sense attempts to repeat the creation of the world.
M85 In Babylon and India the myth of the slaughter of the dragon may
have been acted as a magical ceremony to hasten the advent of summer
or of the rainy season. New-year festival of Zagmuk at Babylon.
337 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, pp. 84 _sqq._; M.
Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, pp. 677 _sqq._; H.
Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament_,3 pp. 371, 384 note 4, 402, 427, 515 _sqq._; R. F.
Harper, _Babylonian and Assyrian Literature_ (New York, 1901), pp.
136, _sq._, 137, 140, 149; M. J. Lagrange, _Études sur les religions
sémitiques_2 (Paris, 1905), pp. 285 _sqq._
338 L. W. King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_, pp. 88 _sqq._
339 See C. P. Tiele, _Geschiedenis van den Godsdienst in de Oudheid_, i.
(Amsterdam, 1903) pp. 159 _sq._; L. W. King, _op. cit._ p. 21; H.
Zimmern. in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament_,3 p. 399; M. Jastrow, _Die Religion Babyloniens und
Assyriens_, i (Giessen, 1905) pp. 117 _sqq._
340 P. Jensen, _op. cit._ pp. 85 _sqq._; M. Jastrow, _The Religion of
Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 679; H. Zimmern, _op. cit._ p. 515; M. J.
Lagrange, _op. cit._ p. 286.
341 P. Jensen, _op. cit._ p. 87; M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia
and Assyria_, p. 681; H. Zimmern, _op. cit._ pp. 402, 415; R. F.
Harper, _op. cit._ p. 136.
342 P. Jensen, _Assyrisch-babylonische Mythen und Epen_, p. 29; L. W.
King, _Babylonian Religion and Mythology_, p. 74.
343 This appears to be substantially the view of H. Zimmern (_op. cit._
p. 501) and of Karppe (referred to in _Encyclopaedia Biblica_,
_s.v._ “Creation,” i. coll. 941 note 1).
M86 Part played by the king in the drama of the Slaughter of the Dragon.
M87 Suggested reconciliation of the totemic with the cosmological
interpretation of the Slaughter of the Dragon.
344 A. Moret, _Du caractère religieux de la royauté Pharaonique_ (Paris,
1902), pp. 18 _sqq._, 33 _sqq._
345 Clement of Alexandria. _Strom._ v. 7. p. 671, ed. Potter.
346 A. Erman, _Die ägyptische Religion_ (Berlin, 1905), pp. 10, 25.
347 John Parkinson (late Principal of the Mineral Survey of Southern
Nigeria), “Southern Nigeria, the Lagos Province,” _The Empire
Review_, vol. xv. May 1908, pp. 290 _sq._ The account in the text of
the mystery surrounding the Awujale is taken from A. B. Ellis, _The
Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa_ (London,
1894), p. 170.
M88 Evidence of an annual tenure of the kingship at Babylon. Further, it
would seem that in very early times the kings of Babylon were put to
death at the end of a year’s reign. The mock king put to death at
the festival of the Sacaea was probably a substitute for the real
king.
348 M. Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_, p. 680; H.
Zimmern, in E. Schrader’s _Die Keilinschriften und das Alte
Testament_,3 pp. 374, 515; C. Brockelmann, “Wesen und Ursprung des
Eponymats in Assyrien,” _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902)
pp. 391 _sq._, 396 _sq._
349 Athenaeus, xiv. 44, p. 639 C; Dio Chrysostom, _Or._ iv. pp. 69 _sq._
(vol. i. p. 76, ed. L. Dindorf). Dio Chrysostom does not mention his
authority, but it was probably either Berosus or Ctesias. The
execution of the mock king is not noticed in the passage of Berosus
cited by Athenaeus, probably because the mention of it was not
germane to Athenaeus’s purpose, which was simply to give a list of
festivals at which masters waited on their servants. A passage of
Macrobius (_Saturn._ iii. 7. 6) which has sometimes been interpreted
as referring to this Babylonian custom (F. Liebrecht, in
_Philologus_, xxii. 710; J. J. Bachofen, _Die Sage von Tanaquil_, p.
52, note 16) has in fact nothing to do with it. See A. B. Cook, in
_Classical Review_, xvii. (1903) p. 412; _id._ in _Folk-lore_, xv.
(1904) pp. 304, 384. In the passage of Dio Chrysostom ἐκρέμασαν
should strictly mean “hanged,” but the verb was applied by the
Greeks to the Roman punishment of crucifixion (Plutarch, _Caesar_,
2). It may have been extended to include impalement, which was often
inflicted by the Assyrians, as we may see by the representations of
it on the Assyrian monuments in the British Museum. See also R. F.
Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, p. 41, with the plate
facing p. 54. The proper word for impalement in Greek is
ἀνασκολοπίζειν (Herodotus, iv. 202). Hanging was also an Oriental as
well as Roman mode of punishment. The Hebrew word for it (חלה) seems
unambiguous. See Esther, v. 14, vii. 9 _sq._; Deuteronomy, xxi. 22
_sq._; Joshua, viii. 29, x. 26; Livy, i. 26. 6.
350 See above, pp. 21, 26 _sqq._
M89 The festival of the Sacaea was perhaps identical with Zagmuk.
Festival of Zagmuk in Assyria. Trace of an annual tenure of the
kingship in Assyria.
351 Bruno Meissner, “Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Purimfestes,”
_Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, I. (1896)
pp. 296-301; H. Winckler, _Altorientalische Forschungen_, Zweite
Reihe, Bd. ii. p. 345; C. Brockelmann, “Wesen und Ursprung des
Eponymats in Assyrien,” _Zeitschrift für Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902)
pp. 391 _sq._
352 Meantime I may refer the reader to _The Golden Bough_, Second
Edition, ii. 254, iii. 151 _sqq._ As I have there pointed out (iii.
152 _sq._) the identification of the months of the Syro-Macedonian
calendar (that is, the ascertainment of their astronomical dates in
the solar year) is a matter of some uncertainty, the dates appearing
to have varied considerably in different places. The month Lous in
particular is variously said to have corresponded in different
places to July, August, September, and October. Until we have
ascertained beyond the reach of doubt when Lous fell at Babylon in
the time of Berosus, it would be premature to allow much weight to
the seeming discrepancy in the dates of Zagmuk and the Sacaea. On
the whole difficult question of the identification or dating of the
months of the Syro-Macedonian calendar see L. Ideler, _Handbuch der
mathematischen und technischen Chronologie_, i. 393 _sqq._; K. F.
Hermann, “Über griechische Monatskunde,” _Abhandlungen der
histor.-philolog. Classe d. kön. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu
Göttingen_, ii. (1843-44) pp. 68 _sqq._, 95, 109, 111 _sqq._; H. F.
Clinton, _Fasti Hellenici_, iii.2 351 _sqq._; article “Calendarium,”
in W. Smith’s _Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities_,3 i. 339.
The distinction between the dates of the Syro-Macedonian months,
which differed in different places, and their order, which was the
same in all places (Dius, Apellaeus, etc.), appears to have been
overlooked by some of my former readers.
353 P. Jensen, _Die Kosmologie der Babylonier_, p. 84; C. Brockelmann,
“Wesen und Ursprung des Eponymats in Assyrien,” _Zeitschrift für
Assyriologie_, xvi. (1902) p. 392. However, there is no mention of
Zagmuk in Prof. R. F. Harper’s translation of the inscription
(_Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, p. 87).
354 C. Brockelmann, _op. cit._ pp. 389-401.
355 H. Winckler, _Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens_ (Leipsic, 1902),
p. 212; R. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_, pp.
xxxviii. _sq._, 206-216; E. Meyer, _Geschichte des Altertums_2, i. 2
(Stuttgart and Berlin, 1909), pp. 331 _sq._ It was the second, not
the first, year of a king’s reign which in later times at all events
was named after him. For the explanation see C. Brockelmann, _op.
cit._ pp. 397 _sq._
356 The eponymate in Assyria and elsewhere may have been the subject of
superstitions which we do not yet understand. Perhaps the eponymous
magistrate may have been deemed in a sense responsible for
everything that happened in the year. Thus we are told that “in
Manipur they have a noteworthy system of keeping count of the years.
Each year is named after some man, who—for a
consideration—undertakes to bear the fortune, good or bad, of the
year. If the year be good, if there be no pestilence and a good
harvest, he gets presents from all sorts of people, and I remember
hearing that in 1898, when the cholera was at its worst, a
deputation came to the Political Agent and asked him to punish the
name-giver, as it was obvious that he was responsible for the
epidemic. In former times he would have got into trouble” (T. C.
Hodson, “The Native Tribes of Manipur,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. 1901, p. 302).
357 C. Brockelmann, “Das Neujahrsfest der Jezîdîs,” _Zeitschrift der
deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, lv. (1901) pp. 388-390.
M90 Slaves sacrificed instead of their masters in West Africa.
358 Letter of the missionary N. Baudin, dated 16th April 1875, in
_Missions Catholiques_, vii. (1875) pp. 614-616, 627 _sq._; _Annales
de la Propagation de la Foi_, xlviii. (1876) pp. 66-76.
M91 Trace of custom of killing the kings of Hawaii at the end of a
year’s reign.
359 U. Lisiansky, _A Voyage Round the World in the Years 1803, 4, 5, and
6_ (London, 1814), pp. 118 _sq._ The same ceremony seems to be more
briefly described by the French voyager Freycinet, who says that
after the principal idol had been carried in procession about the
island for twenty-three days it was brought back to the temple, and
that thereupon the king was not allowed to enter the precinct until
he had parried a spear thrown at him by two men. See L. de
Freycinet, _Voyage autour du monde_, vol. ii. Première Partie
(Paris, 1829), pp. 596 _sq._
M92 The reign and life of the king limited to a single day in Ngoio, a
province of Congo.
360 R. E. Dennett, _Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort_, with an
introduction by Mary H. Kingsley (London, 1898), p. xxxii; _id._,
_At the Back of the Black Man’s Mind_ (London, 1906), p. 120. Miss
Kingsley in conversation called my attention to this particular
custom, and informed me that she was personally acquainted with the
chief, who possesses but declines to exercise the right of
succession.
M93 Reminiscences of a custom of regicide in popular tales. Story how
Lancelot came to a city where the king had to perish in the fire on
New Year’s Day.
_ 361 The High History of the Holy Graal_, translated from the French by
Sebastian Evans (London, 1898), i. 200-203. I have to thank the
translator, Mr. Sebastian Evans, for his kindness in indicating this
passage to me.
M94 Story of King Vikramditya of Ujjain in India. Kings of Ujjain
devoured by a demon after a reign of a single day.
362 For a discussion of the legends which gather round Vikramaditya see
Captain Wilford, “Vicramaditya and Salivahana,” _Asiatic
Researches_, ix. (London, 1809) pp. 117 _sqq._; Chr. Lassen,
_Indische Alterthumskunde_, ii.2 752 _sqq._, 794 _sqq._; E. T.
Atkinson, _The Himalayan Districts of the North-Western Provinces of
India_, ii. (Allahabad, 1884), pp. 410. _sqq._ Vikramaditya is
commonly supposed to have lived in the first century B.C. and to
have founded the _Samvat_ era, which began with 57 B.C., and is now
in use all over India. But according to Professor H. Oldenberg it is
now certain that this Vikramaditya was a purely legendary personage
(H. Oldenberg, _Die Literatur des alten Indien_, Stuttgart and
Berlin, 1903, pp. 215 _sq._).
M95 Vikramaditya puts an end to the custom by vanquishing the demon,
after which he reigns as king of Ujjain.
363 “Histoire des rois de l’Hindoustan après les Pandaras, traduite du
texte hindoustani de Mîr Cher-i Alî Afsos, par M. l’abbé Bertrand,”
_Journal Asiatique_, IVème Série, iii. (Paris, 1844) pp. 248-257.
The story is told more briefly by Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_ (London,
1839), pp. 21 _sq._ Compare Chr. Lassen, _Indische Alterthumskunde_,
ii.2 798.
M96 Yearly human sacrifices formerly offered at Ujjain.
364 A. V. Williams Jackson, “Notes from India, Second Series,” _Journal
of the American Oriental Society_, xxiii. (1902) pp. 308, 316 _sq._
I have to thank my friend the Rev. Professor J. H. Moulton for
referring me to Prof. Williams Jackson’s paper.
M97 Story of the birth of Vikramaditya. His father Gandharva-Sena was an
ass by day and a man by night, until his ass’s skin was burnt, when
he left his wife for ever.
365 “Histoire des rois de l’Hindoustan,” _Journal Asiatique_, IVème
Série, iii. (1844) pp. 239-243. The legend is told with
modifications by Captain Wilford (“Vicramaditya and Salivahana,”
_Asiatic Researches_, ix. London, 1809, pp. 148 _sq._), Mrs. Postans
(_Cutch_, London, 1839, pp. 18-20), and Prof. Williams Jackson (_op.
cit._ pp. 314 _sq._).
M98 Stories of the type of Beauty and the Beast, which tell how human
beings are married to beasts or to animals which temporarily assume
human form.
M99 Stories of this kind are told by savages to explain why they abstain
from eating certain animals. Dyak stories of this type.
366 The Bishop of Labuan, “Wild Tribes of Borneo,” _Transactions of the
Ethnological Society of London_, New Series, ii. (1863) pp. 26 _sq._
367 Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, “The Relations between Men and Animals in
Sarawak,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901)
pp. 197 _sq._
368 Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, _op. cit._ p. 193.
M100 Story told by the Sea Dyaks to explain how they came to plant rice
and to revere the omen-birds. It describes how the young chief Siu
married a woman of the bird-family, and promised her never to hurt
or even touch a bird.
M101 But one day he broke his word, and his bird-wife left him and
returned to the bird-people.
369 Rev. E. H. Gomes, “Two Sea Dyak Legends,” _Journal of the Straits
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 41 (January 1904,
Singapore), pp. 12-28; _id._, _Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks
of Borneo_ (London, 1911), pp. 278 _sqq._
M102 Stories of the same sort are told by the Tshi-speaking negroes of
the Gold Coast to explain why they do not eat their totemic animals.
370 A. B. Ellis, _The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast_ (London,
1887), pp. 204-212.
M103 Stories of this sort were probably at first always told to explain
the totemic belief in the kinship of certain families with certain
species of animals. When husband and wife had different totems, a
violation of the totemic taboos by husband or wife might lead to the
separation of the spouses. This would explain the separation of
husband and wife in the type of tale here discussed.
371 The type of story in question has been discussed by Mr. Andrew Lang
in a well-known essay “Cupid, Psyche, and the Sun-Frog,” _Custom and
Myth_ (London, 1884), pp. 64-86. He rightly explains all such tales
as based on savage taboos, but so far as I know he does not
definitely connect them with totemism. For other examples of these
tales told by savages see W. Lederbogen, “Duala Märchen,”
_Mittheilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin_,
v. (1902) Dritte Abtheilung, pp. 139-145 (the Duala tribe of
Cameroons; in one tale the wife is a palm-rat, in the other a
_mpondo_, a hard brown fruit as large as a coconut); R. H. Nassau,
_Fetichism in West Africa_ (London, 1904), pp. 351-358 (West Africa;
wife a forest-rat); G. H. Smith, “Some Betsimisaraka Superstitions,”
_The Antananarivo Annual and Madagascar Magazine_, No. 10
(Christmas, 1886), pp. 241 _sq._; R. H. Codrington, _The
Melanesians_, pp. 172, 397 _sq._ (Melanesia; wife a bird, husband an
owl); A. F. van Spreeuwenberg, “Een blik op Minahassa,” _Tijdschrift
voor Neêrland’s Indië_, 1846, Erste deel, pp. 25-28 (the Bantiks of
Celebes; wife a white dove); J. H. F. Kohlbrugge, “Die Tenggeresen,
ein alter Javanischer Volksstaam,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en
Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, iiii. (1901) pp. 97-99 (the
Tenggeres of Java; wife a bird); J. Fanggidaej, “Rottineesche
Verhalen,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch-Indië_, lviii. (1905), pp. 430-436 (island of Rotti;
husband a crocodile); J. Kubary, “Die Religion der Pelauer,” in A.
Bastian’s _Allerlei aus Volkes- und Menschenkunde_ (Berlin, 1888),
i. 60 _sq._ (Pelew Islands; wife a fish); A. R. McMahon, _The Karens
of the Golden Chersonese_, pp. 248-250 (Karens of Burma; husband a
tree-lizard); Landes, “Contes Tjames,” _Cochinchine française,
excursions et reconnaissances_, No. 29 (Saigon, 1887), pp. 53 _sqq._
(Chams of Cochin-China; husband a coco-nut); A. Certeux and E. H.
Carnoy, _L’Algérie traditionnelle_ (Paris and Algiers, 1884), pp.
87-89 (Arabs of Algeria; wife a dove); J. G. Kohl, _Kitschi-Gami_
(Bremen, 1858), i. 140-145 (Ojebway Indians; wife a beaver); Franz
Boas and George Hunt, _Kwakiutl Texts_, ii. 322-330 (_The Jesup
North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of Natural
History_) (Kwakiutl Indians; wife a salmon); J. R. Swanton, _Haida
Texts and Myths_ (_Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin_, No. 29,
Washington, 1905), pp. 286 _sq._ (Haida Indians; wife a
killer-whale); H. Rink, _Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo_, pp.
146 _sq._ (Esquimaux; wife a sea-fowl). The Bantik story is told to
explain the origin of the people; the Tenggeres story is told to
explain why it is forbidden to lift the lid of a basket in which
rice is being boiled. The other stories referred to in this note are
apparently told as fairy tales only, but we may conjecture that they
too were related originally to explain a supposed relationship of
human beings to animals or plants. I have already illustrated and
explained this type of story in _Totemism and Exogamy_, vol. ii. pp.
55, 206, 308, 565-571, 589, iii. 60-64, 337 _sq._
372 The fable of Cupid and Psyche is only preserved in the Latin of
Apuleius (_Metamorph._ iv. 28-vi. 24), but we cannot doubt that the
original was Greek. For the story of Pururavas and Urvasi, see _The
Rigveda_, x. 95 (_Hymns of the Rigveda_, translated by R. T. H.
Griffith, vol. iv. Benares, 1892, pp. 304 _sqq._); _Satapatha
Brahmana_, translated by J. Eggeling, part v. pp. 68-74 (_Sacred
Books of the East_, vol. xliv.); and the references in _The Magic
Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 250, note 4. A clear
trace of the bird-nature of Urvasi occurs in the _Satapatha
Brahmana_ (Part v. p. 70 of J. Eggeling’s translation), where the
sorrowing husband finds his lost wife among nymphs who are swimming
about in the shape of swans or ducks on a lotus-covered lake. This
has been already pointed out by Th. Benfey (_Pantschatantra_, i.
264). In English the type of tale is known as “Beauty and the
Beast,” which ought to include the cases in which the wife, as well
as those in which the husband, appears as an animal. On stories of
this sort, especially in the folklore of civilised peoples, see Th.
Benfey, _Pantschatantra_, i. 254 _sqq._; W. R. S. Ralston,
Introduction to F. A. von Schiefner’s _Tibetan Tales_, pp.
xxxvii.-xxxix.; A. Lang, _Custom and Myth_ (London, 1884), pp. 64
_sqq._; S. Baring-Gould, _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_, pp.
561-578; E. Cosquin, _Contes populaires de Lorraine_, ii. 215-230;
W. A. Clouston, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, i. 182-191; Miss M.
Roalfe Cox, _Introduction to Folklore_ (London, 1895) pp. 120-123.
M104 The story of the parentage of Vikramaditya may point to a line of
kings who had the ass for their crest or totem. Similarly the
Maharajahs of Nagpur have the cobra for their crest and the origin
of the crest is explained by a story of the type of Beauty and the
Beast.
373 In the ruins of Raipoor, supposed to be the ancient Mandavie, coins
are found bearing the image of an ass; and the legend of the
transformation of Gandharva-Sena into an ass is told to explain
their occurrence. The coins are called Gandharva pice. See Mrs.
Postans, _Cutch_ (London, 1839), pp. 17 _sq._, 22.
374 E. T. Dalton, _Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_, pp. 165 _sq._
375 T. C. Hodson, “The Native Tribes of Manipur,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) pp. 302, 304.
M105 Stories of the type of Beauty and the Beast are not mere fictions,
but rest on a real basis of belief and custom. Similarly the legend
of kings who were sacrificed after a reign of a single day has its
analogy in actual custom. Such stories indicate that the supply of
kings may have been maintained by compelling men to accept the fatal
sovereignty.
376 See above, pp. 118 _sq._
M106 Our conceptions of the primitive kingship are apt to be coloured and
falsified by ideas borrowed from the very different monarchies of
modern Europe.
377 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 4;
_Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 17 _sqq._
M107 In other races and other ages many men may have been willing to
accept a kingdom on condition of being killed at the end of a short
reign. Various causes have contributed to intensify the fear of
death in modern Europe.
378 See Dr. Joseph Bautz, _Die Hölle, im Anschluss an die Scholastik
dargestellt_2 (Mainz, 1905). Dr. Bautz holds that the damned burn in
eternal darkness and eternal fire somewhere in the bowels of the
earth. He is, let us hope in more senses than one, an extraordinary
professor of theology at the University of Münster, and his book is
published with the approbation of the Catholic Church.
M108 Evidence of the comparative indifference to death displayed by other
races. Absence of the fear of death in India and Annam.
379 R. H. Elliot, _Experiences of a Planter in the Jungles of Mysore_
(London, 1871), i. 95.
380 Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_ (London, 1839), p. 168.
381 Mgr. Masson, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xxiv. (1852)
pp. 324 _sq._
M109 Absence of the fear of death among the American Indians.
382 H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United States_, ii.
(Philadelphia, 1853), p. 68.
383 F. de Azara, _Voyages dans l’Amérique Méridionale_, ii. 181.
M110 Apathy of savages under sentence of death.
384 A. B. Ellis, _The Ewe-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast_, p. 127.
The testimony of a soldier on such a point is peculiarly valuable.
385 A. Thevet, _Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique_ (Antwerp,
1558), pp. 74 _sq._; _id._, _Cosmographie universelle_ (Paris,
1575), p. 945 [979].
386 My informant was the late Captain W. C. Robinson, formerly of the
2nd Bombay Europeans (Company’s Service), afterwards resident at 15
Chesterton Hall Crescent, Cambridge. He learned the facts in the
year 1853 from his friend Captain Gore, of the 29th Madras Native
Infantry, who rescued some of the victims.
387 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 338.
M111 Further, men of other races often sacrifice their lives voluntarily
for reasons which seem to us wholly inadequate. Thus people have
freely allowed themselves to be killed in order to accompany their
dead ruler to the other world.
388 See above, pp. 42 _sqq._, 54 _sqq._
389 O. Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_ (Amsterdam, 1686), p. 312; H.
Ling Roth, _Great Benin_, p. 43.
390 R. Southey, _History of Brazil_, iii. 391 _sq._
391 Tacitus, _Histor._ ii. 49; Plutarch, _Otho_, 17.
M112 In the East, persons sometimes commit suicide in order to avenge
themselves on their enemies. Law of retaliation in a robber caste of
southern India.
392 R. Lasch, “Rache als Selbstmordmotiv,” _Globus_, lxxiv. (1898) pp.
37-39.
393 Father Martin, Jesuit missionary, in _Lettres édifiantes et
curieuses_, Nouvelle Édition, xi. (Paris, 1781), pp. 246-248. The
letter was written at Marava, in the mission of Madura, 8th November
1709. No doubt the English Government has long since done its best
to suppress these practices.
M113 Contempt of death exhibited in antiquity by the Thracians and the
Gauls.
394 Seleucus, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 42, p. 155 D E.
395 Posidonius, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 40, p. 154 B C.
M114 In ancient Rome there were men willing to be beheaded for a sum of
five _minae_.
396 Euphorion of Chalcis, quoted by Athenaeus, iv. 40, p. 154 C;
Eustathius on Homer, _Odyssey_, xviii. 46, p. 1837.
397 Athenaeus, iv. 39, p. 153 E F, quoting Nicolaus Damascenus.
398 Tertullian, _De spectaculis_, 12. The custom of sacrificing human
beings in honour of the dead, which has been practised by many
savage and barbarous peoples, was in later times so far mitigated at
Rome that the destined victims were allowed to fight each other,
which gave some of them a chance of surviving. This mitigation of
human sacrifice is said to have been introduced by D. Junius Brutus
in the third century B.C. (Livy, _Epit._ xvi.). It resembles the
change which I suppose to have taken place at Nemi and other places,
where, if I am right, kings were at first put to death inexorably at
the end of a fixed period, but were afterwards permitted to defend
themselves in single combat.
399 Livy, ii. 5. 8, xxvi. 13. 15, xxviii. 29. 11; Polybius, i. 7. 12,
xi. 30. 2; Th. Mommsen, _Römisches Strafrecht_ (Leipsic, 1899), pp.
916 _sqq._
400 Hiera Sykaminos (_Maharraka_), the furthest point of the Roman
dominion in southern Egypt, lies within the tropics. The empire did
not reach this its extreme limit till after the age of Augustus. See
Th. Mommsen, _Römische Geschichte_, v. 594 _sq._ Strabo speaks
(xvii. 1. 48, p. 817) as if Syene, which was held by a Roman
garrison of three cohorts, were within the tropics; but that is a
mistake.
M115 Chinese indifference to death.
401 For some evidence see J. H. Gray, _China_, i. 329 _sqq._; H. Norman,
_The Peoples and Politics of the Far East_ (London, 1905), pp. 277
_sq._ On this subject the Rev. Dr. W. T. A. Barber, Headmaster of
the Leys School, Cambridge, formerly a missionary in China, writes
to me as follows (3rd February 1902):—“Undoubtedly the Eastern,
through his belief in Fate, has comparatively little fear of death.
I have sometimes seen the Chinese in great fear; but, on the other
hand, I have saved at least a hundred lives of people who had
swallowed opium out of spite against some one else, the idea being,
first, the trouble given by minions of the law to the survivor;
second, that the dead would gain a vantage ground by becoming a
ghost, and thus able to plague his enemy in the flesh. Probably
blind anger has more to do with it than either of these causes. But
the particular mode would not ordinarily occur to a Western. I am
bound to say that in many cases the patient was ready enough to take
my medicines, but mostly it was the friends who were most eager, and
exceedingly rarely did I receive thanks from the rescued.”
402 J. H. Gray (Archdeacon of Hong-kong), _China_ (London, 1878), ii.
306.
403 The particulars in the text are taken, with Lord Avebury’s kind
permission, from a letter addressed to him by Mr. M. W. Lampson of
the Foreign Office. See Note A at the end of the volume. Speaking of
capital punishment in China, Professor E. H. Parker says: “It is
popularly stated that substitutes can be bought for Taels 50, and
most certainly this statement is more than true, so far as the price
of human life is concerned; but it is quite another question whether
the gaolers and judges can always be bribed” (E. H. Parker,
Professor of Chinese at the Owens College, Manchester, _China Past
and Present_, London, 1903, pp. 378 _sq._). However, from his
personal enquiries Professor Parker is convinced that in such
matters the local mandarin can do what he pleases, provided that he
observes the form of law and gives no offence to his superiors.
M116 We must not judge of all men’s love of life by our own.
404 My friend, the late Sir Francis Galton, mentioned in conversation a
phrase which described the fear of death as “the Western (or
European) malady,” but he did not remember where he had met with it.
He wrote to me (18th October 1902) that “our fear of death is
presumably much greater than that of the barbarians who were our
far-back ancestors.”
M117 Hence it is probable that in some races and at some periods of
history it would be easy to find men willing to accept a kingdom on
condition of being killed at the end of a short reign.
405 See above, pp. 23, 49 _sqq._, 52 _sq._
M118 Annual abdication of kings and their places temporarily taken by
nominal sovereigns. Temporary kings in Cambodia.
406 See above, pp. 113 _sqq._
407 E. Aymonier, _Notice sur le Cambodge_ (Paris, 1875), p. 61; J.
Moura, _Le Royaume du Cambodge_ (Paris, 1883), i. 327 _sq._ For the
connexion of the temporary king’s family with the royal house, see
E. Aymonier, _op. cit._ pp. 36 _sq._
M119 Temporary kings in Siam in former days.
408 De la Loubère, _Du royaume de Siam_ (Amsterdam, 1691), i. 56 _sq._;
Turpin, “History of Siam,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, ix.
581 _sq._; Mgr. Brugière, in _Annales de l’Association de la
Propagation de la Foi_, v. (1831) pp. 188 _sq._; Pallegoix,
_Description du royaume Thai ou Siam_ (Paris, 1854), i. 250; A.
Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, iii. 305-309, 526-528.
Bowring (_Siam_, i. 158 _sq._) copies, as usual, from Pallegoix. For
a description of the ceremony as observed at the present day, see E.
Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_ (Westminster, 1898), pp. 210
_sq._ The representative of the king no longer enjoys his old
privilege of seizing any goods that are exposed for sale along the
line of the procession. According to Mr. Young, the ceremony is
generally held about the middle of May, and no one is supposed to
plough or sow till it is over. According to Loubère the title of the
temporary king was _Oc-ya Kaou_, or Lord of the Rice, and the office
was regarded as fatal, or at least calamitous “_funeste_”) to him.
409 Lieut.-Col. James Low, “On the Laws of Muung Thai or Siam,” _Journal
of the Indian Archipelago_, i. (Singapore, 1847) p. 339; A. Bastian,
_Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, iii. 98, 314, 526 _sq._
M120 Modern custom of temporary kings in Siam.
410 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, pp. 212-217. The writer
tells us that though the Minister for Agriculture still officiates
at the Ploughing Festival, he no longer presides at the Swinging
Festival; a different nobleman is chosen every year to superintend
the latter.
M121 Temporary kings in Samaracand and Upper Egypt.
411 Ed. Chavannes, _Documents sur les Tou-Kiue (Turcs) Occidentaux_ (St.
Petersburg, 1903), p. 133, note. The documents collected in this
volume are translated from the Chinese.
412 C. B. Klunzinger, _Bilder aus Oberägypten der Wüste und dem Rothen
Meere_ (Stuttgart, 1877), pp. 180 _sq._
_ 413 Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, p. 243. For evidence of a
practice of burning divine personages, see _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_,
Second Edition, pp. 84 _sqq._, 91 _sqq._, 139 _sqq._
M122 Temporary kings in Morocco.
414 Budgett Meakin, _The Moors_ (London, 1902), pp. 312 sq.; E. Aubin,
_Le Maroc d’aujourd’hui_ (Paris, 1904), pp. 283-287. According to
the latter of these writers the flight of the mock sultan takes
place the day after his meeting with the real sultan. The account in
the text embodies some notes which were kindly furnished me by Dr.
E. Westermarck.
M123 Temporary king in Cornwall.
415 R. Carew, _Survey of Cornwall_ (London, 1811), p. 322. I do not know
what the writer means by “little Easter Sunday.” The ceremony has
often been described by subsequent writers, but they seem all to
copy, directly or indirectly, from Carew, who says that the custom
had been yearly observed in past times and was only of late days
discontinued. His _Survey of Cornwall_ was first printed in 1602. I
have to thank Mr. G. M. Trevelyan, formerly Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge, for directing my attention to this interesting
survival of what was doubtless a very ancient custom.
M124 Temporary kings at the beginning of a reign.
416 J. W. Boers, “Oud volksgebruik in het Rijk van Jambi,” _Tijdschrift
voor Neêrlands Indië_, 1840, dl. i. pp. 372 _sqq._
_ 417 Panjab Notes and Queries_, i. p. 86, § 674 (May 1884).
418 Aeneas Sylvius, _Opera_ (Bâle, 1571), pp. 409 _sq._; J. Boemus,
_Mores, leges, et ritus omnium gentium_ (Lyons, 1541), pp. 241
_sq._; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer_, p. 253. According to
Grimm, the cow and mare stood beside the prince, not the peasant.
The Carinthian ceremony is the subject of an elaborate German
dissertation by Dr. Emil Goldmann (_Die Einführung der deutschen
Herzogsgeschlechter Kärntens in den Slovenischen Stammesverband, ein
Beitrag zur Rechts- und Kulturgeschichte_, Breslau, 1903).
M125 The temporary kings discharge divine or magical functions.
419 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, p. 211.
420 Lasicius, “De diis Samagitarum caeterorumque Sarmatarum,” in
_Respublica sive status regni Poloniae, Lituaniae, Prussiae,
Livoniae_, etc. (Elzevir, 1627), pp. 306 _sq._; _id._, edited by W.
Mannhardt in _Magazin herausgegeben von der Lettisch-Literarischen
Gesellschaft_, xiv. 91 _sq._; J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen
Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden and Leipsic, 1841), ii. 27. There, are,
however, other occasions when superstition requires a person to
stand on one foot. At Toku-toku, in Fiji, the grave-digger who turns
the first sod has to stand on one leg, leaning on his digging-stick
(Rev. Lorimer Fison, in a letter to the author, dated August 26,
1898). Among the Angoni of British Central Africa, when the corpse
of a chief is being burned, his heir stands beside the blazing pyre
on one leg with his shield in his hand; and three days later he
again stands on one leg before the assembled people when they
proclaim him chief. See R. Sutherland Rattray, _Some Folk-lore
Stories and Songs in Chinyanja_ (London, 1907), pp. 100, 101.
421 E. Young, _The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe_, p. 212.
422 J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 25. With
regard to swinging as a magical or religious rite, see Note B at the
end of the volume. For other charms to make the crops grow tall by
leaping, letting the hair hang loose, and so forth, see _The Magic
Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 135 _sqq._
423 Macrobius, _Saturn._ v. 19. 13.
424 See _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 225 _sqq._
M126 Temporary kings substituted in certain emergencies for Shahs of
Persia.
425 Sir John Malcolm, _History of Persia_ (London, 1815), i. 527 _sq._ I
am indebted to my friend Mr. W. Crooke for calling my attention to
this passage.
426 Captain John Stevens, _The History of Persia_ (London, 1715), pp.
356 _sq._ I have to thank Mr. W. Crooke for his kindness in copying
out this passage and sending it to me. I have not seen the original.
An Irish legend relates how the abbot Eimine Ban and forty-nine of
his monks sacrificed themselves by a voluntary death to save Bran úa
Faeláin, King of Leinster, and forty-nine Leinster chiefs, from a
pestilence which was then desolating Leinster. They were sacrificed
in batches of seven a day for a week, the abbot himself perishing
after the last batch on the last day of the week. But it is not said
that the abbot enjoyed regal dignity during the seven days. See C.
Plummer, “Cáin Eimíne Báin,” _Ériu, the Journal of the School of
Irish Learning, Dublin_. vol. iv. part i. (1908) pp. 39-46. The
legend was pointed out to me by Professor Kuno Meyer.
M127 The temporary kings are sometimes related by blood to the real
kings.
M128 Tradition of On, King of Sweden, and the sacrifice of his nine sons.
427 “Ynglinga Saga,” 29, in _The Heimskringla or Chronicle of the Kings
of Norway, translated from the Icelandic of Snorro_ _Sturleson_, by
S. Laing (London, 1844), i. 239 _sq._; H. M. Chadwick, _The Cult of
Othin_ (London, 1899), pp. 4, 27. I have already cited the tradition
as evidence of a nine years’ tenure of the kingship in Sweden. See
above, p. 57, with note 2.
M129 Tradition of King Athamas and his children. Male descendants of King
Athamas liable to be sacrificed.
428 Herodotus, vii. 197; Apollodorus, i. 9. 1 _sq._; Schol. on
Aristophanes, _Clouds_, 257; J. Tzetzes, _Schol. on Lycophron_, 21,
229; Schol. on Apollonius Rhodius, _Argonautica_, ii. 653;
Eustathius, on Homer, _Iliad_, vii. 86, p. 667; _id._, on _Odyssey_,
v. 339, p. 1543; Pausanias, i. 44. 7, ix. 34. 7; Zenobius, iv. 38;
Plutarch, _De superstitione_, 5; Hyginus, _Fab._ 1-5; _id._,
_Astronomica_, ii. 20; Servius, on Virgil, _Aen._ v. 241. The story
is told or alluded to by these writers with some variations of
detail. In piecing their accounts together I have chosen the
features which seemed to be the most archaic. According to
Pherecydes, one of the oldest writers on Greek legendary history,
Phrixus offered himself as a voluntary victim when the crops were
perishing (Schol. on Pindar, _Pyth._ iv. 288). On the whole subject
see K. O. Müller, _Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 pp. 156, 171.
429 Plato, _Minos_, p. 315 C.
M130 Family of royal descent liable to be sacrificed at Orchomenus.
430 Plutarch, _Quaest. Graec._ 38; Antoninus Liberalis, _Transform._ 10;
Ovid, _Metam._ iv. 1 _sqq._
M131 Thessalian and Boeotian kings seem to have sacrificed their sons to
Laphystian Zeus instead of themselves.
431 Pausanias, ix. 34. 5 _sqq._; Apollonius Rhodius, _Argonautica_, iii.
265 _sq._; Hellanicus, cited by the Scholiast on Apollonius, _l.c._
Apollodorus speaks of Athamas as reigning over Boeotia
(_Bibliotheca_, i. 9. 1); Tzetzes calls him king of Thebes (_Schol.
on Lycophron_, 21).
432 The old Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (_Argon._ ii. 653) tells us
that down to his time it was customary for one of the descendants of
Athamas to enter the town-hall and sacrifice to Laphystian Zeus. K.
O. Müller sees in this custom a mitigation of the ancient
rule—instead of being themselves sacrificed, the scions of royalty
were now permitted to offer sacrifice (_Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2
p. 158). But this need not have been so. The obligation to serve as
victims in certain circumstances lay only on the eldest male of each
generation in the direct line; the sacrificers may have been younger
brothers or more remote relations of the destined victims. It may be
observed that in a dynasty of which the eldest males were regularly
sacrificed, the kings, if they were not themselves the victims, must
always have been younger sons.
433 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. p. 310.
434 I have followed K. O. Müller (_Orchomenus und die Minyer_,2 pp. 160,
166 _sq._) in regarding the ram which saved Phrixus as a mythical
expression for the substitution of a ram for a human victim. He
points out that a ram was the proper victim to sacrifice to
Trophonius (Pausanias, ix. 39. 6), whose very ancient worship was
practised at Lebadea not far from Orchomenus. The principle of
vicarious sacrifices was familiar enough to the Greeks, as K. O.
Müller does not fail to indicate. At Potniae, near Thebes, goats
were substituted as victims instead of boys in the sacrifices
offered to Dionysus (Pausanias, ix. 8. 2). Once when an oracle
commanded that a girl should be sacrificed to Munychian Artemis in
order to stay a plague or famine, a goat dressed up as a girl was
sacrificed instead (Eustathius on Homer, _Iliad_, ii. 732, p. 331;
Apostolius, vii. 10; _Paroemiogr. Graeci_, ed. Leutsch et
Schneidewin, ii. 402; Suidas, _s.v._ Ἔμβαρος). At Salamis in Cyprus
a man was annually sacrificed to Aphrodite and afterwards to
Diomede, but in later times an ox was substituted (Porphyry, _De
abstinentia_, ii. 54). At Laodicea in Syria a deer took the place of
a maiden as the victim yearly offered to Athena (Porphyry, _op.
cit._ ii. 56). Since human sacrifices have been forbidden by the
Dutch Government in Borneo, the Barito and other Dyak tribes of that
island have kept cattle for the sole purpose of sacrificing them
instead of human beings at the close of mourning and at other
religious ceremonies. See A. W. Nieuwenhuis, _Quer durch Borneo_,
ii. (Leyden, 1907), p. 127.
M132 Sacrifice of kings’ sons among the Semites. Sacrifice of children to
Baal among the Semites.
435 Philo of Byblus, quoted by Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelii_, i. 10.
29 _sq._
436 2 Kings iii. 27.
437 On this subject see Dr. G. F. Moore, _s.v._ “Molech, Moloch,”
_Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iii. 3183 _sqq._; C. P. Tiele, _Geschichte
der Religion im Altertum_, i. (Gotha, 1896) pp. 240-244.
438 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 56.
439 Plato, _Minos_, p. 315 C.
440 Plutarch, _Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata, Gelon I._
441 Diodorus Siculus, xx. 14. Compare Clitarchus, cited by Suidas,
_s.v._ σαρδάνιος γέλως, and by the Scholiast on Plato, _Republic_,
p. 337 A; J. Selden, _De dis Syris_ (Leipsic, 1668), pp. 169 _sq._
442 Plutarch, _De superstitione_, 13. Egyptian mothers were glad and
proud when their children were devoured by the holy crocodiles. See
Aelian, _De natura animalium_, x. 21; Maximus Tyrius, _Dissert._
viii. 5; Josephus, _Contra Apion._ ii. 7.
443 Tertullian, _Apologeticus_, 6. Compare Justin, xviii. 6. 12; Ennius,
cited by Festus, _s.v._ “Puelli,” pp. 248, 249, ed. C. O. Müller;
Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, vii. 19 and 26.
M133 Canaanite and Hebrew custom of burning children in honour of Baal or
Moloch. Sacrifices of children in Tophet.
444 “Every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto
their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in
the fire to their gods,” Deuteronomy xii. 31. Here and in what
follows I quote the Revised English Version.
445 Deuteronomy xviii. 9-12.
446 Leviticus xviii. 21.
447 Psalms cvi. 35-38.
448 2 Kings xvii. 16, 17.
449 “And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the
valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters
in the fire,” Jeremiah vii. 31; “And have built the high places of
Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings unto Baal,”
_id._ xix. 5; “And they built the high places of Baal, which are in
the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their
daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech,” _id._ xxxii. 35;
“Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast
borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be
devoured. Were thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my
children, and delivered them up, in causing them to pass through the
fire unto them?” Ezekiel xvi. 20 _sq._; compare xx. 26, 31. A
comparison of these passages shews that the expression “to cause to
pass through the fire,” so often employed in this connexion in
Scripture, meant to burn the children in the fire. Some have
attempted to interpret the words in a milder sense. See J. Spencer,
_De legibus Hebraeorum_ (The Hague, 1686), i. 288 _sqq._
450 2 Chronicles xxviii. 3. In the corresponding passage of 2 Kings
(xvi. 3) it is said that Ahaz “made his son to pass through the
fire.”
451 2 Chronicles xxxiii. 6; compare 2 Kings xxi. 6.
452 2 Kings xxiii. 10.
453 Jerome on Jeremiah vii. 31, quoted in Winer’s _Biblisches
Realwôrterbuch_,2 _s.v._ “Thopeth.”
M134 Did the Hebrews borrow the custom from the Canaanites? Custom of the
Sepharvites.
454 The Tel El-Amarna tablets prove that “the prae-Israelitish
inhabitants of Canaan were closely akin to the Hebrews, and that
they spoke substantially the same language” (S. R. Driver, in
_Authority and Archaeology, Sacred and Profane_, edited by D. G.
Hogarth (London, 1899), p. 76).
455 2 Kings xvii. 31. The identification of Sepharvaim is uncertain. See
_Encyclopaedia Biblica_, iv. 4371 _sq._
M135 Only the firstborn children were burned.
456 Micah vi. 6-8.
457 Ezekiel xx. 25, 26, 31.
458 Exodus xiii. 1 _sq._
459 Exodus xiii. 12.
460 Exodus xxxiv. 19. In the Authorised Version the passage runs thus:
“All that openeth the matrix is mine; and every firstling among thy
cattle, whether ox or sheep, that is male.”
461 Exodus xxii. 29 _sq._ The Authorised Version has “the first of thy
ripe fruits" instead of "the abundance of thy fruits.”
M136 Hebrew sacrifice of firstlings: redemption of the firstlings of men
and asses.
462 Numbers xviii. 17 _sq._ Elsewhere, however, we read: “All the
firstling males that are born of thy herd and of thy flock thou
shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work with the
firstling of thine ox, nor shear the firstling of thy flock. Thou
shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place which
the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household,” Deuteronomy xv. 19
_sq._ Compare Deuteronomy xii. 6 _sq._, 17 _sq._ To reconcile this
ordinance with the other we must suppose that the flesh was divided
between the Levite and the owner of the animal. But perhaps the rule
in Deuteronomy may represent the old custom which obtained before
the rise of the priestly caste. Prof. S. R. Driver inclines to the
latter view (_Commentary on Deuteronomy_, p. 187).
463 Exodus xiii. 13, xxxiv. 20.
464 Numbers xviii. 15 _sq._ Compare Numbers iii. 46-51; Exodus xiii. 13,
xxxiv. 20.
M137 Sacrifice of firstborn children perhaps regarded as an act of heroic
virtue.
M138 Tradition of the origin of the Passover.
465 Exodus xi.-xiii. 16; Numbers iii. 13, viii. 17. While many points in
this strange story remain obscure, the reason which moved the
Israelites of old to splash the blood of lambs on the doorposts of
their houses at the Passover may perhaps have been not very
different from that which induces the Sea Dyaks of Borneo to do much
the same thing at the present day. “When there is any great epidemic
in the country—when cholera or smallpox is killing its hundreds on
all sides—one often notices little offerings of food hung on the
walls and from the ceiling, animals killed in sacrifice, and blood
splashed on the posts of the houses. When one asks why all this is
done, they say they do it in the hope that when the evil spirit, who
is thirsting for human lives, comes along and sees the offerings
they have made and the animals killed in sacrifice, he will be
satisfied with these things, and not take the lives of any of the
people living in the Dyak village house” (E. H. Gomes, _Seventeen
Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo_, London, 1911, p. 201).
Similarly in Western Africa, when a pestilence or an attack of
enemies is expected, it is customary to sacrifice sheep and goats
and smear their blood on the gateways of the village (Miss Mary H.
Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_, p. 454, compare p. 45). In Peru,
when an Indian hut is cleansed and whitewashed, the blood of a llama
is always sprinkled on the doorway and internal walls in order to
keep out the evil spirit (Col. Church, cited by E. J. Payne,
_History of the New World called America_, i. 394, note 2). For more
evidence of the custom of pouring or smearing blood on the
threshold, lintel, and side-posts of doors, see Ph. Paulitschke,
_Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige Cultur der Danâkil,
Galla und Somâl_ (Berlin, 1896), pp. 38, 48; J. Goldziher,
_Muhamedanische Studien_, ii. 329; S. J. Curtiss, _Primitive Semitic
Religion To-day_, pp. 181-193, 227 _sq._; H. C. Trumbull, _The
Threshold Covenant_ (New York, 1896), pp. 4 _sq._, 8 _sq._, 26-28,
66-68. Perhaps the original intention of the custom was to avert
evil influence, especially evil spirits, from the door.
M139 Originally the firstborn children seem to have been regularly
sacrificed: their redemption was a later mitigation of the rule.
466 Genesis xxii. 1-13.
467 See for example Father Baudin, in _Missions Catholiques_, xvi.
(1894) p. 333; A. B. Ellis, _The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the
Slave Coast_, pp. 105 _sq._
M140 Attempts to outwit a malignant spirit.
468 W. E. Maxwell, “The Folklore of the Malays,” _Journal of the Straits
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 7 (June 1881), p. 14; W.
W. Skeat, _Malay Magic_, p. 112. The bird in question is thought to
be the goat-sucker or night-jar.
M141 The custom of sacrificing all the firstborn, whether of animals or
men, was probably a very ancient Semitic institution.
469 2 Kings iii. 27.
470 See above, pp. 166, 167.
471 As to the redemption of the firstborn among modern Jews, see L. Löw,
_Die Lebensalter in der jüdischen Literatur_ (Szegedin, 1875), pp.
110-118; Budgett Meakin, _The Moors_ (London, 1902), pp. 440 _sq._
M142 Sacrifice of firstborn children among various races.
472 J. Wellhausen, _Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels_,3 p. 90; W.
Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_,2 p. 464. On the other
hand, when I published the foregoing discussion in the second
edition of my book, I was not aware that the conclusion reached in
it had been anticipated by Prof. Th. Nöldeke, who has drawn the same
inference from the same evidence. See _Zeitschrift der Deutschen
Morgenländischen Gesellschaft_, xlii. (1888) p. 483. I am happy to
find myself in agreement with so eminent an authority on Semitic
antiquity.
473 R. Brough Smyth, _Aborigines of Victoria_, ii. 311. In the Luritcha
tribe of central Australia “young children are sometimes killed and
eaten, and it is not an infrequent custom, when a child is in weak
health, to kill a younger and healthy one and then to feed the
weakling on its flesh, the idea being that this will give the weak
child the strength of the stronger one” (Spencer and Gillen, _Native
Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 475). The practice seems to have
been common among the Australian aborigines. See W. E. Stanbridge,
quoted by R. Brough Smyth, _op. cit._ i. 52; A. W. Howitt, _Native
Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp. 749, 750.
474 G. Scriviner, in E. Curr’s _The Australian Race_, ii. 182.
475 A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 750.
476 S. Gason, in E. Curr’s _The Australian Race_, ii. 119.
477 Father Mazzuconi, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xxvii.
(1855) pp. 368 _sq._
478 J. J. M. de Groot, _Religious System of China_, ii. 679, iv. 364.
479 J. J. M. de Groot, _op. cit._ iv. 365. On these Chinese reports
Prof. de Groot remarks (_op. cit._ iv. 366): “Quite at a loss,
however, we are to explain that eating of firstborn sons by their
own nearest kinsfolk, absolutely inconsistent as it is with a
primary law of tribal life in general, which imperiously demands
that the tribe should make itself strong in male cognates, but not
indulge in self-destruction by killing its natural defenders. We
feel, therefore, strongly inclined to believe the statement
fabulous.” Such scepticism implies an opinion of the good sense and
foresight of savages which is far from being justified by the facts.
Many savage tribes have “indulged in self-destruction” by killing a
large proportion of their children, both male and female. See below,
pp. 196 _sq._
480 W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India_, ii.
169.
481 H. A. Rose, “Unlucky Children,” _Folklore_, xiii. (1902) p. 63;
_id._, in _Indian Antiquary_, xxxi. (1902) pp. 162 _sq._ Mr. Rose is
Superintendent of Ethnography in the Punjaub. The authorities cited
by him are Moore’s _Hindu Infanticide_, pp. 198 _sq._, and
Sherring’s _Hindu Tribes and Castes_, iii. p. 66.
M143 Sacrifice of firstborn children among the Borans and other tribes to
the south of Abyssinia. Firstborn male children put to death in
Uganda.
482 Captain Philip Maud, “Exploration in the Southern Borderland of
Abyssinia,” _The Geographical Journal_, xxiii. (1904) pp. 567 _sq._
483 Exodus iv. 24-26.
484 Captain C. H. Stigand, _To Abyssinia through an Unknown Land_
(London, 1910), pp. 234 _sq._
485 J. Roscoe, “Further Notes on the Manners and Customs of the
Baganda,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902)
p. 30. Mr. Roscoe informs me that a similar custom prevails also in
Koki and Bunyoro.
486 J. L. Krapf, _Travels, Researches, and Missionary Labours during an
Eighteen Years’ Residence in Eastern Africa_ (London, 1860), pp. 69
_sq._ Dr. Krapf, who reports the custom at second hand, thinks that
the existence of the pillar may be doubted, but that the rest of the
story harmonises well enough with African superstition.
487 J. Macdonald, _Light in Africa_2 (London, 1890), p. 156. In the text
I have embodied some fuller explanations and particulars which my
friend the Rev. Mr. Macdonald was good enough to send me in a letter
dated September 16th, 1899. Among the tribes with which Mr.
Macdonald is best acquainted the custom is obsolete and lives only
in tradition; formerly it was universally practised.
M144 Sacrifice of firstborn children in Europe and America. Sacrifice of
firstborn children to the sun. Sacrifice of children in Peru.
488 F. J. Mone, _Geschichte des Heidenthums im nördlichen Europa_
(Leipsic and Darmstadt, 1822-1823), i. 119.
489 Vallancey, _Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis_, vol. iii. (Dublin,
1786) p. 457; D. Nutt, _The Voyage of Bran_, ii. 149-151, 304 _sq._;
P. W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_, i. 275 _sq._,
281-284. The authority for the tradition is the _Dinnschenchas_ or
_Dinnsenchus_, a document compiled in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries out of older materials. Mr. Joyce discredits the tradition
of human sacrifice.
490 Fr. Boas, in “Fourth Annual Report on the North-Western Tribes of
Canada,” _Report of the British Association for 1888_, p. 242;
_id._, in _Fifth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_, p.
52 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association for
1889_).
491 Fr. Boas, in _Fifth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_,
p. 46 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British Association
for 1889_).
492 W. Strachey, _Historie of travaile into Virginia Britannia_ (Hakluyt
Society, London, 1849), p. 84.
493 J. Bricknell, _The Natural History of North Carolina_ (Dublin,
1737), pp. 342 _sq._ I have taken the liberty of altering slightly
the writer’s somewhat eccentric punctuation.
494 See above, p. 162.
495 A. de Herrera, _The General History of the Vast Continent and
Islands of America_, translated by Capt. John Stevens (London,
1725-6), iv. 347 _sq._ Compare J. de Acosta, _Natural and Moral
History of the Indies_ (Hakluyt Society, London, 1880), ii. 344.
496 Fr. Xeres, _Relation véridique de la conquête du Perou et de la
Province de Cuzco nommée Nouvelle-Castille_ (in H. Ternaux-Compans’s
_Voyages, relations et mémoires_, etc., Paris, 1837), p. 53.
497 Juan de Velasco, _Histoire du royaume de Quito_, i. (Paris, 1840) p.
106 (forming vol. xviii. of H. Ternaux-Compans’s _Voyages, relations
et mémoires_, etc.).
498 A. R. Wallace, _Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro_
(London, 1889), p. 355.
499 W. Barbrooke Grubb, _An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London,
1911), p. 233.
M145 The “sacred spring” in ancient Italy.
500 Festus, _De verborum significatione_, _s.vv._ “Mamertini,”
“Sacrani,” and “Ver sacrum,” pp. 158, 370, 371, 379, ed. C. O.
Müller; Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ vii. 796; Nonius Marcellus, _s.v._
“ver sacrum,” p. 522 (p. 610, ed. Quicherat); Varro, _Rerum
rusticarum_, iii. 16. 29; Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit.
Rom._ i. 16 and 23 _sq._, ii. 1. 2.
501 Strabo, v. 4. 2 and 12; Pliny, _Nat. hist._ iii. 110; Festus, _De
verborum significatione_, _s.v._ “Irpini,” ed. C. O. Müller, p. 106.
It is worthy of note that the three swarms which afterwards
developed into the Piceni, the Samnites, and the Hirpini were said
to have been guided by a woodpecker, a bull, and a wolf
respectively, of which the woodpecker (_picus_) and the wolf
(_hirpus_) gave their names to the Piceni and the Hirpini. The
tradition may perhaps preserve a trace of totemism, but in the
absence of clearer evidence it would be rash to assume that it does
so. The woodpecker was sacred among the Latins, and a woodpecker as
well as a wolf is said to have fed the twins Romulus and Remus
(Plutarch, _Quaest. Rom._ 21; Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 37 _sq._). Does
this legend point to the existence of a wolf-clan and a
woodpecker-clan at Rome? There was perhaps a similar conjunction of
wolf and woodpecker at Soracte, for the woodpecker is spoken of as
the bird of Feronia (“_picus Feronius_,” Festus, _s.v._ “Oscines,”
p. 197, ed. C. O. Müller), a goddess in whose sanctuary at Soracte
certain men went by the name of Soranian Wolves (Servius, on Virgil,
_Aen._ xi. 785; Pliny, _Nat. hist._ vii. 19; Strabo, v. 2. 9). These
“Soranian Wolves” will meet us again later on.
502 Livy, xxii. 9 _sq._; Plutarch, _Fabius Maximus_, 4.
503 Livy, xxxiv. 44.
504 Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. Rom._ i. 24.
505 Schwegler thought it hardly open to question that the “sacred
spring” was a substitute for an original custom of human sacrifice
(_Römische Geschichte_, i. 240 _sq._). The inference is denied on
insufficient grounds by R. von Ihering (_Vorgeschichte der
Indoeuropäer_, pp. 309 _sqq._).
506 Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. Rom._ i. 16. 1. Rhegium in
Italy was founded by Chalcidian colonists, who in obedience to the
Delphic Oracle had been dedicated as a tithe-offering to Apollo on
account of a dearth (Strabo, vi. 1. 6, p. 257). Justin speaks of the
Gauls sending out three hundred thousand men, “as it were a sacred
spring,” to seek a new home (Justin, xxiv. 4. 1).
M146 Different motives may have led to the practice of killing the
firstborn. A belief in the rebirth of souls may in some cases have
operated to produce infanticide, especially of the firstborn. The
Hindoos believe that a man is reborn in his son, while at the same
time he dies in his own person.
507 The Australian aborigines resort to infanticide to keep down the
number of a family. But “the number is kept down, not with any idea
at all of regulating the food supply, so far as the adults are
concerned, but simply from the point of view that, if the mother is
suckling one child, she cannot properly provide food for another,
quite apart from the question of the trouble of carrying two
children about. An Australian native never looks far enough ahead to
consider what will be the effect on the food supply in future years
if he allows a particular child to live; what affects him is simply
the question of how it will interfere with the work of his wife so
far as their own camp is concerned” (Spencer and Gillen, _Native
Tribes of Central Australia_, p. 264).
508 See above, pp. 57, 160 _sq._
509 Above, p. 185.
510 Father Baudin, “Le Fétichisme,” _Missions Catholiques_, xvi. (1884)
p. 259.
_ 511 The Laws of Manu_, ix. 8, p. 329, G. Bühler’s translation (_Sacred
Books of the East_, vol. xxv.). On this Hindoo doctrine of
reincarnation, its logical consequences and its analogies in other
parts of the world, see J. von Negelein, “Eine Quelle der indischen
Seelenwanderungvorstellung,” _Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, vi.
(1903) pp. 320-333. Compare E. S. Hartland, _The Legend of Perseus_,
i. 218 _sq._; _id._, _Primitive Paternity_ (London, 1909-1910), ii.
196 _sqq._
512 H. A. [J. A.] Rose, “Unlucky and Lucky Children, and some Birth
Superstitions,” _Indian Antiquary_, xxxi. (1902) p. 516; _id._, in
_Folklore_, xiii. (1902) pp. 278 _sq._ As to the Khatris, see D. C.
J. Ibbetson, _Outlines of Panjab Ethnography_, pp. 295 _sq._; H. H.
Risley, _The Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, i. 478 _sqq._; W. Crooke,
_The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh_,
iii. 264 _sqq._
M147 Painful dilemma of a father.
513 The same suggestion has been made by Dr. E. Westermarck (_The Origin
and Development of the Moral Ideas_, i. (London, 1906) pp. 460
_sq._). Some years ago, before the publication of his book and while
the present volume was still in proof, Dr. Westermarck and I in
conversation discovered that we had independently arrived at the
same conjectural explanation of the custom of killing the firstborn.
M148 The same notion of the rebirth of the father in the son would
explain why in Polynesia infants succeeded to the chieftainship as
soon as they were born, their fathers abdicating in their favour.
514 Capt. J. Cook, _Voyages_ (London, 1809), i. 225 _sq._; Capt. J.
Wilson, _Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean_ (London,
1799), pp. 327, 330, 333; W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_,2 iii.
99-101; J. A. Mourenhout, _Voyages aux îles du Grand Océan_, ii. 13
_sq._; Mathias G. ——, _Lettres sur les Îles Marquises_ (Paris,
1843), pp. 103 _sq._; H. Hale, _United States Exploring Expedition,
Ethnography and Philology_ (Philadelphia, 1846), p. 34.
M149 Such a rule of succession might easily lead to a practice of
infanticide. Prevalence of infanticide in Polynesia.
515 W. Ellis, _Polynesian Researches_,2 i. 251-253.
M150 In some places the father either abdicates when his son attains to
manhood or is forcibly deposed by him.
516 J. E. Erskine, _Journal of a Cruise among the Islands of the Western
Pacific_ (London, 1853), p. 233.
517 J. Williams, _Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea
Islands_ (London, 1836), pp. 117 _sq._
518 J. Campbell, _Travels in South Africa, Second Journey_ (London,
1822), ii. 276.
M151 The custom of the deposition of the father by his son may perhaps be
traced in Greek myth and legend. Cronus and his children.
519 Hesiod, _Theogony_, 137 _sqq._, 453 _sqq._, 886 _sqq._; Apollodorus,
_Bibliotheca_, i. 1-3.
520 Above, pp. 179 _sq._ Traces of a custom of sacrificing the children
instead of the father may perhaps be found in the legends that
Menoeceus, son of Creon, died to save Thebes, and that one or more
of the daughters of Erechtheus perished to save Athens. See
Euripides, _Phoenissae_, 889 _sqq._; Apollodorus, iii. 6. 7, iii.
15. 4; Schol. on Aristides, _Panathen._ p. 113, ed. Dindorf; Cicero,
_Tuscul._, i. 48. 116; _id._, _De natura deorum_, iii. 19. 50; W. H.
Roscher, _Lexikon d. griech. und röm. Mythologie_, i. 1298 _sq._,
ii. 2794 _sq._
M152 Legend of Oedipus, who slew his father and married his mother.
Marriage with a widowed queen sometimes forms a legitimate title to
the kingdom. Marriage with a stepmother or a sister, a mode of
securing the succession of the king’s own children, and so of
transferring the inheritance from the female to the male line.
Brother and sister marriages in royal families.
521 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. pp. 269
_sqq._
522 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. ii. p. 283. The
Oedipus legend would conform still more closely to custom if we
could suppose that marriage with a mother was formerly allowed in
cases where the king had neither a sister nor a stepmother, by
marrying whom he could otherwise legalise his claim to the throne.
523 Examples of this custom are collected by me in a note on Pausanias,
i. 7. 1 (vol. ii. p. 85). For other instances see V. Noel, “Île de
Madagascar, recherches sur les Sakkalava,” _Bulletin de la Société
de Géographie_ (Paris), Deuxième Série, xx. (Paris, 1843) pp. 63
_sq._ (among the Sakkalavas of Madagascar); V. L. Cameron, _Across
Africa_ (London, 1877), ii. 70, 149; J. Roscoe, “Further Notes on
the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) p. 27 (among the Baganda
of Central Africa); J. G. Frazer, _Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 523,
538 (among the Banyoro and Bahima); J. Dos Santos, “Eastern
Ethiopia,” in G. McCall Theal’s _Records of South-Eastern Africa_,
vii. 191 (as to the kings of Sofala in eastern Africa). But Dos
Santos’s statement is doubted by Dr. McCall Theal (_op. cit._ p.
395).
524 This explanation of the custom was anticipated by McLennan: “Another
rule of chiefly succession, which has been mentioned, that which
gave the chiefship to a sister’s son, appears to have been nullified
in some cases by an extraordinary but effective expedient—by the
chief, that is, marrying his own sister” (_The Patriarchal Theory,
based on the Papers of the late John Ferguson McLennan_, edited and
completed by Donald McLennan (London, 1885), p. 95).
525 Compare Cicero, _De natura deorum_, ii. 26. 66; [Plutarch], _De vita
et poesi Homeri_, ii. 96; Lactantius, _Divin. Inst._ i. 10; Firmicus
Maternus, _De errore profanarum religionum_, xii. 4.
M153 Kings’ sons sacrificed instead of their fathers. Substitution of
condemned criminals.
526 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 54.
M154 A custom of putting kings to death at short intervals might
extinguish the families from which the kings were drawn; but this
tendency would be no bar to the observance of the custom. Many races
have indulged in practices which tend directly to their extinction.
527 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 292 _sqq._
_ 528 See The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 269 _sqq._
529 Men and women of the Khlysti sect in Russia abhor marriage; and in
the sect of the Skoptsi or Eunuchs the devotees mutilate themselves.
See Sir D. Mackenzie Wallace, _Russia_. (London [1877]), p. 302. As
to collective suicide, see above, pp. 43 _sqq._
530 Above, p. 191.
531 Father Picarda, “Autour de Mandéra, notes sur l’Ouzigowa, l’Oukwéré
et l’Oudoe (Zanguebar),” _Missions Catholiques_, xviii. (1886) p.
284.
_ 532 The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell_ (Hakluyt Society, 1901),
pp. 32, 84 _sq._
533 F. de Azara, _Voyages dans l’Amérique Méridionale_ (Paris, 1809),
ii. 115-117. The writer affirms that the custom was universally
established among all the women of the Mbaya nation, as well as
among the women of other Indian nations.
534 R. Southey, _History of Brazil_, iii. (London, 1819) p. 385.
535 W. Barbrooke Grubb, _An Unknown People in an Unknown Land_ (London,
1911), p. 233.
536 Hugh Goldie, _Calabar and its Mission_, new edition with additional
chapters by the Rev. John Taylor Dean (Edinburgh and London, 1901),
pp. 34 _sq._, 37 _sq._ The preface to the original edition of this
work is dated 1890. By this time the tribal suicide is probably
complete.
M155 Transmission of the soul of the slain king to his successor.
Transmission of the souls of chiefs to their sons in Nias.
537 See above, pp. 21, 23, 26 _sq._
538 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 410 _sqq._
539 J. T. Nieuwenhuisen en H. C. B. von Rosenberg, “Verslag omtrent het
eiland Nias,” _Verhandelingen van het Batav. Genootschap van Kunsten
en Wetenschappen_, xxx. (1863) p. 85; H. von Rosenberg, _Der
Malayische Archipel_, p. 160; L. N. H. A. Chatelin, “Godsdienst en
bijgeloof der Niassers,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en
Volkenkunde_, xxvi. (1880) pp. 142 _sq._; H. Sundermann, “Die Insel
Nias und die Mission daselbst,” _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_,
xi. (1884) p. 445; E. Modigliani, _Un Viaggio a Nías_, pp. 277, 479
_sq._; _id._, _L’Isola delle Donne_ (Milan, 1894), p. 195.
M156 Succession to the soul among the American Indians and other races.
540 Ch. Wilkes, _Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition_
(London, 1845), iv. 453; _United States Exploring Expedition,
Ethnography and Philology_, by H. Hale (Philadelphia, 1846), p. 203.
541 Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des nations civilisées du Mexique
et de l’Amérique-Centrale_, ii. 574.
542 D. G. Brinton, _Myths of the New World_2 (New York, 1876), pp. 270
_sq._
_ 543 Relations des Jésuites_, 1636, p. 130 (Canadian reprint, Quebec,
1858).
544 A. Bastian, _Die Voelker des oestlichen Asien_, iv. 386.
545 Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ iv. 685; Cicero, _In Verr._ ii. 5. 45; K.
F. Hermann, _Lehrbuch der griechischen Privatalterthümer_, ed. H.
Blümner, p. 362, note 1.
546 J. Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, _Lancashire Folk-lore_ (London,
1882), pp. 7 _sq._
M157 Succession to the soul in Africa. Inspired representatives of dead
kings in Africa.
_ 547 The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia_, collected and historically
digested by F. Balthazar Tellez (London, 1710), p. 198.
548 Ph. Paulitschke, _Ethnographie Nordost-Afrikas, die geistige Cultur
der Danâkil, Galla und Somâl_ (Berlin, 1896), p. 28.
549 This account I received from my friend the Rev. J. Roscoe in a
letter dated Mengo, Uganda, April 27, 1900. See his “Further Notes
on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 42, 45 _sq._, where,
however, the account is in some points not quite so explicit.
550 J. Dos Santos, “Eastern Ethiopia,” in G. McCall Theal’s _Records of
South-eastern Africa_, vii. 196 _sq._
551 See above, p. 35.
552 See _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 423 _sqq._
M158 Right of succession to the kingdom conferred by possession of
personal relics of dead kings. Sometimes a king has to eat a portion
of his predecessor.
553 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 362 _sqq._
554 A. Grandidier, “Madagascar,” _Bull. de la Société de Géographie_
(Paris), VIème Série, iii. (1872) pp. 402 _sq._
555 Nicolaus Damascenus, quoted by Stobaeus, _Florilegium_, cxxiii. 12
(_Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum_, ed. C. Müller, iii. 463). The
Issedones of Scythia used to gild the skulls of their dead fathers
and offer great sacrifices to them annually (Herodotus, iv. 26);
they also used the skulls as drinking-cups (Mela, ii. 1. 9). The
Boii of Cisalpine Gaul cut off the head of a Roman general whom they
had defeated, and having gilded the scalp they used it as a sacred
vessel for the pouring of libations, and the priests drank out of it
(Livy, xxiii. 24. 12).
556 Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda Protectorate_ (London, 1902), ii. 828.
557 Missionary Holley, “Étude sur les Egbas,” _Missions Catholiques_,
xiii. (1881) p. 353. The writer speaks of “_le roi d’Alakei_,” but
this is probably a mistake or a misprint. As to the Alake or king of
Abeokuta, see Sir William Macgregor, “Lagos, Abeokuta, and the
Alake,” _Journal of the African Society_, No. xii. (July, 1904) pp.
471 _sq._ Some years ago the Alake visited England and I had the
honour of being presented to his Majesty by Sir William Macgregor at
Cambridge.
558 F. T. Valdez, _Six Years of a Traveller’s Life in Western Africa_,
ii. 161 _sq._
559 Missionary Holley, in _Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, liv.
(1882) p. 87. The “King of Ake” mentioned by the writer is the Alake
or king of Abeokuta; for Ake is the principal quarter of Abeokuta,
and Alake means “Lord of Ake.” See Sir William Macgregor, _l.c._
560 Extracted from a letter of Mr. Harold G. Parsons, dated Lagos,
September 28th, 1903, and addressed to Mr. Theodore A. Cooke of 54
Oakley Street, Chelsea, London, who was so kind as to send me the
letter with leave to make use of it. “It is usual for great chiefs
to report or announce their succession to the Oni of Ife, or to the
Alafin of Oyo, the intimation being accompanied by a present” (Sir
W. Macgregor, _l.c._).
M159 Succession to the soul of the slain king or priest.
561 See above, pp. 23, 26 _sq._ Dr. E. Westermarck has suggested as an
alternative to the theory in the text, “that the new king is
supposed to inherit, not the predecessor’s soul, but his divinity or
holiness, which is looked upon in the light of a mysterious entity,
temporarily seated in the ruling sovereign, but separable from him
and transferable to another individual.” See his article, “The
Killing of the Divine King,” _Man_, viii. (1908) pp. 22-24. There is
a good deal to be said in favour of Dr. Westermarck’s theory, which
is supported in particular by the sanctity attributed to the
regalia. But on the whole I see no sufficient reason to abandon the
view adopted in the text, and I am confirmed in it by the Shilluk
evidence, which was unknown to Dr. Westermarck when he propounded
his theory.
M160 The single combat of the King of the Wood at Nemi was probably a
mitigation of an older custom of putting him to death at the end of
a fixed period.
562 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 1 _sqq._, ii. 378
_sqq._
563 See above, pp. 21 _sq._, 27 _sq._
564 See above, pp. 47 _sq._
M161 Custom of killing the human representatives of the tree-spirit.
M162 Bavarian customs of beheading the representatives of the tree-spirit
at Whitsuntide.
565 Fr. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),
i. 235 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 320
_sq._ In some villages of Lower Bavaria one of the _Pfingstl’s_
comrades carries “the May,” which is a young birch-tree wreathed and
decorated. Another name for this Whitsuntide masker, both in Lower
and Upper Bavaria, is the Water-bird. Sometimes he carries a straw
effigy of a monstrous bird with a long neck and a wooden beak, which
is thrown into the water instead of the bearer. The wooden beak is
afterwards nailed to the ridge of a barn, which it is supposed to
protect against lightning and fire for a whole year, till the next
_Pfingstl_ makes his appearance. See _Bavaria, Landes- und
Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, i. 375 _sq._, 1003 _sq._ In
Silesia the Whitsuntide mummer, called the _Rauchfiess_ or
_Raupfiess_, sometimes stands in a leafy arbour, which is mounted on
a cart and drawn about the village by four or six lads. They collect
gifts at the houses and finally throw the cart and the _Rauchfiess_
into a shallow pool outside the village. This is called “driving out
the _Rauchfiess_.” The custom used to be associated with the driving
out of the cattle at Whitsuntide to pasture on the dewy grass, which
was thought to make the cows yield plenty of milk. The herdsman who
was the last to drive out his beasts on the morning of the day
became the _Rauchfiess_ in the afternoon. See P. Drechsler, _Sitte,
Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. (Leipsic, 1903), pp.
117-123.
566 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_
(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 409-419; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 349
_sq._
M163 Killing the Wild Man in Saxony and Bohemia.
567 E. Sommer, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Sachsen und Thüringen_
(Halle, 1846), pp. 154 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 335
_sq._
568 W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 336.
569 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_ (Prague, N.D.,
preface dated 1861), p. 61; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 336
_sq._
M164 Beheading the King on Whit-Monday in Bohemia.
570 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, p. 263; W.
Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 343.
571 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, pp. 269 _sq._
M165 Beheading the King on Whit-Monday in Bohemia.
_ 572 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 86 _sq._
573 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, pp. 264 _sq._; W.
Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 353 _sq._
M166 The leaf-clad mummers in these customs represent the tree-spirit or
spirit of vegetation.
574 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 73 _sqq._
575 See pp. 208, 210.
_ 576 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 247 _sqq._, 272
_sqq._
M167 The tree-spirit is killed in order to prevent its decay and ensure
its revival in a vigorous successor.
577 See above, p. 208.
M168 Resemblances between these North European customs and the rites of
Nemi.
578 Ovid, _Fasti_, iii. 271.
579 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 308 _sqq._
580 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 20.
M169 The mock killing of the leaf-clad mummers is probably a substitute
for an old custom of killing them in earnest. Substitution of mock
human sacrifices for real ones.
581 Caesar, _Bell. Gall._ vi. 16; Adam of Bremen, _Descriptio Insularum
Aquilonis_, 27 (Migne’s _Patrologia Latina_, cxlvi. col. 644); Olaus
Magnus, _De gentium septrionalium variis conditionibus_, iii. 7; J.
Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 35 _sqq._; F. J. Mone, _Geschichte
des nordischen Heidenthums_, i. 69, 119, 120, 149, 187 _sq._
582 H. J. Tendeloo, “Verklaring van het zoogenaamd Oud-Alfoersch
Teekenschrift,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche
Zendelinggenootschap_, xxxvi. (1892) pp. 338 _sq._
583 Sir H. Johnston, _The Uganda Protectorate_ (London, 1902), ii. 719
_sq._ The writer describes the ceremony from the testimony of an
eye-witness.
584 J. G. Bourke, _Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_, pp. 196 _sq._
585 Euripides, _Iphigenia in Taur._ 1458 _sqq._
586 J. T. Nieuwenhuisen en H. C. B. von Rosenberg, “Verslag omtrent het
eiland Nias,” _Verhandelingen van het Batav. Genootschap van Kunsten
en Wetenschappen_, xxx. (1863) p. 43; E. Modigliani, _Un Viaggio a
Nias_ (Milan, 1890), pp. 282 _sq._
587 J. A. Dubois, _Mæurs, institutions et cérémonies des peuples de
l’Inde_ (Paris, 1825), i. 151 _sq._
588 E. Thurston, _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_ (Madras, 1909),
iv. 437, quoting Mr. A. R. Loftus-Tottenham.
589 G. Turner, _Samoa_, pp. 31 _sq._; compare pp. 38, 58, 59, 69 _sq._,
72.
M170 Mock human sacrifices carried out in effigy.
590 Porphyry, _De abstinentia_, ii. 55, citing Manetho as his authority.
591 “The Rudhirádhyáyă, or sanguinary chapter,” translated from the
_Calica Puran_ by W. C. Blaquiere, in _Asiatick Researches_, v. 376
(8vo ed., London, 1807).
592 E. T. Dalton, _Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_ (Calcutta, 1872), p.
281.
593 E. T. Dalton, _op. cit._ pp. 258 _sq._
594 Mgr. Bruguière, in _Annales de l’Association de la Propagation de la
Foi_, v. (1831) p. 201.
595 B. C. A. J. van Dinter, “Eenige geographische en ethnographische
aanteekeningen betreffende het eiland Siaoe,” _Tijdschrift voor
Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xli. (1899) p. 379.
596 Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, “The Relations between Men and Animals in
Sarawak,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901)
p. 208.
597 W. G. Aston, _Shinto_ (London, 1905). pp. 56 _sq._
598 A. C. Kruijt, “Eenige ethnografische aanteekeningen omtrent de
Toboengkoe en de Tomori,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche
Zendelinggenootschap_, xliv. (1900) p. 222.
M171 Mimic sacrifices of various kinds. Mimic sacrifices of fingers.
Mimic rite of circumcision.
599 E. Thurston, “Deformity and Mutilation,” _Madras Government Museum,
Bulletin_, vol. iv. No. 3 (Madras, 1903), pp. 193-196. As to the
custom of sacrificing joints of fingers, see my note on Pausanias,
viii. 34. 2, vol. iv. pp. 354 _sqq._ To the evidence there adduced
add P. J. de Smet, _Western Missions and Missionaries_ (New York,
1863), p. 135; G. B. Grinnell, _Blackfoot Lodge Tales_, pp. 194,
258; A. d’Orbigny, _L’Homme américain_, ii. 24; J. Williams,
_Narrative of Missionary Enterprises in the South Sea Islands_, pp.
470 _sq._; J. Mathew, _Eaglehawk and Crow_ (London and Melbourne,
1899), p. 120; A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East
Australia_, pp. 746 _sq._; L. Degrandpré, _Voyage à la côte
occidentale d’Afrique_ (Paris, 1801), ii. 93 _sq._; Dudley Kidd,
_The Essential Kaffir_, pp. 203, 262 _sq._; G. W. Stow, _Native
Races of South Africa_ (London, 1905), pp. 129, 152; _Lettres
édifiantes et curieuses_, Nouvelle Édition, ix. 369, xii. 371;
_Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, xiii. (1841) p. 20; _id._,
xiv. (1842) pp. 68, 192; _id._, xvii. (1845) pp. 12, 13; _id._,
xviii. (1846) p. 6; _id._, xxiii. (1851) p. 314; _id._, xxxii.
(1860) pp. 95 _sq._; _Indian Antiquary_, xxiv. (1895) p. 303;
_Missions Catholiques_, xxix. (1897) p. 90; _Zeitschrift für
Ethnologie_, xxxii. (1900) p. 81. The objects of this mutilation
were various. In ancient Athens it was customary to cut off the hand
of a suicide and bury it apart from his body (Aeschines, _Contra
Ctesiph._ § 244, p. 193, ed. F. Franke), perhaps to prevent his
ghost from attacking the living.
600 Basil C. Thomson, _Savage Island_ (London, 1902), pp. 92 _sq._
601 E. Thurston, _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_ (Madras, 1906),
p. 390.
M172 It has been customary to kill animal gods and corn gods as well as
tree-spirits.
M173 Customs of burying the Carnival and carrying out Death.
602 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 645; K. Haupt, _Sagenbuch der
Lausitz_, ii. 58; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_,
pp. 86 _sq._; _id._, _Das festliche Jahr_, pp. 77 _sq._; _Bavaria,
Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, iii. 958 _sq._;
Sepp, _Die Religion der alten Deutschen_ (Munich, 1890), pp. 67
_sq._; W. Müller, _Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren_
(Vienna and Olmutz, 1893), pp. 258, 353. The fourth Sunday in Lent
is also known as Mid-Lent, because it falls in the middle of Lent,
or as _Laetare_ from the first word of the liturgy for that day. In
the Roman calendar it is the Sunday of the Rose (_Domenica rosae_),
because on that day the Pope consecrates a golden rose, which he
presents to some royal lady. In one German village of Transylvania
the Carrying out of Death takes place on Ascension Day. See below,
pp. 248 _sq._
M174 Effigy of the Carnival burnt at Frosinone in Latium.
603 G. Targioni-Tozzetti, _Saggio di novelline, canti ed usanze popolari
della Ciociaria_ (Palermo, 1891), pp. 89-95. At Palermo an effigy of
the Carnival (_Nannu_) was burnt at midnight on Shrove Tuesday 1878.
See G. Pitrè, _Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del popolo
siciliano_, i. 117-119; G. Trede, _Das Heidentum in der römischen
Kirche_, iii. 11, note.
M175 Burying the Carnival in the Abruzzi.
604 A. de Nino, _Usi e costumi abruzzesi_, ii. 198-200. The writer omits
to mention the date of these celebrations. No doubt it is either
Shrove Tuesday or Ash Wednesday. Compare G. Finamore, _Credenze, usi
e costumi abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890), p. 111. In some parts of
Piedmont an effigy of Carnival is burnt on the evening of Shrove
Tuesday; in others they set fire to tall poplar trees, which, stript
of their branches and surmounted by banners, have been set up the
day before in public places. These trees go by the name of _Scarli_.
See G. di Giovanni, _Usi, credenze e pregiudizi del Canavese_
(Palermo, 1889), pp. 161, 164 _sq._ For other accounts of the
ceremony of the death of the Carnival, represented either by a
puppet or a living person, in Italy and Sicily, see G. Pitrè, _Usi e
costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del popolo siciliano_, i. 96-100; G.
Amalfi, _Tradizioni ed usi nella Penisola Sorrentina_ (Palermo,
1890), pp. 40, 42. It has been rightly observed by Pitrè (_op. cit._
p. 96), that the personification of the Carnival is doubtless the
lineal descendant of some mythical personage of remote Greek and
Roman antiquity.
605 R. Wünsch, _Das Frühlingsfest der Insel Malta_ (Leipsic, 1902), pp.
29 _sq._, quoting Ciantar’s supplements to Abelas’s _Malta
illustrata_.
M176 Burial of the Carnival at Lerida in Spain.
606 J. S. Campion, _On Foot in Spain_ (London, 1879), pp. 291-295.
M177 Funeral of the Carnival in France. Execution of Shrove Tuesday in
the Ardennes and Franche-Comté.
607 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, mythes et traditions des provinces de France_
(Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 37 _sq._ The name Caramantran is
thought to be compounded of _carême entrant_, “Lent entering.” It is
said that the effigy of Caramantran is sometimes burnt (E. Cortet,
_Essai sur les fêtes religieuses_, Paris, 1867, p. 107).
608 L. Pineau, _Folk-lore du Poitou_ (Paris, 1892), p. 493.
609 A. Meyrac, _Traditions, légendes et contes des Ardennes_
(Charleville, 1890), p. 63. According to the writer, the custom of
burning an effigy of Shrove Tuesday or the Carnival is pretty
general in France.
610 Ch. Beauquier, _Les Mois en Franche-Comté_ (Paris, 1900), p. 30. In
Beauce and Perche the burning or burial of Shrove Tuesday used to be
represented in effigy, but the custom has now disappeared. See F.
Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris, 1902),
i. 320 _sq._
M178 Burial of Shrove Tuesday in Normandy. Burning Shrove Tuesday at
Saint-Lô.
611 J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau,
1883-1887), ii. 148-150.
612 Madame Octave Feuillet, _Quelques années de ma vie_5 (Paris, 1895),
pp. 59-61.
M179 Burial of Shrove Tuesday or the Carnival in Brittany.
613 P. Sébillot, _Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris,
1886), pp. 227 _sq._
614 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, mythes et traditions des Provinces de
France_, p. 206.
615 P. Sébillot, _Le Folk-lore de France_, ii. (Paris, 1905) p. 170.
616 P. Sébillot, _l.c._
617 J. L. M. Nogues, _Les Mœurs d’autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis_
(Saintes, 1891), p. 60. As to the trial and condemnation of the
Carnival on Ash Wednesday in France, see further Bérenger-Féraud,
_Superstitions et survivances_, iv. 52 _sq._
618 T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p.
93.
M180 Burying the Carnival in Germany and Austria.
619 See above, p. 209.
620 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p.
371.
621 J. Haltrich, _Zur Volkskunde der Siebenbürger Sachsen_ (Vienna,
1885), pp. 284 _sq._
622 K. von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_, pp. 162 _sqq._; W.
Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 411.
623 E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_, p.
374; compare A. Birlinger, _Volksthümliches aus Schwaben_ (Freiburg
im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. pp. 54 _sq._, § 71.
624 E. Meier, _op. cit._ p. 372.
625 E. Meier, _op. cit._ p. 373.
626 E. Meier, _op. cit._ pp. 373, 374.
627 A. Kuhn, _Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen_ (Leipsic,
1859), ii. p. 130, § 393.
M181 Burning the Carnival in Greece. Esthonian custom on Shrove Tuesday.
_ 628 Folk-lore_, vi. (1895) p. 206.
629 F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten_
(St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 353.
M182 Resurrection enacted in these ceremonies.
630 E. Meier, _op. cit._ p. 374.
631 H. Pröhle, _Harzbilder_ (Leipsic, 1855), p. 54.
M183 Carrying out Death in Bavaria.
_ 632 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, iii. 958.
633 J. Boemus, _Omnium gentium mores, leges, et ritus_ (Paris, 1538), p.
83.
_ 634 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, iii. 958.
635 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 639 _sq._; W. Mannhardt,
_Baumkultus_, p. 412.
636 Sepp, _Die Religion der alten Deutschen_ (Munich, 1876), p. 67.
637 Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder_ (Strasburg, 1902), p. 283.
M184 Carrying out Death in Thüringen.
638 Aug. Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_ (Vienna,
1878), p. 193.
639 A. Witzschel, _op. cit._ p. 199; J. A. E. Köhler, _Volksbrauch,
Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Überlieferungen im Voigtlande_
(Leipsic, 1867), pp. 171 _sq._
640 Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder_ (Strasburg, 1902), p. 283 note, quoting J.
K. Zeumer, _Laetare vulgo Todten Sonntag_ (Jena, 1701), pp. 20
_sqq._; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 640 _sq._ The words of
the song are given as “_So treiben wir den todten auss_,” but this
must be a mistake for “_So treiben wir den Tod hinaus_,” as the line
is given by P. Drechsler (_Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in
Schlesien_, i. 66). In the passage quoted the effigy is spoken of as
“_mortis larva_.”
641 Zacharias Schneider, _Leipziger Chronik_, iv. 143, cited by K.
Schwenk, _Die Mythologie der Slaven_ (Frankfort, 1853), pp. 217
_sq._, and Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder_, pp. 284 _sq._
M185 Carrying out Death in Silesia.
642 P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i.
65-71. Compare A. Peter, _Volksthümliches aus
Österreichisch-Schlesien_ (Troppau, 1865-1867), ii. 281 _sq._
643 F. Tetzner, “Die Tschechen und Mährer in Schlesien,” _Globus_,
lxxviii. (1900) p. 340.
M186 Carrying out Death in Bohemia.
644 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 642.
645 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, pp. 90 _sq._
_ 646 Ibid._ p. 91.
M187 Carrying out Death in Moravia.
647 W. Müller, _Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren_ (Vienna
and Olmütz, 1893), pp. 353-355.
M188 The effigy of Death feared and abhorred.
648 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 644; K. Haupt, _Sagenbuch der
Lausitz_ (Leipsic, 1862-1863), ii. 55; P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Branch
und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. 70 _sq._
649 J. Grimm, _op. cit._ ii. 640, 643; P. Drechsler, _op. cit._ i. 70.
See also above, p. 236.
650 Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Österreich_
(Vienna, 1859), pp. 294 _sq._; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender
aus Böhmen_, p. 90.
651 See above, p. 236.
652 See above, pp. 234, 235, 236, 237.
653 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_ (Leipsic, 1863), p. 80.
654 W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_ (London, 1872), p.
211.
_ 655 Ibid._ p. 210.
M189 Sawing the Old Woman at Mid-Lent in Italy.
656 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 652; H. Usener, "Italische
Mythen," _Rheinisches Museum_, N.F., xxx. (1875) pp. 191 _sq._
657 G. Pitrè, _Spettacoli e feste popolari siciliane_ (Palermo, 1881),
pp. 207 _sq._, _id._, _Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del
popolo siciliano_, i. 107 _sq._
_ 658 Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari_, iv. (1885) pp.
294 _sq._
659 H. Usener, _op. cit._ p. 193.
660 Vincenzo Dorsa, _La Tradizione greco-latina negli usi e nelle
credenze popolari della Calabria citeriore_ (Cosenza, 1884), pp. 43
_sq._
661 E. Martinengo-Cesaresco, in _The Academy_, No. 671, March 14, 1885,
p. 188.
M190 Sawing the Old Woman at Mid-Lent in France.
662 Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et légendes du centre de la France_
(Paris, 1875), i. 43 _sq._
M191 Sawing the Old Woman at Mid-Lent in Spain and among the Slavs.
663 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 652; H. Usener, “Italische
Mythen,” _Rheinisches Museum_, N.F., xxx. (1875) pp. 191 _sq._
664 E. Hoffmann-Krayer, “Fruchtbarkeitsriten im schweizerischen
Volksbrauch,” _Schweizerisches Archiv für Volkskunde_, xi. (1903) p.
239.
M192 Sawing the Old Woman on Palm Sunday among the gypsies.
665 H. von Wlislocki, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Zigeuner_
(Münster i. W., 1891), pp. 145 _sq._
M193 Seven-legged effigies of Lent in Spain.
666 E. Cortet, _Essai sur les fêtes religieuses_ (Paris, 1867), pp. 107
_sq._; Laisnel de la Salle, _Croyances et légendes du centre de la
France_, i. 45 _sq._ A similar custom appears to be observed in
Minorca. See _Globus_, lix. (1891) pp. 279, 280.
M194 Seven-legged effigies of Lent in Italy.
667 A. de Nino, _Usi e costumi abruzzesi_, ii. 203-205 (Florence, 1881);
G. Finamore, _Credenze, usi e costumi abruzzesi_ (Palermo, 1890),
pp. 112, 114.
668 G. Amalfi, _Tradizioni ed usi nella Penisola Sorrentina_ (Palermo,
1890), p. 41.
669 Lucy E. Broadwood, in _Folk-lore_, iv. (1893) p. 390.
M195 The custom of carrying out Death is often followed by the ceremony
of bringing in Summer, in which the Summer is represented by a tree
or branches.
670 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, pp. 89 _sq._; W.
Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 156. This custom has been already
referred to. See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 73
_sq._
671 P. Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. 71
_sqq._; Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_, p. 82; Philo
vom Walde, _Schlesien in Sage und Brauch_ (Berlin, N.D., preface
dated 1883), p. 122.
672 A. Witzschel, _Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen_, pp. 192
_sq._; compare pp. 297 _sqq._
673 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 643 _sq._; K. Haupt,
_Sagenbuch der Lausitz_, ii. 54 _sq._; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_,
pp. 412 _sq._; W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p.
211.
M196 New potency of life ascribed to the image of Death. Carrying out
Death at Braller in Transylvania.
674 J. Grimm, _op. cit._ ii. 644; K. Haupt, _op. cit._ ii. 55.
675 J. K. Schuller, _Das Todaustragen und der Muorlef, ein Beitrag zur
Kunde sächsischer Sitte und Sage in Siebenbürgen_ (Hermannstadt,
1861), pp. 4 _sq._ The description of this ceremony by Miss E.
Gerard (_The Land beyond the Forest_, ii. 47-49) is plainly borrowed
from Mr. Schuller’s little work.
676 W. Müller, _Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren_ (Vienna
and Olmütz, 1893), pp. 258 _sq._
M197 Life-giving virtue ascribed to the effigy of Death.
677 P. 247.
678 This is also the view taken of the custom by W. Mannhardt,
_Baumkultus_, p. 419.
679 Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Volkes in Österreich_, pp.
293 _sq._
680 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Das festliche Jahr_, p. 82.
681 Philo vom Walde, _Schlesien in Sage und Brauch_, p. 122; P.
Drechsler, _Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien_, i. 74.
682 See above, p. 236.
683 See above, pp. 239 _sq._
684 See above, p. 236.
M198 The Summer-tree equivalent to the May-tree. But the Summer-tree is a
revival of the image of Death; hence the image of Death must be an
embodiment of the spirit of vegetation.
685 Above, p. 246.
686 Above, p. 246.
687 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 73 _sqq._
688 Above, p. 246, and J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 644;
Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, pp. 87 _sq._
689 Above, p. 246.
690 See above, pp. 250 _sq._
691 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 45 _sqq._
692 Above, pp. 234, 235, 240, 248, 250; and J. Grimm, _Deutsche
Mythologie_,4 ii. 643.
693 Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen_, p. 88. Sometimes
the effigy of Death (without a tree) is carried round by boys who
collect gratuities (J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 644).
694 Above, p. 208.
695 Above, p. 231.
696 F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten_, p.
353; Holzmayer, “Osiliana,” in _Verhandlungen der gelehrten
Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. Heft 2, pp. 10 _sq._; W.
Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 407 _sq._
M199 The names of Carnival, Death, and Summer in the preceding customs
seem to cover an ancient tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation.
697 W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 417-421.
M200 Dramatic contests between representatives of Summer and Winter.
698 Olaus Magnus, _De gentium septentrionalium variis conditionibus_,
xv. 8 _sq._ In _Le Temps_, No. 15,669, May 11, 1902, p. 2, there is
a description of this ceremony as it used to be performed in
Stockholm. The description seems to be borrowed from Olaus Magnus.
699 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 637-639; _Bavaria, Landes- und
Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, iv. 2, pp. 357 _sq._ See also E.
Krause, “Das Sommertags-Fest in Heidelberg,” _Verhandlungen der
Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie_, 1895, p. (145); A.
Dieterich, “Sommertag,” _Archiv für Religionswissenschaft_, viii.
(1905) Beiheft, pp. 82 _sqq._
_ 700 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, i. 369
_sq._
_ 701 Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_, ii. 259
_sq._; F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, i. pp.
253-256; K. von Leoprechting, _Aus dem Lechrain_, pp. 167 _sq._ A
dialogue in verse between representatives of Winter and Summer is
spoken at Hartlieb in Silesia, near Breslau. See _Zeitschrift des
Vereins für Volkskunde_, iii. (1893) pp. 226-228.
M201 Dramatic contests between representatives of Summer and Winter.
702 Th. Vernaleken, _Mythen und Bräuche des Völkes in Österreich_, pp.
297 _sq._
703 R. Andree, _Braunschweiger Volkskunde_ (Brunswick, 1896), p. 250.
704 W. Müller, _Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren_, pp.
430-436.
705 W. Müller, _op. cit._ p. 259.
M202 Queen of Winter and Queen of May in the Isle of Man.
706 J. Train, _Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man_
(Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 118-120. It has been suggested
that the name Maceboard may be a corruption of May-sports.
M203 Contests between representatives of Summer and Winter among the
Esquimaux. Canadian Indians drove away Winter with burning brands.
707 Fr. Boas, “The Central Eskimo,” _Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1888), p. 605. The account of this custom
given by Captain J. S. Mutch is as follows: “The people take a long
rope, the ends of which are tied together. They arrange themselves
so that those born during the summer stand close to the water, and
those born in the winter stand inland; and then they pull at the
rope to see whether summer or winter is the stronger. If winter
should win, there will be plenty of food; if summer should win,
there will be a bad winter.” See Fr. Boas, “The Eskimo of Baffin
Land and Hudson Bay,” _Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural
History_, xv. (1901) pp. 140 _sq._ At Memphis in Egypt there were
two statues in front of the temple of Hephaestus (Ptah), of which
the more northern was popularly called Summer and the more southern
Winter. The people worshipped the image of Summer and execrated the
image of Winter. It has been suggested that the two statues
represented Osiris and Typhon, the good and the bad god. See
Herodotus, ii. 121, with the notes of Bähr and Wiedemann.
_ 708 Relations des Jésuites_, 1636, p. 38 (Canadian reprint, Quebec,
1858).
M204 The burning of Winter at Zurich.
709 H. Herzog, _Schweizerische Volksfeste, Sitten und Gebräuche_ (Aurau,
1884), pp. 164-166; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 498 _sq._
710 Letter to me of Dr. J. S. Black, dated Lauriston Cottage, Wimbledon
Common, 28th May, 1903. In a subsequent letter (dated 9th June,
1903) Dr. Black enclosed some bibliographical references to the
custom which were kindly furnished to him by Professor P. Schmiedel
of Zurich, who speaks of the effigy as a representative of Winter.
It is not expressly so called by H. Herzog and W. Mannhardt. See the
preceding note.
M205 Funeral of Kostrubonko, Kostroma, Kupalo, and Yarilo in Russia.
711 W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 221.
712 W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, p. 241.
713 W. R. S. Ralston, _op. cit._ pp. 243 _sq._; W. Mannhardt,
_Baumkultus_, p. 414.
714 W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, pp. 414 _sq._; W. R. S. Ralston, _op.
cit._ p. 244.
715 W. R. S. Ralston, _op. cit._ p. 245; W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p.
416.
716 W. Mannhardt, _l.c._; W. R. S. Ralston, _l.c._
M206 The Russian Kostrubonko, Yarilo, and so on, were probably at first
spirits of vegetation dying and coming to life again.
M207 In these ceremonies grief and gladness, love and hatred appear to be
curiously combined.
M208 Expulsion of Death sometimes enacted without an effigy.
717 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 644.
718 J. G. von Hahn, _Albanesische Studien_ (Jena, 1854), i. 160.
M209 Images of Siva and Pârvatî married, drowned, and mourned for in
India.
719 R. C. Temple, in _Indian Antiquary_, xi. (1882) pp. 297 _sq._
M210 In this Indian custom Siva and Pârvatî seem to be the equivalents of
the King and Queen of May.
720 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 84 _sqq._
721 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 45 _sqq._
M211 The foregoing customs were originally rites intended to ensure the
revival of nature in spring by means of imitative magic. Feelings
with which the primitive savage may have regarded the changes of the
seasons.
722 When the Kurnai of Victoria saw the Aurora Australis, which
corresponds to the Northern Streamers of Europe, they exchanged
wives for the day and swung the severed hand of a dead man towards
it, shouting, “Send it away! do not let it burn us up!” See A. W.
Howitt, “On some Australian Beliefs,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) p. 189; _id._, _Native
Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp. 276 sq., 430.
M212 In modern Europe the old magical rites for the revival of nature in
spring have degenerated into mere pageants and pastimes.
723 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 242 _sq._
M213 Parallel to the spring customs of Europe in the magical rites of the
Central Australian aborigines.
724 Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, pp. 4
_sq._, 170.
725 Spencer and Gillen, _op. cit._ p. 170. For a description of some of
these ceremonies see _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i.
85 _sqq._
M214 Letter of Mr. M. W. Lampson.
M215 Lord Avebury’s statement.
726 Lord Avebury, _Origin of Civilisation_,5 pp. 378 _sq._; compare
_id._, _Prehistoric Times_,5 p. 561.
M216 Opinions of various authorities.
M217 Substitutes for corporal punishment in China.
727 De Guignes, _Voyages à Peking, Manille et l’Île de France_, iii.
(Paris, 1808) pp. 114 _sq._
M218 The custom of swinging practised for various reasons. Swinging at
harvest.
728 Above, pp. 156 _sq._
729 B. F. Matthes, _Einige Eigenthumlichkeiten in den Festen und
Gewohnheiten der Makassaren und Buginesen_ (Leyden, 1884), p. 1;
_id._, “Over de âdá’s of gewoonten der Makassaren en Boegineezen,”
_Verslagen en Mededeelingen der koninklijke Akademie van
Wetenschappen_, Afdeeling Letterkunde, Derde Reeks, Tweede Deel
(Amsterdam, 1885), pp. 169 _sq._
730 H. A. Oldfield, _Sketches from Nipal_ (London, 1880), ii. 351.
731 Spenser St. John, _Life in the Forests of the Far East_,2 i. 194
_sq._
732 Ch. Brooke, _Ten Years in Sarawak_, ii. 226 _sq._
M219 Swinging for fish and game.
733 J. S. G. Gramberg, “De Troeboekvisscherij,” _Tijdschrift voor
Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xxiv. (1887) pp. 314 _sq._
734 E. Petitot, _Monographie des Dènè-Dindjiè_ (Paris, 1876), p. 38. The
same ceremony is performed, oddly enough, to procure the death of an
enemy.
M220 Indian custom of swinging on hooks. Swinging in the rainy season.
Swinging in honour of Krishna. Esthonian custom of swinging at the
summer solstice.
735 Hamilton’s “Account of the East Indies,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and
Travels_, viii. 360 _sq._ In general we are merely told that these
Indian devotees swing on hooks in fulfilment of a vow or to obtain
some favour of a deity. See Duarte Barbosa, _Description of the
Coasts of East Africa and Malabar in the beginning of the Sixteenth
Century_, translated by the Hon. H. E. J. Stanley (Hakluyt Society,
London, 1866), pp. 95 _sq._; Gaspar Balbi’s “Voyage to Pegu,” in
Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, ix. 398; Sonnerat, _Voyage aux
Indes orientales et à la Chine_, i. 244; S. Mateer, _The Land of
Charity_, p. 220; W. W. Hunter, _Annals of Rural Bengal_,5 p. 463;
_North Indian Notes and Queries_, i. p. 76, § 511.
736 V. Ball, _Jungle Life in India_ (London, 1880), p. 232.
737 W. W. Hunter, _Annals of Rural Bengal_5 (London, 1872), p. 463.
738 G. W. Leitner, _The Languages and Races of Dardistan_ (Lahore,
1878), p. 12.
739 Sarat Chandra Mitra, “Notes on two Behari Pastimes,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Society of Bombay_, iii. 95 _sq._
740 H. H. Wilson, “The Religious Festivals of the Hindus,” _Journal of
the Royal Asiatic Society_, ix. (1848) p. 98. Compare E. T. Dalton,
_Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 314; Monier Williams,
_Religious Life and Thought in India_, p. 137; W. Crooke, “The
Legends of Krishna,” _Folk-lore_, xi. (1900) pp. 21 _sqq._
_ 741 The Hymns of the Rigveda_, vii. 87. 5 (vol. iii. p. 108 of R. T. H.
Griffith’s translation, Benares, 1891); H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion
des Veda_, pp. 444 _sq._
742 J. G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_ (Dresden and
Leipsic, 1841), ii. 268 _sqq._
743 L. v. Schroeder, “Lihgo (Refrain der lettischen Sonnwendlieder),”
_Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien_, xxxii.
(1902) pp. 1-11.
M221 Swinging for inspiration.
744 S. W. Tromp, “Uit de Salasila van Koetei,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal-
Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië_, xxxvii. (1888) pp.
87-89.
M222 Swinging as a cure for sickness.
745 J. Perham, “Manangism in Borneo,” _Journal of the Straits Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 19 (Singapore, 1887), pp. 97 _sq._;
E. H. Gomes, _Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo_
(London, 1911), pp. 169, 170, 171; H. Ling Roth, _The Natives of
Sarawak and British North Borneo_, i. 279.
746 C. Bock, _The Head-hunters of Borneo_ (London, 1881), pp. 110-112.
M223 Athenian festival of swinging.
747 Hyginus, _Astronomica_, ii. 4, pp. 34 _sqq._, ed. Bunte; _id._,
_Fabulae_, 130; Servius and Probus on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 389;
Festus, _s.v._ “Oscillantes,” p. 194, ed. C. O. Müller; Athenaeus,
xiv. 10, p. 618 E F; Pollux, iv. 55; Hesychius, _s.vv._ Ἀλῆτις and
Αἰώρα; _Etymologicum magnum_, _s.v._ Αἰώρα, p. 42. 3; Schol. on
Homer, _Iliad_, xxii. 29. The story of the murder of Icarius is told
by a scholiast on Lucian (_Dial. meretr._ vii. 4) to explain the
origin of a different festival (_Rheinisches Museum_, N.F., xxv.
(1870) pp. 557 _sqq._; _Scholia in Lucianum_, ed. H. Rabe, p. 280).
As to the swinging festival at Athens see O. Jahn, _Archäologische
Beiträge_, pp. 324 _sq._; Daremberg et Saglio, _Dictionnaire des
antiquités grecques et romaines_, _s.v._ “Aiora”; Miss J. E.
Harrison, in _Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens_, by Mrs.
Verrall and Miss J. E. Harrison, pp. xxxix. _sqq._
M224 Swinging as a mode of expiation and purification.
748 Servius on Virgil, _Aen._ xii. 603: “_Et Varro ait: Suspendiosis
quibus iusta fieri ius non sit, suspensis oscillis veluti per
imitationem mortis parentari._”
749 Servius on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 389; _id._, on _Aen._ vi. 741.
750 Spencer and Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_, pp. 505
_sq._
751 Festus, _s.v._ “Oscillantes,” p. 194, ed. C. O. Müller. This
festival and its origin are also alluded to in a passage of one of
the manuscripts of Servius (on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 389), which is
printed by Lion in his edition of Servius (vol. ii. 254, note), but
not by Thilo and Hagen in their large critical edition of the old
Virgilian commentator. “In _Schol. Bob._ p. 256 we are told that
there was a reminiscence of the fact that, the bodies of Latinus and
Aeneas being undiscoverable, their _animae_ were sought in the air”
(G. E. M. Marindin, _s.v._ “Oscilla,” W. Smith’s _Dictionary of
Greek and Roman Antiquities_,3 ii. 304).
M225 Swinging to promote the growth of plants.
752 Hyginus, _Fab._ 130.
753 Probus on Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 385.
754 Virgil, _Georg._ ii. 388 _sqq._
755 See above, p. 157.
M226 Swinging as a festal rite in modern Greece and Italy.
756 W. G. Clark, _Peloponnesus_ (London, 1858), p. 274.
757 J. T. Bent, _The Cyclades_ (London, 1885), p. 5.
758 J. T. Bent, quoted by Miss J. E. Harrison, _Mythology and Monuments
of Ancient Athens_, p. xliii.
759 Vincenzo Dorsa, _La Tradizione greco-latina negli usi e nelle
credenze popolari della Calabria Citeriore_ (Cosenza, 1884), p. 36.
In one village the custom is observed on Ascension Day instead of at
Christmas.
760 Valdés, _Los Majos de Cadiz_, extract sent to me in the original
Spanish by Mr. W. Moss, of 21 Abbey Grove, Bolton, March 23rd, 1907.
M227 Swinging at festivals in spring.
761 E. Doutté, _Magie et religion dans l’Afrique du nord_ (Algiers,
1908), pp. 580 _sq._
762 W. W. Rockhill, “Notes on some of the Laws, Customs, and
Superstitions of Korea,” _American Anthropologist_, iv. (1891) pp.
185 _sq._
763 Pausanias, v. 1. 4.
764 Pausanias, vi. 20. 9.
_ 765 Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 88 _sq._
766 J. L. van Hasselt, “Aanteekeningen aangaande de gewoonten der
Papoeas in de Dorebaai, ten opzichte van zwangerschap en geboorte,”
_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xliii.
(1901) p. 566.
767 J. H. Letteboer, “Eenige aanteekeningen omtrent de gebruiken bij
zwangerschap en geboorte onder de Savuneezen,” _Mededeelingen van
wege het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, xlvi. (1902) p. 45.