Skip to content

Chapter IV: The Golden Bough (8)

Text size

69 G. A. Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten u. Gebräuche unter den Sachsen
Siebenbürgens_, p. 19. Cp. B. K. p. 482 _sqq._

70 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. p. 225 _sqq._ No.
421; _A. W. F._ p. 167 _sq._

_ 71 A. W. F._ p. 168.

72 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p.
445, No. 162; _A. W. F._ p. 168.

_ 73 A. W. F._ p. 169.

74 Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. p. 224 sq. No. 420; _A. W. F._ p. 169.

_ 75 A. W. F._ p. 169.

_ 76 Ib._ p. 170.

_ 77 Ib._ p. 170.

78 Praetorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_, p. 23 _sq._; _B. K._ p. 394 _sq._

_ 79 M. F._ p. 58.

_ 80 Ib._

_ 81 M. F._ p. 62.

_ 82 M. F._ p. 59.

83 Above, p. 6.

_ 84 M. F._ p. 59.

85 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p.
440 _sq. Nos._ 151, 152, 153; Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen
Mythologie_, ii. p. 234, No. 428; _M. F._ p. 59.

86 Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. p. 233, No. 427; _M. F._ p. 59.

_ 87 M. F._ p. 59 _sq._

_ 88 M. F._ p. 58.

89 M. F. p. 58 _sq._

_ 90 M. F._ p. 60.

91 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p.
444 _sq._ No. 162; _M. F._ p. 61.

92 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. p. 233, No. 427.

_ 93 M. F._ p. 61 _sq._

_ 94 M. F._ p. 62.

_ 95 M. F._ p. 62.

96 E. Meier, _op. cit._ p. 445 _sq._ No. 163.

_ 97 M. F._ p. 60.

_ 98 M. F._ p. 62.

99 Above, vol. i. p. 343 _sq._

100 Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France_,
ii. 135.

_ 101 M. F._ p. 62, “_Il fait le veau_.”

_ 102 M. F._ p. 62.

_ 103 M. F._ p. 63.

_ 104 M. F._ p. 167.

105 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, ii. 24, Bohn’s ed.

106 Burne and Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_, p. 373 _sq._

_ 107 M. F._ p. 167.

108 Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France_,
ii. 133; _M. F._ p. 167 _sq._

109 Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, p. 213, No.
4.

110 Holzmayer, _Osiliana_, p. 107; _M. F._ p. 187.

111 Birlinger, _Aus Schwaben_, ii. 328.

112 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. pp. 223, 224, Nos.
417, 419.

_ 113 M. F._ p. 112.

114 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p.
445, No. 162.

115 Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_, ii. 425, No. 379.

116 Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. pp. 221-224, Nos.
409, 410, 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 418.

_ 117 M. F._ p. 186 _sq._

118 Above, p. 3.

119 Above, p. 26 _sq._

_ 120 M. F._ p. 187.

_ 121 M. F._ p. 187 _sq._; Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus
Thüringen_, pp. 189, 218; W. Kolbe, _Hessische Volks-Sitten und
Gebräuche_ (Marburg, 1888), p. 35.

_ 122 M. F._ p. 188; Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 220.

_ 123 A. W. F._ p. 197 _sq._; Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_,
ii. p. 491; Jamieson, _Dictionary of the Scottish Language_, _s.v._
“Maiden”; Afzelius, _Volkssagen und Volkslieder aus Schwedens
älterer und neuerer Zeit_, übersetzt von Ungewitter, i. 9.

124 Above, p. 6 _sq._

125 L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, pp. 169 _sq._, 182. On Christmas
night children sleep on a bed of the Yule straw (_ib._ p. 177).

126 Jahn, _Deutsche Opfergebräuche_, p. 215. Cp. above, vol. i. p. 60.

127 Afzelius, _op. cit._ i. 31.

128 Afzelius, _op. cit._ i. 9; Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_, pp. 181,
185.

129 Above, pp. 8 _sq._, 11, 12, 15 _sq._, 21, 23, 28. In regard to the
hare the substitution of brandy for hare’s blood is doubtless
comparatively modern.

_ 130 Die Korndämonen_, p. 1.

131 Herodotus, ii. 46.

132 Preller, _Griechische Mythologie_, 3 i. 600; _A. W. F._ p. 138.

_ 133 A. W. F._ p. 139.

134 Pollux, iv. 118.

_ 135 A. W. F._ p. 142 _sq._

136 Ovid, _Fasti_, ii. 361; iii. 312; v. 101; _id._, _Heroides_, iv. 49.

137 Macrobius, _Sat._ i. 22, 3.

138 Homer, _Hymn to Aphrodite_, 262 _sqq._

139 Pliny, _N. H._ xii. 3; Ovid, _Metam._ vi. 392; _id._, _Fasti_, iii.
303, 309; Gloss. Isid. Mart. Cap. ii. 167, cited by Mannhardt, _A.
W. F._ p. 113.

140 Pliny, _N. H._ xii. 3; Martianus Capella, ii. 167; Augustine, _Civ.
Dei_, xv. 23; Aurelius Victor, _Origo gentis Romanae_, iv. 6.

141 Servius on Virgil, _Ecl._ vi. 14; Ovid, _Metam._ vi. 392 _sq._;
Martianus Capella, ii. 167.

_ 142 B. K._ p. 138 _sq._; _A. W. F._ p. 145.

143 Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ i. 10.

144 Above, p. 12 _sqq._

_ 145 A. W. F._ ch. iii.

146 Above, vol. i. p. 379 _sq._

147 Above, vol. i. p. 326 _sq._

148 Above, vol. i. p. 325 _sq._

149 Above, p. 19 _sqq._

150 A. Lang, _Myth, Ritual, and Religion_, ii. 232.

151 Pausanias, i. 24, 4; _id._, i. 28, 10; Porphyry, _De abstinentia_,
ii. 29 _sq._; Aelian, _Var. Hist._ viii. 3; Schol. on Aristophanes,
_Peace_, 419; Hesychius, Suidas, and _Etymol. Magnum_, _s.v._
βούφονια. The date of the sacrifice (14th Skirophorion) is given by
the Schol. on Aristophanes and the _Etym. Magn._; and this date
corresponds, according to Mannhardt (_M. F._ p. 68), with the close
of the threshing in Attica. No writer mentions the trial of both the
axe and the knife. Pausanias speaks of the trial of the axe,
Porphyry and Aelian of the trial of the knife. But from Porphyry’s
description it is clear that the slaughter was carried out by two
men, one wielding an axe and the other a knife, and that the former
laid the blame on the latter. Perhaps the knife alone was condemned.
That the King Archon (on whom see above, vol. i. p. 7), presided at
the trial of all lifeless objects, is mentioned by Pollux, viii. 90;
cp. _id._ viii. 120.

152 The real import of the name _bouphonia_ was first perceived by Prof.
W. Robertson Smith. See his _Religion of the Semites_, i. 286 _sqq._

153 Varro, _De re rustica_, ii. 5, 4. Cp. Columella, vi. praef. § 7.
Perhaps, however, Varro’s statement may be merely an inference drawn
from the ritual of the _bouphonia_ and the legend told to explain
it.

_ 154 B. K._ p. 409.

155 See above, vol. i. p. 243.

156 Hecquard, _Reise an die Küste und in das Innere von West-Afrika_,
pp. 41-43.

157 Above, p. 3, and vol. i. p. 408.

_ 158 China Review_, i. 62, 154, 162, 203 _sq._; Doolittle, _Social Life
of the Chinese_, p. 375 _sq._, ed. Paxton Hood; Gray, _China_, ii.
115 _sq._

159 Above, vol. i. pp. 261, 267.

160 See above, p. 26 _sqq._

161 Schol. on Aristophanes, _Acharn._ 747.

162 Overbeck, _Griechische Kunstmythologie_, ii. 493; Müller-Wieseler,
_Denkmäler d. alt. Kunst_, ii. pl. viii. 94.

163 Hyginus, _Fab._ 277; Cornutus, _De nat. deor._ c. 28; Macrobius,
_Sat._ i. 12, 23; Schol. on Aristophanes, _Acharn._ 747; _id._ on
_Frogs_, 338; _id._ on _Peace_, 374; Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ ii.
380; Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ x. 16.

164 For the authorities on the Thesmophoria and a discussion of some
doubtful points in the festival, I may be permitted to refer to my
article “Thesmophoria” in the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, ninth ed.

165 Photius, _s.v._ στήνια, speaks of the ascent of _Demeter_ from the
lower world; and Clement of Alexandria speaks of both Demeter and
Proserpine as having been engulfed in the chasm (_Protrept._ ii. §
17). The original equivalence of Demeter and Proserpine must be
borne steadily in mind.

166 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 69; Photius, _s.v._ στήνια.

167 E. Rohde, “Unedirte Luciansscholien, die attischen Thesmophorien und
Haloen betreffend,” in _Rheinisches Museum_, N. F. xxv. (1870) 548
_sqq_. Two passages of classical writers (Clemens Alex., _Protrept._
ii. § 17 and Pausanias, ix. 8, 1) refer to the rites described by
the Scholiast on Lucian, and had been rightly interpreted by Lobeck
(_Aglaophamus_, p. 827 _sqq._)

168 The scholiast speaks of them as _megara_ and _adyta_. _Megara_ (from
a Phoenician word meaning “cavern,” “subterranean chasm,” Movers,
_Die Phoenizier_, i. 220) were properly subterranean vaults or
chasms sacred to the gods. See Hesychius, quoted by Movers, _l.c._
(the passage does not appear in M. Schmidt’s minor edition of
Hesychius); Porphyry, _De antro nymph._ 6.

169 We infer this from Pausanias, ix. 8, 1, though the passage is
incomplete and apparently corrupt. For ἐν Δωδώνῃ Lobeck proposes to
read ἀναδῦναι or ἀναδοθῆναι. At the spring and autumn festivals of
Isis at Tithorea geese and goats were thrown into the _adyton_ and
left there till the following festival, when the remains were
removed and buried at a certain spot a little way from the temple.
Pausanias, x. 32, 14 (9). This analogy supports the view that the
pigs thrown into the caverns at the Thesmophoria were left there
till the next festival.

170 Ovid, _Fasti_, iv. 461-466, upon which Gierig remarks, “_Sues melius
poeta omisisset in hac narratione_.” Such is the wisdom of the
commentator.

171 Pausanias, i. 14, 3.

172 Schol. on Aristophanes, _Frogs_, 338.

173 Above, p. 15 _sq._

174 Above, p. 20 _sq._

175 Above, p. 9.

176 Above, p. 29.

177 Above, p. 29 _sq._

178 In Clemens Alex., _Protrept._ ii. 17, for μεγαρίζοντες χοίρους
ἐκβάλλουσι Lobeck (Aglaophamus, p. 831) would read μεγάροις ζῶντας
χοίρους ἐμβάλλουσι. For his emendation of Pausanias, see above, p.
45.

179 It is worth noting that in Crete, which was an ancient seat of
Demeter worship (see above, vol. i. p. 331), the pig was esteemed
very sacred and was not eaten, Athenaeus, 375 F·376 A. This would
not exclude the possibility of its being eaten sacramentally, as at
the Thesmophoria.

180 Pausanias, viii. 42.

181 Above, p. 24 _sqq._

182 Pausanias, viii. 25 and 42. On the Phigalian Demeter, see W.
Mannhardt, _M. F._ p. 244 _sqq._

183 Above, vol. i. p. 296 _sq._

184 Above, vol. i. p. 296.

185 Demosthenes, _De corona_, p. 313.

186 Above, vol. i. p. 281.

187 Cureton, _Spicilegium Syriacum_, p. 44.

188 Lucian, _De dea Syria_, 54.

189 The heathen Harranians sacrificed swine once a year and ate the
flesh; En-Nedim, in Chwolsohn’s _Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus_, ii.
42. My friend Professor W. Robertson Smith has conjectured that the
wild boars annually sacrificed in Cyprus on 2d April (Joannes Lydus,
_De mensibus_, iv. 45) represented Adonis himself. See his _Religion
of the Semites_, i. 272 sq., 392.

190 Plutarch, _Quaest. Conviv._ iv. 5.

191 Isaiah lxv. 3, 4, lxvi. 3, 17.

192 Herodotus, ii. 47; Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 8; Aelian, _Nat.
Anim._ x. 16.

193 Herodotus, _l.c._

194 Plutarch and Aelian, _ll.cc._

195 Herodotus, _l.c._

196 Herodotus, ii. 47 _sq._; Aelian and Plutarch, _ll.cc._ Herodotus
distinguishes the sacrifice to the moon from that to Osiris.
According to him, at the sacrifice to the moon, the extremity of the
pig’s tail, together with the spleen and the caul, were covered with
fat and burned; the rest of the flesh was eaten. On the evening (not
the eve, see Stein on the passage) of the festival the sacrifice to
Osiris took place. Each man slew a pig before his door, then gave it
to the swineherd, from whom he had bought it, to take away.

197 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_,
pp. 432, 452.

_ 198 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington), p.
225.

_ 199 Ib._ p. 231.

200 J. Crevaux, _Voyages dans l’Amérique au Sud_, p. 59.

201 Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 17 _sq._, 50 _sq._

202 Leviticus xvi. 23 _sq._

203 Porphyry, _De abstin._ ii. 44. For this and the Jewish examples I am
indebted to my friend Prof. W. Robertson Smith.

204 Mariner, _Tonga Islands_, i. 434, _note_; ii. 82, 222 _sq._

205 Above, vol. i. p. 167 _sqq._

206 Casalis, _The Basutos_, p. 211; Livingstone, _Missionary Travels and
Researches in South Africa_, p. 255; John Mackenzie, _Ten Years
north of the Orange River_, p. 135 _note_.

207 J. Mackenzie, _l.c._

_ 208 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington), p.
225.

_ 209 Ib._ p. 275.

210 Turner, _Samoa_, p. 76.

_ 211 Ib._ p. 70.

212 Diogenes Laertius, _Vitae Philos._ viii. 8.

213 Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ x. 16. The story is repeated by Pliny, _Nat.
Hist._ xviii. 168.

214 Lefébure, _Le mythe Osirien_, i. 44.

215 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 8. Lefébure (_op. cit._ p. 46)
recognises that in this story the boar is Typhon himself.

216 This important principle was first recognised by Prof. W. Robertson
Smith. See his article “Sacrifice,” _Encycl. Britann._ 9th ed. xxi.
137 sq. Cp. his _Religion of the Semites_, pp. 353 _sq._, 391 _sq._

217 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 31.

218 Lefébure, _Le mythe Osirien_, p. 48 _sq._

219 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 33, 73; Diodorus, i. 88.

220 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 31; Diodorus, i. 88. Cp. Herodotus, ii.
38.

221 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 20, 29, 33, 43; Strabo, xvii. 1, 31;
Diodorus, i. 21, 85; Duncker, _Geschichte des Alterthums_,5 i. 55
_sqq._ On Apis and Mnevis, see also Herodotus, ii. 153, iii. 27
_sq._; Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii. 14, 7; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii.
184 _sqq._; 17.; Solinus, xxxii. 17-21; Cicero, _De nat. deor._ i.
29; Aelian, _Nat. Anim._ xi. 10 _sq._; Plutarch, _Quaest. Conviv._
viii. 1, 3; _id._, _Isis et Osiris_, 5, 35: Eusebius, _Praepar.
Evang._ iii. 13, 1 _sq._; Pausanias, i. 18, 4, vii. 22, 3 _sq._ Both
Apis and Mnevis were black bulls, but Apis had certain white spots.

222 Diodorus, i. 21.

223 On the religious reverence of pastoral peoples for their cattle, and
the possible derivation of the Apis and Isis-Hathor worship from the
pastoral stage of society, see W. Robertson Smith, _Religion of the
Semites_, i. 277 _sqq._

224 Herodotus, ii. 41.

225 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 184; Solinus, xxxii. 18; Ammianus
Marcellinus, xxii. 14, 7. The spring or well in which he was drowned
was perhaps the one from which his drinking water was procured; he
might not drink the water of the Nile. Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_,
5.

226 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 56.

227 Maspero, _Histoire ancienne_,4 p. 31. Cp. Duncker, _Geschichte des
Alterthums_,5 i. 56.

228 See above, p. 24 _sqq._

229 Athenaeus, 587 A; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 204. Cp. _Encycl.
Britann._ 9th ed. art. “Sacrifice,” xxi. 135.

230 Varro, _De agri cult._ i. 2, 19 _sq._

231 Herodotus, ii. 42.

232 Festus, ed. Müller, pp. 178, 179, 220; Plutarch, _Quaest. Rom._ 97;
Polybius, xii. 4 B. The sacrifice is referred to by Julian, _Orat._
176 D.

233 Ovid, _Fasti_, iv. 731 _sqq._, cp. 629 _sqq._; Propertius, v. 1, 19
_sq._

234 Above, p. 41 _sq._

235 Above, vol. i. p. 408, vol. ii. p. 3.

236 Above, p. 30.

237 Livy, ii. 5.

238 Festus, ed. Müller, pp. 130, 131.

239 The October horse is the subject of an essay by Mannhardt
(_Mytholog. Forsch._ pp. 156-201), of which the above account is a
summary.

_ 240 M. F._ p. 179.

_ 241 B. K._ p. 205. It is not said that the dough-man is made of the new
corn; but probably this is, or once was, the case.

242 Praetorius, _Deliciae Prussicae_, pp. 60-64; _A. W. F._ p. 249
_sqq._

243 Bezzenberger, _Litauische Forschungen_ (Göttingen, 1882), p. 89.

244 Simon Grunau, _Preussische Chronik_, ed. Perlbach, i. 91.

245 Holzmayer, _Osiliana_, p. 108.

246 On iron as a charm against spirits, see above, vol. i. p. 175 _sq._

_ 247 Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 54.

248 Communicated by the Rev. J. J. C. Yarborough, of Chislehurst, Kent.
See _Folk-lore Journal_, vii. 50.

249 G. A. Wilken, _Bijdrage tot de kennis der Alfoeren van het eiland
Boeroe_, p. 26.

250 P. N. Wilken, “Bijdragen tot de kennis van de zeden en gewoonten der
Alfoeren in de Minahassa,” in _Mededeelingen van wege het
Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, vii. (1863) p. 127.

251 N. P. Wilken en J. A. Schwarz, “Allerlei over het land en volk van
Bolaang Mongondou,” in _Mededeel. v. w. h. Nederl. Zendelinggen_.
xi. 369 _sq._

252 H. Harkness, _Description of a Singular Aboriginal Race inhabiting
the Summit of the Neilgherry Hills_, p. 56 _sq._

253 Gover, _Folk-songs of Southern India_, p. 105 _sqq._; _Folk-lore
Journal_, vii. 302 _sqq._

254 Gover, “The Pongol Festival in Southern India,” _Journ. R. Asiatic
Society_, N. S. v. (1871) p. 91 _sqq._

255 Biddulph, _Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh_, p. 103.

256 Crowther and Taylor, _The Gospel on the Banks of the Niger_, p. 287
_sq._ Mr. Taylor’s information is repeated in _West African
Countries and Peoples_, by J. Africanus B. Horton (London, 1868), p.
180 _sq._

257 Speckmann, _Die Hermannsburger Mission in Afrika_, p. 150 _sq._ On
the Zulu feast of first-fruits, see also N. Isaacs, _Travels and
Adventures in Eastern Africa_, ii. 291 _sq._; Arbousset et Daumas,
_Voyage d’exploration_, etc. p. 308 _sq._; Callaway, _Religious
System of the Amazulu_, p. 389 _note_; _South African Folk-lore
Journal_, i. 135 _sqq._; Fritsch, _Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrikas_, p.
143; Lewis Grout, _Zululand_, p. 160 _sqq._ From Mr. Grout’s
description it appears that a bull is killed and its gall drunk by
the king and people. In killing it the men must use nothing but
their naked hands. The flesh of the bull is given to the boys to eat
what they like and burn the rest; the men may not taste it. As a
final ceremony the king breaks a green calabash in presence of the
people, “thereby signifying that he opens the new year, and grants
the people leave to eat of the fruits of the season.” If a man eats
the new fruits before the festival, he will die or is actually put
to death.

258 The ceremony is described independently by James Adair, _History of
the American Indians_ (London, 1775), pp. 96-111; W. Bartram,
_Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West
Florida_ (London, 1792), p. 507 _sq._; B. Hawkins, “Sketch of the
Creek country,” in _Collections of the Georgia Historical Society_,
iii. (Savannah, 1848), pp. 75-78; A. A. M’Gillivray, in
Schoolcraft’s _Indian Tribes_, v. 267 _sq._ Adair’s description is
the fullest and has been chiefly followed in the text. In
_Observations on the Creek and Cherokee Indians_, by William Bartram
(1789), _with prefatory and supplementary notes_, by E. G. Squier,
p. 75, there is a description—extracted from an MS. of J. H. Payne
(author of _Home, Sweet Home_)—of the similar ceremony observed by
the Cherokees. I possess a copy of this work in pamphlet form, but
it appears to be an extract from the transactions or proceedings of
a society, probably an American one. Mr. Squier’s preface is dated
New York, 1851.

259 W. Bartram, _Travels_, p. 507.

260 So amongst the Cherokees, according to J. H. Payne, an arbour of
green boughs was made in the sacred square; then “a beautiful
bushy-topped shade-tree was cut down close to the roots, and planted
in the very centre of the sacred square. Every man then provided
himself with a green bough.”

261 So Adair. Bartram, on the other hand, as we have seen, says that the
old vessels were burned and new ones prepared for the festival.

262 B. Hawkins, “Sketch,” etc., p. 76.

263 See Note on “Offerings of first-fruits” at the end of the volume.

264 Acosta, _Natural and Moral History of the Indies_, bk. v. c. 24,
vol. ii. pp. 356-360 (Hakluyt Society, 1880).

265 Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, iii. 297-300 (after
Torquemada); Clavigero, _History of Mexico_, trans. by Cullen, i.
309 _sqq._; Sahagun, _Histoire générale des choses de la
Nouvelle-Espagne_, traduite et annotée par Jourdanet et Siméon
(Paris, 1880), p. 203 _sq._; J. G. Müller, _Geschichte der
amerikanischen Urreligionen_, p. 605.

266 Clavigero, i. 311; Sahagun, pp. 74, 156 _sq._; Müller, p. 606;
Bancroft, iii. 316. This festival took place on the last day of the
16th month (which extended from 23d December to 11th January). At
another festival the Mexicans made the semblance of a bone out of
paste and ate it sacramentally as the bone of the god. Sahagun, p.
33.

267 See above, vol. i. p. 5 _sq._

268 Festus, ed. Müller, pp. 128, 129, 145. The reading of the last
passage is, however, uncertain (“_et Ariciae genus panni fieri; quod
manici † appelletur_”).

269 Varro, _De ling. lat._ ix. 61; Arnobius, _Adv. nationes_, iii. 41;
Macrobius, _Saturn_, i. 7, 35; Festus, p. 128, ed. Müller. Festus
speaks of the mother or grandmother of the _larvae_; the other
writers speak of the mother of the _lares_.

270 Macrobius, _l.c._; Festus, pp. 121, 239, ed. Müller. The effigies
hung up for the slaves were called _pilae_, not _maniae_. _Pilae_
was also the name given to the straw-men which were thrown to the
bulls to gore in the arena. Martial, _Epigr._ ii. 43, 5 _sq._;
Asconius, _In Cornel._ p. 55, ed. Kiessling and Schoell.

271 The ancients were at least familiar with the practice of sacrificing
images made of dough or other materials as substitutes for the
animals themselves. It was a recognised principle that when an
animal could not be easily obtained for sacrifice, it was lawful to
offer an image of it made of bread or wax. Servius on Virgil, _Aen._
ii. 116. (Similarly a North-American Indian dreamed that a sacrifice
of twenty elans was necessary for the recovery of a sick girl; but
the elans could not be procured, and the girl’s parents were allowed
to sacrifice twenty loaves instead. _Relations des Jesuites_, 1636,
p. 11, ed. 1858). Poor people who could not afford to sacrifice real
animals offered dough images of them. Suidas, _s.v._ βοῦς ἕβδομος;
cp. Hesychius, _s. vv._ βοῦς, ἕβδομος βοῦς. Hence bakers made a
regular business of baking cakes in the likeness of all the animals
which were sacrificed to the gods. Proculus, quoted and emended by
Lobeck, _Aglaophamus_, p. 1079. When Cyzicus was besieged by
Mithridates and the people could not procure a black cow to
sacrifice at the rites of Proserpine, they made a cow of dough and
placed it at the altar. Plutarch, _Lucullus_, 10. In a Boeotian
sacrifice to Hercules, in place of the ram which was the proper
victim, an apple was regularly substituted, four chips being stuck
in it to represent legs and two to represent horns. Pollux, i. 30
_sq._ The Athenians are said to have once offered to Hercules a
similar substitute for an ox. Zenobius, _Cent._ v. 22. And the
Locrians, being at a loss for an ox to sacrifice, made one out of
figs and sticks, and offered it instead of the animal. Zenobius,
_Cent._ v. 5. At the Athenian festival of the Diasia cakes shaped
like animals were sacrificed. Schol. on Thucydides, i. 126, quoted
by Lobeck, _l.c._ We have seen above (p. 53) that the poorer
Egyptians offered dough images of pigs and ate them sacramentally.

272 P. J. Veth, _Borneo’s Wester Afdeeling_, ii. 309.

273 N. Graafland, _De Minahassa_, i. 326.

274 Shway Yoe, _The Burman_, ii. 138.

275 James Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 133.

276 Alfred Simson, _Travels in the Wilds of Ecuador_ (London, 1887), p.
168; _id._ in _Journal of the Anthrop. Institute_, vii. 503.

277 Theophilus Hahn, _Tsuni-Goam, the Supreme Being of the Khoi-Khoi_,
p. 106. Compare John Buchanan, _The Shire Highlands_, pg. 138;
Callaway, _Religious System of the Amazulu_, p. 438 _note_.

278 Jerome Becker, _La Vie en Afrique_, (Paris and Brussels, 1887), ii.
366.

279 Callaway, _Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus_,
p. 175 _note_.

280 Dalton, _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 33.

281 St. John, _Life in the Forests of the Far East_,2 i. 186, 206.

282 Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua_,
pp. 10, 262.

283 James Chalmers, _Pioneering in New Guinea_, p. 166.

_ 284 Proceedings Royal Geogr. Society_, N. S. viii. (1886) p. 307.

285 J. Henderson, “The Medicine and Medical Practice of the Chinese,”
_Journ. North China Branch R. Asiatic Society_, New Series, i.
(Shanghai, 1865) p. 35 _sq._

286 Müller on Saxo Grammaticus, vol. ii. p. 60.

287 Leared, _Morocco and the Moors_, p. 281.

288 Vambery, _Das Türkenvolk_, p. 218.

289 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, vi. 8.

290 Felkin, “Notes on the For tribe of Central Africa,” in _Proceedings
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, xiii. (1884-1886) p. 218.

291 W. Ridley, _Kamilaroi_, p. 160.

292 Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, ii. 313.

293 Blumentritt, “Der Ahnencultus und die religiösen Anschauungen der
Malaien des Philippinen-Archipels,” in _Mittheilungen d. Wiener
Geogr. Gesellschaft_, 1882, p. 154.

294 Magyar, _Reisen in Süd-Afrika in den Jahren_ 1849-1857, pp. 273-276.

295 Casalis, _The Basutos_, p. 257 _sq._

296 Callaway, _Nursery Tales, Traditions and Histories of the Zulus_, p.
163 _note_.

297 John Buchanan, _The Shire Highlands_, p. 138.

_ 298 Journal of the North China Branch Royal Asiatic Society, l.c._

299 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_
(London, 1870), p. 352. Cp. _ib._ p. 173; Ellis, _Polynesian
Researches_, i. 358; J. Dumont D’Urville, _Voyage autour du Monde
sur la corvette Astrolabe_, ii. 547; _Journal of the Anthrop. Inst._
xix. 108.

300 On the custom of eating a god, see also a paper by Felix Liebrecht,
“Der aufgegessene Gott,” in _Zur Volkskunde_, pp. 436-439; and
especially W. R. Smith, art. “Sacrifice,” _Encycl. Britann._ 9th ed.
vol. xxi. p. 137 _sq._ On wine as the blood of a god, see above,
vol. i. p. 183 _sqq._

301 This does not refer to the Californian peninsula, which is an arid
and treeless wilderness of rock and sand.

302 Boscana, in Alfred Robinson’s _Life in California_ (New York, 1846),
p. 291 sq.; Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, iii.
168.

303 Turner, _Samoa_, p. 21, cp. pp. 26, 61.

304 Herodotus, ii. 42. The custom has been already referred to, above,
p. 63.

305 Ed. Meyer, _Geschichte des Alterthums_, i. § 58. Cp. Wilkinson,
_Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians_, iii. 1 _sqq._ (ed.
1878).

306 Above, p. 61 _sq._

307 Above, p. 15 _sq._

308 The Italmens of Kamtchatka, at the close of the fishing season, used
to make the figure of a wolf out of grass. This figure they
carefully kept the whole year, believing that it wedded with their
maidens and prevented them from giving birth to twins; for twins
were esteemed a great misfortune. Steller, _Beschreibung von dem
Lande Kamtschatka_, p. 327 _sq._ According to Hartknoch (_Dissertat.
histor. de variis rebus Prussicis_, p. 163; _Altpreussen_, p. 161)
the image of the old Prussian god Curcho was annually renewed. But
see Mannhardt, _Die Korndämonen_, p. 27.

309 Above, vol. i. p. 81.

310 T. J. Hutchinson, _Impressions of Western Africa_ (London, 1858), p.
196 _sq._ The writer does not expressly state that a serpent is
killed annually, but his statement implies it.

_ 311 Revue d’Ethnographie_, iii. 397.

312 Varro in Priscian, x. 32, vol. i. p. 524, ed. Keil; Pliny, _Nat.
Hist._ vii. § 14. Pliny’s statement is to be corrected by Varro’s.

313 Mr. Frank H. Cushing, “My Adventures in Zuñi,” in _The Century_, May
1883, p. 45 _sq._

314 Mr. Cushing, indeed, while he admits that the ancestors of the Zuni
may have believed in transmigration, says, “Their belief, to-day,
however, relative to the future life is spiritualistic.” But the
expressions in the text seem to leave no room for doubting that the
transmigration into turtles is a living article of Zuni faith.

315 Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, iv. 86. On the totem clans of the
Moquis, see J. G. Bourke, _Snake-Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_,
pp. 116 _sq._, 334 _sqq._

316 For this information I am indebted to the kindness of Captain J. G.
Bourke, 3d. Cavalry, U.S. Army, author of the work mentioned in the
preceding note.

317 The old Prussian and Japanese customs are typical. For the former,
see above, vol. i. p. 177. For the latter, Charlevoix, _Histoire et
Description générale du Japon_, i, 128 _sq._ Thunberg, _Voyages au
Japon_, etc. iv. 18 _sqq._ A general account of such customs must be
reserved for another work.

318 B. Scheube, “Der Baerencultus und die Baerenfeste der Ainos,” in
_Mittheilungen der deutschen Gesellschaft b. S. und S. Ostasiens_
(Yokama), Heft xxii. p. 45.

_ 319 Transactions of the Ethnological Society_, iv. 36.

320 Rein, _Japan_, i. 446.

321 H. von Siebold, _Ethnologische Studien über die Ainos auf der Insel
Yesso_, p. 26.

322 Miss Bird, _Unbeaten Tracks in Japan_ (new ed. 1885), p. 275.

_ 323 Trans. Ethnol. Soc._ _l.c._

324 Miss Bird, _op. cit._ p. 269.

325 Scheube, _Die Ainos_, p. 4.

326 Scheube, “Baerencultus,” etc. p. 45; Joest, in _Verhandlungen d.
Berliner Gesell. f. Anthropologie_, 1882, p. 188.

_ 327 Trans. Ethnol. Soc. l.c._

328 Miss Bird, _op. cit._ p. 277.

329 Scheube, _Die Ainos_, p. 15; Siebold, _op. cit._ p. 26; _Trans.
Ethnol. Soc._ _l.c._; Rein, _Japan_, i. 447; Von Brandt, “The Ainos
and Japanese,” in _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ iii. 134; Miss Bird, _op.
cit._ pp. 275, 276.

330 Scheube, _Die Ainos_, pp. 15, 16; _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ iii. 134.

331 Scheube, _Die Ainos_, p. 16.

332 Reclus (_Nouvelle Géographie Universelle_, vii. 755) mentions a
(Japanese?) legend which attributes the hairiness of the Ainos to
the fact of their first ancestor having been suckled by a bear. But
in the absence of other evidence this is no proof of totemism.

333 Rein, _Japan_, i. 447.

334 “Der Baerencultus,” etc. See above.

335 Scheube, “Baerencultus,” etc. p. 46; _id._, _Die Ainos_, p. 15; Miss
Bird, _op. cit._ p. 273 _sq._

336 Miss Bird, _op. cit._ p. 276 _sq._ Miss Bird’s information must be
received with caution, as there are grounds for believing that her
informant deceived her.

337 Siebold, _Ethnolog. Studien über die Ainos_, p. 26.

338 “Baerencultus,” etc. p. 50 _note_.

339 They inhabit the banks of the lower Amoor and the north of
Saghalien. E. G. Ravenstein, _The Russians on the Amur_, p. 389.

340 “Notes on the River Amur and the adjacent districts,” translated
from the Russian, _Journal Royal Geogr. Soc._ xxviii. (1858) p. 396.

341 Compare the custom of pinching the frog before cutting off his head,
above vol. i. p. 93. In Japan sorceresses bury a dog in the earth,
tease him, then cut off his head and put it in a box to be used in
magic. Bastian, _Die Culturländer des alten Amerika_, i. 475 _note_,
who adds “_wie im ostindischen Archipelago die Schutzseele gereizt
wird_.” He probably refers to the Batta _Pang-hulu-balang_. See
Rosenberg, _Der Malayische Archipel_, p. 59 _sq._; W. Ködding, “Die
Batakschen Götter,” in _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, xii.
(1885) 478 _sq._; Neumann, “Het Pane-en Bila-stroomgebied op het
eiland Sumatra,” in _Tijdschrift v. h. Nederl. Aardrijks Genootsch_.
ii. series, dl. iii. Afdeeling: meer uitgebreide artikelen, No. 2,
p. 306.

342 W. Joest, in Scheube, _Die Ainos_, p. 17; _Revue d’Ethnographie_,
ii. 307 _sq._ (on the authority of Mr. Seeland); _Internationales
Archiv für Ethnologie_, i. 102 (on the authority of Captain
Jacobsen). What exactly is meant by “dancing as bears” (“_tanzen
beide Geschlechter Reigentänze, wie Bären_,” Joest, _l.c._) does not
appear.

343 Ravenstein, _The Russians on the Amur_, p. 379 _sq._; T. W.
Atkinson, _Travels in the Regions of the Upper and Lower Amoor_
(London, 1860), p. 482 _sq._

344 A Bushman, questioned by the Rev. Mr. Campbell, “could not state any
difference between a man and a brute—he did not know but a buffalo
might shoot with bows and arrows as well as a man, if it had them.”
John Campbell, _Travels in South Africa, being a Narrative of a
Second Journey in the Interior of that Country_, ii. 34. When the
Russians first landed on one of the Alaskan islands the people took
them for cuttle-fish, “on account of the buttons on their clothes.”
Petroff, _Alaska_, p. 145.

345 Rev. J. Perham, “Sea Dyak Religion,” _Journal of the Straits Branch
of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 10, p. 221. Cp. C. Hupe, “Korte
verhandeling over de godsdienst zeden, enz. der Dajakkers,” in
_Tijdschrift voor Neêrland’s Indië_, 1846, dl. iii. 160; S. Müller,
_Reizen en onderzoekingen in den Indischen Archipel_, i. 238;
Perelaer, _Ethnographische Beschrijving der Dayaks_, p. 7.

346 Sibree, _The Great African Island_, p. 269.

347 Raffenel, _Voyage dans l’Afrique Occidentale_ (Paris, 1846), p. 84
_sq._

348 Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, v. 65.

349 Marsden, _History of Sumatra_, p. 292.

350 Steller, _Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka_, pp. 280, 331.

_ 351 Voyages au Nord_ (Amsterdam, 1727), viii. 41, 416; Pallas, _Reise
durch verschiedene Provinzen des russischen Reichs_, iii. 64;
Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs_, p. 83.

352 Erman, _Travels in Siberia_, ii. 43. For the veneration of the polar
bear by the Samoyedes, who nevertheless kill and eat it, see _ib._
54 _sq._

353 Bastian, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_, iii. 26.

354 Max Buch, _Die Wotjäken_, p. 139.

355 Scheffer, _Lapponia_ (Frankfort, 1673), p. 233 _sq._ The Lapps “have
still an elaborate ceremony in hunting the bear. They pray and chant
to his carcase, and for several days worship before eating it.” E.
Rae, _The White Sea Peninsula_ (London, 1881), p. 276.

356 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, v. 173 _sq._;
Chateaubriand, _Voyage en Amérique_, pp. 172-181 (Paris, Michel
Lévy, 1870).

_ 357 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_, vi. 171. Morgan states that the
names of the Otawa totem clans had not been obtained (_Ancient
Society_, p. 167). From the _Lettres édifiantes_, vi. 168-171, he
might have learned the names of the Hare, Carp, and Bear clans, to
which may be added the Gull clan, as I learn from an extract from
_The Canadian Journal_ (Toronto) for March 1858, quoted in the
_Academy_, 27th September 1884, p. 203.

_ 358 A Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt_, p.
117 (Middletown, 1820), p. 133 (Edinburgh, 1824).

359 Stephen Kay, _Travels and Researches in Caffraria_ (London, 1833),
p. 138.

360 Alberti, _De Kaffers aan de Zuidkust van Afrika_ (Amsterdam, 1810),
p. 95. Alberti’s information is repeated by Lichtenstein (_Reisen im
südlichen Afrika_, i. 412), and by Rose (_Four Years in Southern
Africa_, p. 155). The burial of the trunk is also mentioned by Kay,
_l.c._

361 Jerome Becker, _La Vie en Afrique_ (Paris and Brussels, 1887), ii.
298 _sq._ 305.

362 Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, ii. 243.

363 Im Thurn, _Among the Indians of Guiana_, p. 352.

364 Mouhot, _Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China_, i. 252; Moura,
_Le Royaume du Cambodge_, i. 422.

365 Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, v. 420.

366 J. G. Gmelin, _Reise durch Sibirien_, ii. 278.

367 W. Dall, _Alaska and its Resources_, p. 89.

_ 368 Relations des Jésuites_, 1634, p. 24, ed. 1858. Nets are regarded
by the Indians as living creatures who not only think and feel but
also eat, speak, and marry wives. Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays
des Hurons_, p. 256 (p. 178 _sq._ of the Paris reprint, Librairie
Tross, 1865); S. Hearne, _Journey to the Northern Ocean_, p. 329
_sq._; _Relations des Jésuites_, 1636, p. 109; _ib._ 1639, p. 95;
Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, v. 225; Chateaubriand,
_Voyage en Amérique_, p. 140 _sqq._

369 Chateaubriand, _Voyage en Amérique_, pp. 175, 178. They will not let
the blood of beavers fall on the ground, or their luck in hunting
them would be gone. _Relations des Jésuites_, 1633, p. 21. Compare
the rule about not allowing the blood of kings to fall on the
ground, above, vol. i. p. 179 _sqq._

370 Hennepin, _Nouveau voyage d’un pais plus grand que l’Europe_
(Utrecht, 1698), p. 141 _sq._; _Relations des Jésuites_, 1636, p.
109; Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons_, p. 255 (p. 178 of
the Paris reprint). Not quite consistently the Canadian Indians used
to kill every elan they could overtake in the chase, lest any should
escape to warn their fellows (Sagard, _l.c._)

_ 371 Lettres édifiantes et curieuses_, viii. 339.

372 Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes_, iii. 230.

_ 373 Relations des Jésuites_, 1634, p. 26.

374 Charlevoix, _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, v. 443.

375 Garcilasso de la Vega, _Royal Commentaries of the Yncas_, First
Part, bk. i. ch. 10, vol. i. p. 49 _sq._, Hakluyt Society. Cp.
_id._, ii. p. 148.

_ 376 Relations des Jésuites_, 1667, p. 12.

377 Sagard, _Le Grand Voyage du Pays des Hurons_, p. 255 _sqq._ (p. 178
_sqq._ of the Paris reprint).

378 Schleiden, _Das Salz_, p. 47. For this reference I am indebted to my
friend Prof. W. Robertson Smith.

379 W. Powell, _Wanderings in a Wild Country_, p. 66 _sq._

380 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui; or, New Zealand and its Inhabitants_, p.
200; A. S. Thomson, _The Story of New Zealand_, i. 202; E. Tregear,
“The Maoris of New Zealand,” _Journal Anthrop. Inst._ xix. 109.

381 Lubbock, _Origin of Civilisation_,4, p. 277, quoting _Metlahkatlah_,
p. 96.

382 W. Dall, _Alaska and its Resources_, p. 413.

383 Stephen Powers, _Tribes of California_, p. 31 _sq._

384 Alex. Ross, _Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or
Columbia River_, p. 97.

385 Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition_, iv. 324,
v. 119, where it is said, “a dog must never be permitted to eat the
heart of a salmon; and in order to prevent this, they cut the heart
of the fish out before they sell it.”

386 H. C. St. John, “The Ainos,” in _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ ii. 253;
_id._ _Notes and Sketches from the Wild Coasts of Nipon_, p. 27
_sq._

387 Scheffer, _Lapponia_, p. 242 _sq._; _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ vii.
207; _Revue d’Ethnographie_, ii. 308 _sq._

388 James, _Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains_, i. 257.

389 Brinton, _Myths of the New World_, p. 278.

390 Keating, _Expedition to the Source of St. Peter’s River_, i. 452.

391 E. J. Jessen, _De Finnorum Lapponumque Norwegicorum religione pagana
tractatus singularis_, pp. 46 _sq._, 52 _sq._, 65. The work of
Jessen is bound up (paged separately) with the work of C. Leem, _De
Lapponibus Finmarchiae eorumque lingua, vita, et religione pristina
commentatio_ (Latin and Danish), Copenhagen, 1767. Compare Leem’s
work, pp. 418-420 (Latin), 428 _sq._, also Acerbi, _Travels through
Sweden, Finnland, and Lapland_, ii. 302.

392 Steller, _Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka_, p. 269;
Kraschennikow, _Kamtschatka_, p. 246.

393 See Erman, referred to above, p. 111 _sq._; Gmelin, _Reise durch
Sibirien_, i. 274, ii. 182 _sq._, 214; Vambery, Das _Türkenvolk_, p.
118 sq. When a fox, the sacred animal of the Conchucos in Peru, had
been killed, its skin was stuffed and set up. Bastian, _Die
Culturländer des alten Amerika_, i. 443. Cp. the _bouphonia_, above,
p. 38 _sq._

394 At the annual sacrifice of the White Dog, the Iroquois were careful
to strangle the animal without shedding its blood or breaking its
bones. The dog was afterwards burned. L. H. Morgan, _League of the
Iroquois_, p. 210. It is a rule with some of the Australian blacks
that in killing the native bear they must not break his bones. They
say that the native bear once stole all the water of the river, and
that if they were to break his bones or take off his skin before
roasting him, he would do so again. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of
Victoria_, i. 447 _sqq._ When the Tartars whom Carpini visited
killed animals for eating, they might not break their bones but
burned them with fire. Carpini, _Historia Mongalorum_ (Paris, 1838),
cap. iii. § i. 2, p. 620. North American Indians might not break the
bones of the animals which they ate at feasts. Charlevoix, _Histoire
de la Nouvelle France_, vi. 72. In the war feast held by Indian
warriors after leaving home, a whole animal was cooked and had to be
all eaten. No bone of it might be broken. After being stripped of
the flesh the bones were hung on a tree. _Narrative of the Captivity
and Adventures of John Tanner_, p. 287. On St. Olaf’s Day (29th
July) the Karels of Finland kill a lamb, without using a knife, and
roast it whole. None of its bones may be broken. The lamb has not
been shorn since spring. Some of the flesh is placed in a corner of
the room for the house-spirits, some is deposited on the field and
beside the birch-trees which are destined to be used as May-trees
next year. W. Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ p. 160 _sq._ _note_. The Innuit
(Esquimaux) of Point Barrow, Alaska, carefully preserve unbroken the
bones of the seals which they have caught and return them to the
sea, either leaving them in an ice-crack far out from the land or
dropping them through a hole in the ice. By doing so they think they
secure good fortune in the pursuit of seals. _Report of the
International Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska_ (Washington,
1885), p. 40. In this last custom the idea probably is that the
bones will be reclothed with flesh and the seals come to life again.
The Mosquito Indians of Central America carefully preserved the
bones of deer and the shells of eggs, lest the deer or chickens
should die or disappear. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific
States_, i. 741. The Yurucares of Bolivia “carefully put by even
small fish bones, saying that unless this is done the fish and game
will disappear from the country.” Brinton, _Myths of the New World_,
p. 278.

_ 395 Relations des Jésuites_, 1634, p. 25, ed. 1858; A. Mackenzie,
_Voyages through the Continent of America_, civ; J. Dunn, _History
of the Oregon Territory_, p. 99; Whymper in _Journ. Royal Geogr.
Soc._ xxxviii. (1868) p. 228; _id._ in _Transact. Ethnolog. Soc._
vii. 174; A. P. Reid, “Religious Belief of the Ojibois Indians,” in
_Journ. Anthrop. Inst._ iii. 111. After a meal the Indians of Costa
Rica gather all the bones carefully and either burn them or put them
out of reach of the dogs. W. M. Gabb, _On the Indian Tribes and
Languages of Costa Rica_ (read before the American Philosophical
Society, 20th Aug. 1875), p. 520 (Philadelphia, 1875). The fact that
the bones are often burned to prevent the dogs getting them does not
contradict the view suggested in the text. It may be a way of
transmitting the bones to the spirit-land. The aborigines of
Australia burn the bones of the animals which they eat, but for a
different reason; they think that if an enemy got hold of the bones
and burned them with charms, it would cause the death of the person
who had eaten the animal. _Native Tribes of South Australia_, pp.
24, 196.

396 Mannhardt, _Germanische Mythen_, pp. 57-74; _id._, _B. K._ p. 116;
Cosquin, _Contes populaires de Lorraine_, ii. 25; Hartland, “The
physicians of Myddfai,” _Archaeological Review_, i. 30 _sq._ In
folk-tales, as in primitive custom, the blood is sometimes not
allowed to fall on the ground. See Cosquin, _l.c._

397 W. Mannhardt, _Germ. Myth._ p. 66.

398 Jamblichus, _Vita Pythag._ §§ 92, 135, 140; Porphyry, _Vit. Pythag._
§ 28.

399 Pindar, _Olymp._ i. 37 _sqq._, with the Scholiast.

400 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 18. This is one of the sacred stories
which the pious Herodotus (ii. 48) concealed and the pious Plutarch
divulged.

401 Adam Hodgson, _Letters from North America_, i. 244.

402 Adair, _History of the American Indians_, p. 137 _sq._

403 Petitot, _Monographie des Dènè-Dindjié?_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 77, 81
_sq._; _id._, _Traditions indiennes du Canada Nord-ouest_ (Paris,
1886), p. 132 _sqq._, cp. pp. 41, 76, 213, 264.

404 The first part of this suggestion is that of my friend Prof. W.
Robertson Smith. See his _Lectures on the Religion of the Semites_,
first series, p. 360, _note_ 2. The Faleshas, a Jewish sect of
Abyssinia, after killing an animal for food, “carefully remove the
vein from the thighs with its surrounding flesh.” Halévy, “Travels
in Abyssinia,” in _Publications of the Society of Hebrew
Literature_, second series, vol. ii. p. 220.

405 It seems to be a common custom with hunters to cut out the tongues
of the animals which they kill. Omaha hunters remove the tongue of a
slain buffalo through an opening made in the animal’s throat. The
tongues thus removed are sacred and may not touch any tool or metal
except when they are boiling in the kettles at the sacred tent. They
are eaten as sacred food. _Third Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_
(Washington), p. 289 _sq._ Indian bear-hunters cut out what they
call the bear’s little tongue (a fleshy mass under the real tongue)
and keep it for good luck in hunting or burn it to determine from
its crackling, etc., whether the soul of the slain bear is angry
with them or not. Kohl, _Kitschi-Gami_, ii. 251 _sq._; Charlevoix,
_Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, v. 173; Chateaubriand, _Voyage en
Amérique_, pp. 179 _sq._, 184. In folk-tales the hero commonly cuts
out the tongue of the wild beast which he has slain and preserves it
as a token. The incident serves to show that the custom was a common
one, since folk-tales reflect with accuracy the customs and beliefs
of a primitive age. For examples of the incident, see Blade, _Contes
populaires recueillis en Agenais_, pp. 12, 14; Dasent, _Tales from
the Norse_, p. 133 _sq._ (“Shortshanks”); Schleicher, _Litauische
Märchen_; Sepp, Altbayerischer Sagenschatz, p. 114; Köhler on
Gonzenbach’s _Sicilianische Märchen_, ii. 230; Apollodorus, iii. 13,
3; Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ p. 53; Poestion, _Lapplandische Märchen_,
p. 231 _sq._ It may be suggested that the cutting out of the tongues
is a precaution to prevent the slain animals from telling their fate
to the live animals and thus frightening away the latter. At least
this explanation harmonises with the primitive modes of thought
revealed in the foregoing customs.

406 Holzmayer, _Osiliana_, p. 105 _note_.

407 Heinrich, _Agrarische Sitten und Gebräuche unter den Sachsen
Siebenbürgens_, p. 15 _sq._

408 E. Krause, “Aberglaubische Kuren und sonstiger Aberglaube in
Berlin,” _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xv. (1883) p. 93.

_ 409 Geoponica_, xiii. 5. According to the commentator, the field
assigned to the mice is a neighbour’s, but it may be a patch of
waste ground on the farmer’s own land.

410 R. van Eck, “Schetsen van het eiland Bali,” in _Tijdschrift voor
Nederlandsch Indië_, N.S. viii. (1879) p. 125.

411 Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_, § 405.

412 Lagarde, _Reliquiae juris ecclesiastici antiquissimae_, p. 135. For
this passage I am indebted to my friend Prof. W. Robertson Smith,
who kindly translated it for me from the Syriac.

413 Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 255.

414 Compare _Native Tribes of South Australia_, p. 280, with the customs
referred to in the following note.

415 Catlin, _O-Kee-pa_, Folium reservatum; Lewis and Clarke, _Travels to
the Source of the Missouri River_ (London, 1815), i. 205 _sq._

416 A. Bastian, in _Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für
Anthropologie, Ethnologie, und Urgeschichte_, 1870-71, p. 59.
Reinegg (_Beschreibung des Kaukasus_, ii. 12 _sq._) describes what
seems to be a sacrament of the Abghazses (Abchases). It takes place
in the middle of autumn. A white ox called Ogginn appears from a
holy cave, which is also called Ogginn. It is caught and led about
amongst the assembled men (women are excluded) amid joyful cries.
Then it is killed and eaten. Any man who did not get at least a
scrap of the sacred flesh would deem himself most unfortunate. The
bones are then carefully collected, burned in a great hole, and the
ashes buried there.

417 Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, vi. 632 _note_. On the
Kalmucks as a people of shepherds and on their diet of mutton, see
Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs_, p. 406
_sq._, cp. 207; B. Bergmann, _Nomadische Streifereien unter den
Kalmücken_, ii. 80 _sqq._, 122; Pallas, _Reise durch verschiedene
Provinzen des russischen Reichs_, i. 319, 325. According to Pallas,
it is only rich Kalmucks who commonly kill their sheep or cattle for
eating; ordinary Kalmucks do not usually kill them except in case of
necessity or at great merry-makings. It is, therefore, especially
the rich who need to make expiation.

418 W. E. Marshall, _Travels amongst the Todas_, p. 129 _sq._ On the
Todas, see also above, vol. i. p. 41.

419 Marshall, _op. cit._ pp. 80 _sq._ 130.

420 R. W. Felkin, “Notes on the Madi or Moru tribe of Central Africa,”
_Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh_, xii. (1882-84) p.
336 _sq._

421 The fact that the flesh of sheep appears to be now eaten by the
tribe as a regular article of food (Felkin, _op. cit._ p. 307), is
not inconsistent with the original sanctity of the sheep.

422 See W. R. Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, i. p. 325 _sq._

_ 423 Panjab Notes and Queries_, ii. No. 555.

424 See Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 195 _sq._, Bohn’s ed.;
Swainson, _Folk-lore of British Birds_, p. 36; E. Rolland, _Faune
populaire de la France_, ii. 288 _sqq._ The names for it are
βασιλίσκος, _regulus_, _rex avium_ (Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ viii. 90; x.
203), _re di siepe_, _reyezuelo_, _roitelet_, _roi des oiseaux_,
_Zaunkönig_, etc.

425 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 194.

426 Chambers, _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, p. 188.

_ 427 Ib._ p. 186.

428 P. Sébillot, _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute Bretagne_, ii.
214.

429 Rolland, _op. cit._ ii. 294 _sq._; Sébillot, _l.c._; Swainson, _op.
cit._ p. 42.

430 G. Waldron, _Description of the Isle of Man_ (reprinted for the Manx
Society, Douglas, 1865), p. 49 _sqq._; J. Train, _Account of the
Isle of Man_, ii. 124 _sqq._ 141.

431 Brand, _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 195; Swainson, _Folk-lore of
British Birds_, p. 36 _sq._; Rolland, _Faune populaire de la
France_, ii. 297; Professor W. Ridgeway in _Academy_, 10th May 1884,
p. 332; Dyer, _British Popular Customs_, p. 497.

432 Henderson, _Folk-lore of the Northern Counties_, p. 125.

433 Swainson, _op. cit._ p. 40 _sq._

434 Rolland, _op. cit._ ii. 295 _sq._; J. W. Wolf, _Beiträge zur
deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 437 _sq._

435 Rolland, _op. cit._ ii. 296 _sq._

436 Brand’s _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 198. The “hunting of the wren”
may be compared with a Swedish custom. On the 1st of May children
rob the magpies’ nests of both eggs and young. These they carry in a
basket from house to house in the village and show them to the
housewives, while one of the children sings some doggerel lines
containing a threat that, if a present is not given, the hens,
chickens, and eggs will fall a prey to the magpie. They receive
bacon, eggs, milk, etc., upon which they afterwards feast. L. Lloyd,
_Peasant Life in Sweden_, p. 237 _sq._ The resemblance of such
customs to the “swallow song” and “crow song” of the ancient Greeks
(on which see Athenaeus, pp. 359, 360) is obvious and has been
remarked before now. Probably the Greek swallow-singers and
crow-singers carried about dead swallows and crows or effigies of
them. In modern Greece it is said to be still customary for children
on 1st March to go about the streets singing spring songs and
carrying a wooden swallow, which is kept turning on a cylinder.
Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 636.

437 John Ramsay, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_, ii.
438 sq.; cp. Chambers, _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, p. 166 _sq_.;
Samuel Johnson, _Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland_, p. 228
_sq._ (first American edition, 1810). The custom is clearly referred
to in the “Penitential of Theodore,” quoted by Kemble, _Saxons in
England_, i. 525; Elton, Origins of English History, p. 411; “_Si
quis in Kal. Januar. in cervulo vel vitula vadit, id est in ferarum
habitus se communicant, et vestiuntur pellibus pecudum et assumunt
capita bestiarum_,” etc.

438 Chambers, _l.c._

439 Such are the Bohemian processions at the Carnival when a man called
the Shrovetide Bear, swathed from head to foot in peas-straw and
sometimes wearing a bear’s mask, is led from house to house. He
dances with the women of the house, and collects money and food.
Then they go to the alehouse, where all the peasants assemble with
their wives. For at the Carnival, especially on Shrove Tuesday, it
is necessary that every one should dance, if the flax, the corn, and
the vegetables are to grow well. The higher they leap the better
will be the crops. Sometimes the women pull out some of the straw in
which the Shrovetide Bear is swathed, and put it in the nests of the
geese and fowls, believing that this will make them lay well.
Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, pp. 49-52. On
similar customs, see W. Mannhardt, _A. W. F._ pp. 183-200.

440 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik-en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes en
Papua_, pp. 266 _sq._, 305, 357 _sq._; cp. id. pp. 141, 340.

441 J. Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_, p. 59.

442 Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_, p. 117.

443 John Campbell, _Travels in South Africa_ (second journey), ii. 207
_sq._

444 Ellis, _History of Madagascar_, i. 422 _sq_.; cp. _id._ pp. 232,
435, 436 _sq._; Sibree, _The Great African Island_, p. 303 _sq._

445 Ellis, _op. cit._ i. 374; Sibree, _op. cit_. p. 304; _Antananarivo
Annual and Madagascar Magazine_, iii. 263.

446 Ködding, “Die Batakschen Götter,” _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_,
xii. (1885) 478.

447 Leviticus xiv. 7, 53. For a similar use in Arabia see Wellhausen,
_Reste arabischen Heidentumes_, p. 156; W. Robertson Smith,
_Religion of the Semites_, i. 402.

448 R. Andree, _Ethnographische Parallele und Vergleiche_, p. 29 _sq._

449 A. Leared, _Morocco and the Moors_, p. 301.

450 J. Perham, “Sea Dyak Religion,” in _Journ. Straits Branch Royal
Asiatic Soc._ No. 10, p. 232.

451 S. Mateer, _Native Life in Travancore_, p. 136.

Comments

Log in to leave a comment.

The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)Chapter IV: The Golden Bough (8)

0%34 min left in chapter