallic copper is indicated by the green flame of these red feathers when burnt. Turacin was discovered by Sir A.H. Church in the quill-feathers of the wings of Touracoes or "plantain eaters." These feathers, he showed, lose their colour after they have become wet, but regain it on drying. But turacin is not, as was supposed, confined to the feathers of the plantain eaters, since it has been obtained from a cuckoo, _Dasylophus superciliosus_.

What effect food may have on colour in birds in a wild state we have no means of knowing, but it is significant that flamingoes and linnets in confinement never regain their bright hues after their first moult in captivity. If cayenne pepper be mixed with the food of certain strains of canaries, from the time the birds are hatched onwards, the yellow colour of the feathers becomes intensified, till it takes on a deep orange hue. Bullfinches, if fed on hemp-seed, turn black. According to Darwin, the natives of the Amazonian region feed the common green parrot on the fat of large Siluroid fishes, and as a result the feathers become beautifully variegated with red and yellow. Similarly, in the Malay Archipelago, the natives of Gilolo change the colours of another parrot.

With but rare exceptions bright colours are confined to the exposed portions of the plumage, but in some of the Bustards the down is of a bright pink colour.

Structural colours.

Structural colours include all metallic or prismatic colours, blue, green, white, some yellows, and, in part, glossy black. In metallic feathers the radii (barbules) are modified in various ways, frequently to form flattened, overlapping plates or tiles, while the surfaces of the plates are either smooth, finely striated or pitted. But, save only in the case of white feathers, beneath this colourless, glazed outer coat there is always a layer of pigment.

The only green pigment known to occur in feathers is _turacoverdin_, found in the feathers of the plantain eaters; it contains a relatively large amount of iron, but no copper. In all other cases the green colour of feathers is due to yellow, orange or greyish-brown pigment occurring with a special superstructure consisting of narrow ridges, as in some parrots and pittas (ant-thrushes), or the surface of the barbs and barbules is smooth and transparent, while between it and the pigment there exists a layer of small polygonal, colourless bodies having highly refractory, and often striated, surfaces.

Blue is unknown as a pigment in feathers. Blue feathers contain only orange or brownish pigment (Gadow), the blue colour being caused by the combination of pigment corpuscles and colourless striated polygonal bodies, as in green feathers.

While in many birds the coloration takes the form either of a uniform hue or of bands and patches of colour more or less brilliant, in others the coloration is sombre, and made up of dark longitudinal stripes or transverse bars on a lighter ground. The latter is the more primitive, and there seems good reason to believe that longitudinal stripes preceded transverse bars. This is indicated by the fact that the nestlings of the more primitive groups are longitudinally striped, and that young hawks in their first plumage are so striped, while the adults are barred.

There is also evidence to show that the evolution of brilliant plumage began with the males, and has, in many cases, been more or less perfectly acquired by the females, and also by the young, as for example in the kingfishers, where parents and offspring wear the same livery. Often, where the parents are alike in plumage, the young wear a different and duller livery, as in the case of the common starling (_Sturnus vulgaris_). But where the female differs from the male in coloration the young resemble the female parent.

The physiological explanation of complete disappearance of pigment in adult life, e.g. gannet, is not yet apparent.

Moulting.

At least once annually birds renew their feathers completely by a process known as a moult. Until the new feathers have attained at least half their full length they are invested in a soft sheath, and, as development proceeds, the sheath breaks up from the tip of the feather downwards, so that for a time the new feathers have almost a brush-like appearance. Generally this replacement takes place gradually, new and old feathers occurring side by side, and on this account it is not always possible to see whether a moult is proceeding without raising the old feathers.

The "quill" feathers of the wing and tail are renewed in pairs, so that flight is little, if at all, impaired, the change taking place in the wing from the region of the wrist inwards, as to the primaries, and from the body outwards, towards the tip of the wing, as to the secondaries. In certain birds, however, as in the duck tribe and the rails, for example, all the quill-feathers of the wing are shed at once, so that for some time flight is impossible.

In the penguins this simultaneous method of moulting is carried still further. That is to say, the old feathers covering the body are not replaced gradually, but _en masse_. This method of ecdysis is, however, still further remarkable in that the old feathers do not drop out, to be succeeded by spine-like stumps which, later, split at the tip, liberating the barbs of the new feathers. They are, on the contrary, thrust out upon the tips of the new feathers, the barbs of which are never enclosed within an envelope such as that just described. When their growth has practically completed, and not till then, the old feathers are removed in large patches by the aid of the bird's beak; exposing thereby a perfectly developed plumage. In the cassowary, and emeu, the old feathers similarly adhere for a time to the tips of the new; but in these birds the feathers are moulted singly as in other birds.

Some birds moult twice within the year, the additional moult taking place in the spring, as in the case of the "warblers" (Sylviidae) and Limicolae, for example. But when this is the case the spring moult is only partial, since the quill feathers of the wings and the tail feathers are not renewed.

At this spring moult a special "nuptial" plumage is often assumed, as for example in many of the Limicolae, e.g. god-wits, knots, dunlin, ruff.

The sequel to this habit of assuming a nuptial dress is an interesting one. Briefly, this plumage, at first assumed at the mating period by the males only, and doffed soon after the young appear, has become retained for longer and longer periods, so that the succeeding plumage, often conspicuously dull compared with the nuptial dress, is worn only for a few weeks, instead of many months, as in the case of many of the ducks, for example; wherein the males, as soon as the young are hatched, assume what C. Waterton has aptly called an "eclipse" dress. This, instead of being worn till the following spring, as in the waders, is shed again in the autumn and replaced by what answers to the waders' "nuptial" dress. In the game-birds but a trace of this "eclipse" plumage remains; and this, apparently, only in jungle-fowl, the common grey partridge (_Perdix cinerea_) and the blackcock (_Lyrurus_), in whose case the head and neck for a short period following the breeding season are clothed only by dull feathers. Further, this more highly developed plumage becomes transferred, first to the female, then to the young, so that, in many groups, the dull phase of plumage is entirely eliminated.

But the assumption at the breeding season of a conspicuously brilliant plumage is not always due to a moult. In many birds, notably many Passerines, this change is brought about by shedding the tips of the feathers, which are of a duller hue than the rest of the feather. In this way the bright rose pink of the linnet's breast, the blue and black head of the chaffinch, and the black throat and chestnut-and-black markings of the back of the sparrow, are assumed--to mention but a few instances. These birds moult but once a year, in the autumn, when the new feathers have broad brown fringes; as the spring advances these drop off, and with them the barbicels from the barbules of the upper surface of the feather, thus revealing the hidden tints.

According to some authorities, however, some birds acquire a change of colour without a moult by the ascent of pigment from the base of the feather. The black head assumed by many gulls in the spring is, for example, said to be gained in this way. There is, however, not only no good evidence in support of the contention, but the whole structure of the feather is against the probability of any such change taking place.

The development of feathers.

Feathers correspond with the scales of reptiles rather than with the
hairs of mammals, as is shown by their development. They make their
first appearance in the developing chick at about the sixth day of
incubation, in the shape of small papillae. In section each papilla is
found to be made up of a cluster of dermal cells--that is to say, of
cells of the deeper layer of the skin--capped by cells of the
epidermis. These last form a single superficial layer of flattened
cells--the _epitrichium_--overlaying the cells of the Malpighian
layer, which are cylindrical in shape and rapidly increase to form
several layers. As development proceeds the papillae assume a
cone-shape with its apex directed backwards, while the base of this
cone sinks down into the skin, or rather is carried down by the growth
of the Malpighian cells, so that the cone is now sunk in a deep pit.
Thereby these Malpighian cells become divided into two portions: (1)
those taking part in the formation of the walls of the pit or "feather
follicle," and (2) those enclosed within the cone. These last surround
the central mass or core formed by the dermis. This mass constitutes
the nutritive pulp for the development of the growing feather, and is
highly vascular. The cells of the Malpighian layer within the cone now
become differentiated into three layers. (1) An inner, extremely thin,
forming a delicate sheath for the pulp, and found in the fully
developed feather in the form of a series of hollow, transparent caps
enclosed within the calamus; (2) a thick layer which forms the feather
itself; and (3) a thin layer which forms the investing sheath of the
feather. It is this sheath which gives the curious spine-covered
character to many nestling birds and birds in moult. As growth
proceeds the cells of this middle layer arrange themselves in
longitudinal rows to form the barbs, while the barbules are formed by
a secondary splitting. At their bases these rudimentary barbs meet to
form the calamus. Finally the tips of the barbs break through the
investing sheath and the fully formed down-feather emerges.

A part of the pulp and Malpighian cells remains over after the
complete growth of the down-feather, and from this succeeding
generations of feathers are developed. The process of this development
differs from that just outlined chiefly in this: that of the
longitudinal rows which in the down-feather form the barbs, two on the
dorsal and two on the ventral aspect of the interior of the cylinder
become stronger than the rest, combining to form the main-and
after-shaft respectively. The remainder of the rods form the barbs and
barbules as in the down-feather.

The reproductive power of the feather follicle appears to be almost
inexhaustible, since it is not diminished appreciably by age, nor
restricted to definite moulting periods, as is shown by the cruel and
now obsolete custom of plucking geese alive, no less than three times
annually, for the sake of their feathers. The growth of the feathers
is, however, certainly affected by the general health of the bird,
mal-nutrition causing the appearance of peculiar transverse V-shaped
grooves, at more or less regular intervals, along the whole length of
the feather. These are known as "hunger-marks," a name given by
falconers, to whom this defect was well known.