Ornithomancy--Mohammed's Pigeons--A Gigantic
Fowl--Cock-crowing--Sacred Geese saving a
City--Phenomenon at Rome before Caesar's Death--Young
Swallows--Virtue of a Goose's Tongue--Crows'
Hearts--Divination by means of a Sieve--Detection
of Crime--Capnomancy--Catoptromancy--Dactyliomancy--
Cledonism--Onomancy--Names--Romans toasting their
Mistresses--How Success in War was ascertained--Loss of
Ships' Colours--Importance attached to Regimental
Standards--Consecrated Banners--Flag of the
Prophet--Battle of the Standard--A Highland
Superstition.
Ornithomancy was a popular way of searching into futurity. Mohammed
had holy pigeons, which came to his ears and conversed with him about
things that were to happen. And the Prophet, it will be recollected,
gave an account of a multitude of angels that appeared to him in all
kinds of shapes, some of which were in the form of birds. One of the
angel birds resembled a white cock, so prodigiously large that its
height extended from the first to the second heavens--a distance of
five hundred years' journey, according to the rate we usually travel
on earth. Many Mohammedans will have it that the sacred bird was even
larger than what we have stated. They assert that the fowl's head
reached to the seventh heavens; and in describing him, they say his
wings were decked with carbuncles and pearls, and that he extended his
pinions from the east to the west to a distance proportionate to his
height. This winged creature was represented as the chief angel of the
cocks, and was said to crow so loud every morning that every living
creature, except men and fairies, heard it. Following the example of
this great bird, the smaller cocks, before sunrise, herald that bright
luminary as he speeds to the west.
When the Gauls under Brennus had scaled the Capitol without arousing
even the sentinels or the watch-dogs, the sacred geese, kept in the
court of the temple in honour of Juno, heard the approach of the enemy
and commenced cackling. The patrician, Manlius, struck with the noise,
roused his fellow-soldiers--the Gauls were discovered, attacked, and
driven back. Thenceforth Roman geese were fattened, but not eaten. A
golden image of a goose was made to commemorate their vigilance, and
upon a certain day in every year one was placed in a litter, and
carried in state about the city, while a dog was impaled upon a stake,
to denote the national contempt for that animal. A singular
circumstance happened at Rome about twenty-four hours before Caesar's
death. A little bird was observed to direct its flight towards the
senate-house, consecrated by Pompey, whilst a flock of other birds was
seen to follow in close pursuit, apparently to destroy the little
bird, or to deprive it of a sprig of laurel it carried through the
air. The bird was overtaken, and torn to pieces by its pursuers.
We are told that if one take young swallows and put them in a pot to
cook them, he will, on taking off the lid, find two of the swallows
kissing each other, and two turning one from the other. If the kissing
birds be dissolved in oil of roses, they will prove effectual, when
applied according to custom, in securing the affections of the most
blooming young lady in the parish; but in making use of the birds
found back to back, for creating sympathetic feelings, they require to
be pounded into an ointment, and applied to the eyelids of him or her
whose affections are sought. If the tongue of a goose be cut out when
the fowl is alive, and laid on the breast of a man or woman when
asleep, he or she will confess every sin of life. When a man carried
the heart of a male crow, and his wife the heart of a female crow,
they lived in peace and happiness. It was customary with the good
housewives of England, on placing eggs in a nest for incubation, to
swing a lighted candle over them, as a charm to prevent hawks, crows,
and other birds of prey, flying away with the young birds hatched from
the eggs.
Divination by means of a sieve was often resorted to. The sieve was
suspended after the operator had repeated a particular form of words,
and, by certain manipulations, information was obtained concerning
thefts, etc. The names of suspected parties were repeated while the
implement was made to turn round; and on the guilty person being
named, the sieve, instead of turning swiftly and steadily, began to
oscillate and shake. This was a very ancient practice, in which great
faith was put. Theocritus mentions a woman who was very skilful in her
art. At times the sieve was suspended by a thread, or fixed at the
point of a pair of scissors, giving it room to turn, and naming, as
before, the suspected persons. Coscinomancy was practised in England
at no distant date.
Divination by means of smoke (Capnomancy) was in use among the
ancients in their sacrifices. It was a good sign when the smoke rose
light and straight. If, on the contrary, the smoke ascended dark and
dense, evil was foretold.
Catoptromancy was a species of divination performed by the aid of a
mirror. This method of divination was common among the Achaians. The
mode of procedure was, when one was sick and in danger of death, to
let down a mirror into a fountain before the temple of Ceres, and,
from the appearance of the glass, to judge what was to be the
result--whether the sickness was to be removed, or death to take
place. If a ghastly, disfigured face was seen, it was regarded as a
certain evidence of death; but if the patient's face appeared fresh,
healthy, and comely, it was a sign of recovery.
Dactyliomancy was divination performed by means of a ring. The ring
was suspended by a thread above a round table, on the edge of which
letters of the alphabet were marked. The ring, in shaking or vibrating
over the table, stopped over certain of the letters, which, on being
connected, supplied the answer asked. But the operation was preceded
and accompanied by several superstitious ceremonies. In the first
place, the ring had to be consecrated; the person from whose hand it
was suspended required to be clothed in linen garments; his head had
to be shaven all round; and he required to hold vervain in his hand.
Cledonism denoted divination drawn from words only occasionally
uttered. Cicero observes that the Pythagoreans made observations not
only of the words of gods, but those of men also. Accordingly the
people thought it was unlucky to pronounce at meal-time such words as
conveyed peril, evil consequences, sickness, death, estrangement of
friends, or the displeasure of their deities. In another sense
Cledonism seems to be divination drawn from the movements of birds,
such as those noticed in another part of our work.
Onomancy, Onomamancy, or Onomatomancy, was the art of divining the
good or bad fortune of man from the letters of his name. This mode of
divination was popular among the ancients. The Pythagoreans taught
that the mind, actions, and successes of mankind were according to
their fate, genius, and name. Plato, who recommended parents to give
their children happy names, was inclined to think they were right, and
adduced grounds for maintaining his opinion. Some of the Bible
worthies are referred to in support of Onomancy; and a certain profane
writer calls attention to tippling Meroe, supposing she would drink
her wine without water. Hippolitus was torn to pieces by his own
coach-horses, as his name imported; Agamemnon signified that he should
linger long before Troy; Priam, that he should be redeemed out of
bondage in his childhood. The greatest empires and states have been
founded and destroyed by men of the same name. Cyrus, the son of
Cambyses, established the Persian monarchy; and Cyrus, the son of
Darius, ruined it; Darius, son of Hystaspes, restored it; and again,
Darius, son of Asamis, overthrew it. Philip, son of Amyntas, greatly
enlarged the kingdom of Macedonia; and Philip, son of Antigonus, lost
it. Augustus was the first emperor of Rome; Augustulus, the last.
Constantine founded the empire of Constantinople, and Constantine lost
it. Some names are unfortunate to princes: Caius, among the Romans;
John and Henry of France, and John of England and Scotland. One of the
principal rules of this kind of divination among the Pythagoreans was,
that an even number of vowels in a name signified an imperfection in
the left side of a man, and an odd number in the right side. Another
rule was, that the persons were the most happy in whose names the
numeral letters added together, made the greatest sum; for which
reason, it was alleged, Achilles vanquished Hector, the numeral
letters in the former name amounting to a greater number than in the
latter. From a like idea, the young Romans toasted their mistresses at
their meetings as often as their names contained letters. Theodotus,
king of the Goths, being anxious to ascertain the success of his wars
against the Romans, consulted a Jew, who ordered him to shut up a
number of swine in styes, and to give some of them Roman and others
Gothic names, and there to keep them until a certain day. The Jews'
instructions were complied with; and, on inspecting the styes at the
appointed time, it was discovered that the animals which had received
the Gothic names were dead, and those to which the Roman names had
been assigned were alive. From these circumstances, the fortune-teller
truly predicted the defeat of the Goths.
There was an old superstition among seamen, which is supposed to
linger among them still,--we mean the evil that was feared would
follow the total loss or tearing of a ship's colours. Sailors would
have been less grieved at all their sails being split, their spars
carried away, and their masts gone by the board, than at being
deprived of their colours. The loss or tearing of a flag was a sign of
misfortune, both to the vessel and the crew.
Soldiers, particularly those in Highland and Irish regiments, were
equally credulous. Vast importance was attached to the preservation of
their standards, and hence in some instances the great bravery that
has been displayed in preventing the enemy carrying away a standard. A
brave Highlander, or courageous Irish soldier, would rather die than
surrender the flag of his company. Not only did the loss of regimental
colours bring disgrace for the time on those whose duty it was to
defend them, but it portended future defeats and demoralisation.
Consecrated banners were common in times when almost every man was a
soldier. "_Go, conquer by this_" was the motto inscribed on ensigns of
several nations. In the devices of standards were found the eagle, the
wolf, the horse, the boar, the lion, and often a figure of Victory or
Mars. The "Flag of the Prophet" was the sacred banner of the
Mohammedans. It was composed of the turban of the Koreish, captured by
Mohammed. A black flag was afterwards substituted in its place,
consisting of a curtain that used to hang in front of the door of
Ayeshah's (one of the Prophet's wives) tent. The Mohammedans regarded
this flag as a most sacred relic. Subsequent to passing through
several hands, it was brought to Europe by Amurath III. It was kept in
a costly casket, and deposited in a chapel, guarded by emirs. The
banner used to be unfolded when war broke out, and carefully laid
aside, as stated, when peace was restored.
In the history of the "Battle of the Standard," which took place on
Cutton Moor, near Northallerton, between the English and Scots, at
which the Scots lost 10,000 men, the success of the English was
reported to have been due to their having consecrated banners with
them. The battle derived its name from the circumstance of a
flag-staff being attached to a waggon in the army's centre, bearing at
its top the consecrated host, and the banners of St. John of Beverley,
St. Peter of York, and St. Wilfred of Ripon.
A superstition long lingered in the Scottish Highlands, that it was
unlucky for a clansman to learn any handicraft engaged in by
Lowlanders. If a Highland youth left his native mountains and engaged
in mercantile or mechanical pursuits, his friends thought he turned
effeminate. For warfare he became unsuited, either as a leader or
follower. The prowess of his ancestors forsook him, he became
incapable of handling the bow or spear skilfully, and, what was worse,
he carried ill luck with himself and to his companions wherever he
went. Powerful clans have been beaten in the open field by opposing
clansmen of inferior numbers, solely through the circumstance of the
former having in their ranks men who had imprudently, in an evil hour,
apprenticed themselves to the vulgar callings of life. To be a soldier
was honourable, to be a tiller of the ground was not a disgrace, to be
a cattle reiver was not a crime, but for a clansman to condescend to
earn his bread by ordinary industry in a workshop, could not fail to
bring discredit and misfortune on himself and kindred, however remote
the relationship might be. To this superstition the nation is
indebted for the many stalwart Highlanders who have fought England's
battles, and won them too, at home and abroad. Ask the decrepit old
woman, leaning on her staff, far up yonder glen, the cause of the
expiring zeal among the mountain youths to study the art of war, and
she will tell you in effect what we have said; and will add, that
through the intimacy that has long existed between Highlanders and
Lowlanders, and the frequent evictions that have brought a scandal on
our nation, her country no longer remains a recruiting ground for
armies.