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THE JOURNAL OF

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AMERICAN FOLK-LORE

VOLUME V.

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BOSTON AND NEW YORK

3^u6Ii.s1f)cti for tljc Stincritan fo\k%otc ^otictp 6p

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

LONDON: TRUBNER & CO., 57 LUDGATE HILL

LEIPZIG : K. F. KOEHLER'S ANTIQUARIUM, UNIVERSITATSSTRASSE, 26

MDCCCXCII

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Copyright, 1892, By The American Folk-Lore SoaETV.

A/l rights reserved.

Tht Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.

THE JOURNAL OF ,'v'?>^

AMERICAN FOLK-LORR^

Vol. v.— JANUARY-MARCH, 1892. — No. XVI.

THIRD ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.

The Third Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society was held at the Columbian University, Washington, D. C, on Tues- day and Wednesday, December 29th and 30th.

The Society was called to order at 1 1 a. m.. President Mason in the chair.

The President remarked that in the last decade of the nineteenth century, when all the world was looking forward, it was a relief to vary this mental attitude by occasionally glancing backward, and considering the past as it appeared by its survival in the present. The records of the past formed an essential element in the inter- pretation of the future. He introduced President Welling of the University, who made an address of welcome.

President Welling said that on behalf of the Trustees of the University, and in the name of his colleagues in the faculty, he bade the Society heartily welcome. It was a happy incident of the evolution of science, that a society is formed for the scientific study of folk-lore, of the fragments of history preserved in tradition. These must be interpreted by reason, excluding false hypotheses and conclusions. He used the illustration of the young apprentice, who, as the story related, out of bits of glass dropped by his master, formed the illuminated window of Lincoln cathedral ; in this way it might well be that the neglected remainder of antiquarian knowledge might make a whole more brilliant than its accepted elements, as Walter Scott, in incorporating refuse bits of history into his wonder- ful romances, had delineated the most valuable picture of the times to which they related, as preserving their spirit. But this fragmen- tary material must address itself to the interpretative reason. It was not until the rays of stars had been examined under the spectro- scope, that we learned their actual constitution ; in the same manner, as between more than Fraunhofer lines, we could read the spectra of civilizations long passed away. Horace Walpole had boasted that he

2 yoiirfial of American Folk-Lore,

knew nothing about the ages that had known nothing ; but for his own part, he knew no such ages.

On behalf of the Anthropological Society of Washington, an ad- dress was made by Major John W. Powell, Director of the Bureau of Ethnology.

IMajor Powell said that the various sciences had now been differ- entiated into a great number of departments, each cultivated by an army of investigators. The history of civilization was marked by temples of philosophies which had fallen into ruins! The last en- deavor of the sort had been made by Herbert Spencer, a structure as unstable as the others.

The only hope for any successful philosophy of the future was that a system might be gradually erected by the united efforts of all thinkers and investigators, as the final generalization of their labors. Archaeology took part in this labor, by its research into the efforts of the artists and artisans of the past, for this purpose opening tombs and mounds, exploring the buried cities of the world, and in a great variety of ways making studies in human culture as exhibited in the arts. Other students engaged in the examination of consti- tutions, laws, forms of government, national, local, and municipal, and endeavored to understand the organization of former societies, carrying their inquiries into the heart of savagery and barbarism. A third kind of knowledge was that of the languages of mankind, including not only those of civilization, but of the lowest peoples. In pursuit of this class of studies, linguistic societies had been formed. Fourthly came psychology now pursued by scientific meth- ods in all institutions of learning. Last of all might be named phi- losophy,— the understanding of those attempts at interpreting the unknown which had been made by the great schools of the past and by celebrated masters, such as Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, or Hegel. But in these latter days it had dawned upon the minds of men that it might be interesting to know not merely what were the con- ceptions of distinguished individuals, but also those entertained by the multitude, — to examine the wisdom of the many as distinct from the wisdom of the few, — to comprehend the learning, the ex- pectation, and the philosophic conceptions of the people, — that is, to say, folk-lore. For this purpose a new society had been formed, the material with which it is concerned being a part of the province of anthropology, as anthropology itself is only a portion of the universal science.

In what manner have the facts of the universe been understood ? Even among the most savage peoples there have been attempts at such understanding, the general feature of these being that they know more about what we consider as the unknown than about what

Annual Meeting of the American Folk- Lore Society. 3

is known. To comprehend the manner in which unknown things have been explained is the task of Folk-Lore Societies of the present day. Of systems of explanation, there have been in especial three. In savagery, all events are attributed to the agency of animals. Coming to a later stage, to the era of barbarism, we find it charac- terized by the power attributed to personified forces of nature, to gods of the day, the night, and the like. To this philosophy has been given the name of physitheism. Men attribute everything unknown to them to the influence of such personified beings. Pro- ceeding to the beginnings of civilization, a new method of interpre- tation presents itself. Occurrences are explained as the acts of spirits, to whom is assigned everything mysterious.

At the present day, these three methods of accounting for phe- nomena coexist. In searching into the conceptions held by men in our own time, we are therefore dealing with notions which represent successive stages of philosophy. He was glad to welcome explorers in the field of popular belief.

Mrs. J. M. Lander, Mrs. W. H. Seaman, and Miss Emily T. Mason presented credentials as delegates from the Women's An- thropological Society of Washington, and Mr. A. F. Chamberlain from the Canadian Institute.

The Society proceeded to hear the reading of papers. (These it is intended to print, either as a whole or by abstract, in the numbers of the Journal of American Folk-Lore for the current year.) The papers read and discussed during the meeting on Tuesday were as follows : — ♦

Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing, Bureau of Ethnolog}^ Washington, D. C. : Story of the Unborn Men or Villagers of the Underworld ; a Zuni folk-tale,

Mr. Alexander Francis Chamberlain, Toronto, Ont.: Human Phy- siognomy and Physical Characteristics in Folk-Lore.

Mr. William Wells Newell, Cambridge, Mass. : Remarks on American Burial Customs.

Prof. Alcee Fortier, Tulane University, New Orleans, La. : A Few Louisiana Folk-Lore Stories (translations of French tales).

Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Washington, D. C. Holder of the Thaw Fellowship of the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass. : Folk-Tales of the Nimipu or Nez Perces Indians.

In the evening, a discussion took place on the place of Folk-Lore in Anthropology, led by the President of the Society.

Mr. Walter Hough, Local Secretary of the Annual Meeting, gave an account of Folk-life in and about the National Capital, illustrated by photographs taken for the purpose.

On Wednesday, at 10 a. m., the Society met for the transaction of business.

4 Journal of American Folk-Lore,

Mr. Walter Hough, Mr. A. F. Chamberlain, and Mr. Perry B. Pierce were appointed a committee for the purpose of nominating officers for the ensuing year.

The Report of the Council for the year 1891 was read by the Secretary, as follows : —

The Council is glad to be able to report satisfactory progress during the year. It would appear that the Society now occupies a position which gives good reason to hope for its rapid growth in membership and utility.

The principal means by which it is hoped to increase the influence of the Society is by the establishment of local societies, which may cooperate with the general organization, while at the same time pre- serving individual independence and initiative. It would seem that there is no better basis for such meetings than that afforded by ob- servation of the different elements Avhich compose the population of American towns. In the interests of history it is desirable to make studies of the character, ideas, and gradual assimilation of these elements. In all the larger cities opportunity is thus offered to come into close contact with the life and thought of many races, making an instructive and entertaining field of investigation.

In their last Annual Report the Council called attention to the opportunity for original inquiry offered by the traditions, beliefs, and customs of aboriginal races. They pointed out the rapidity with which the opportunity is passing away, and the likelihood that, in consequence of incomplete record, many problems will remain un- settled, the solution of which is highly important to the history of thought. During the past year these observations have received vivid illustration ; the religious movement among many Indian tribes has exhibited the rapidity with which the ideas of civilization are extending among the latter ; while rites and customs are daily ceasing to be celebrated, or modifying their character. The least which can be expected of Americans is to take the necessary pains for preserving an account of this primitive life, the memory of which all succeeding generations will regard as a precious possession.

It appears to the Council that the time has now arrived when this Society may take a more active part than formerly in promoting these investigations, not only without interfering with any agency now in existence, but in such a manner as to promote the methods and objects of all such agencies. The first principal method by which research may be encouraged is by providing for necessary publication. At the present time there exist no adequate means by which the investigations of individual explorers in this field can be printed ; and there can be no better aid to students than by pro-

Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society. 5

viding for putting into permanent form the result of their labors. As a step in this direction, the Society proposes, as soon as possible, to begin the publication of a series of monographs to be entitled, "The Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society." The first volume of this series is expected to be ready in the latter part of the year.

The Council has received and accepted reports from the Secre- tary, Treasurer, and Editorial Committee.

The Secretary reports that he has on his books the names of 8 Life Members and 442 Annual Members, while, either directly or through the publishers, sixty libraries are subscribers to the publica- tions of the Society.

The summary of the Treasurer's report is as follows : —

Receipts.

From W. W. Newell, acting Treasurer for 1890

Fees, December 4, 1890, to December 2'i, 1891

Life memberships

Sale of Journals, and covers

Interest on money invested

Other sources ....

Total .

Expenses.

H. O. Houghton & Co., for printing Journal ^1,102.96 Other expenses, postage, etc. . . . 115.20

^347-80

1,329.00

100.00

5340 15.50 10.22

$1,855.92

Total

Balance to new account

1,218.16

$62,7-7^

The Editorial Committee report that during the year 1891 the only publication of the Society has been the Journal of American Folk-Lore, the conduct of which has been committed to the charge of the Secretary. The ideas and motives which have directed the selection of matter have not varied from the methods previously announced.

The date of publication has been retarded more than is agreeable ; in future it is hoped to secure greater regularity in the time of its appearance.

If the Society shall succeed in establishing a larger number of local branches, a tolerably full abstract of the proceedings of these would make an important part of the Journal ; the ideas and topics of one local Society would furnish suggestions for the meetings of

6 Journal of American Folk-Lore,

others ; and papers of permanent value and originality, contributed to local meetings, would naturally be included in the Journal of the general Society. The stimulus thus offered would no doubt result in a considerable increase of the attention paid to the study of the different branches of folk-lore.

The Committee on Nomination of Officers for 1892 made their report, which was adopted by acclamation, as follows : —

President, Prof. Frederic Ward Putnam, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Council. — Hon. Charles C. Baldwin, Cleveland, Ohio ; Dr. Franz Boas, Clark University, Worcester, Mass. ; Dr. H. Carrington Bol- ton, New York, N. Y. ; Prof. Daniel G. Brinton, M. D., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Prof. Thomas Frederick Crane, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. ; Mr. Stewart Culin, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Dr. James Deans, Victoria, B. C. ; Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C. ; Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Washing- ton, D. C, Holder of the Thaw Fellowship of the Peabody Mu- seum, Harvard University ; Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, Hemenway Southwestern Exploring Expedition, Boston, Mass. ; Prof. Alcee Fortier, Tulane University, New Orleans, La. ; Prof. Horatio Hale, Clinton, Ont. ; Mr. Charles Godfrey Leland, Florence, Italy ; Prof. Otis T. Mason, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.

The President gave notice of an amendment to the rules, to come up for action at the next Annual Meeting, by which the Presidents of local societies should, ex officioy become members of the Council, in addition to the fourteen Councillors now provided for : also, of an amendment by which retiring presidents should be added to the Council.

The formation, by vote of the Council, of the following committees, was announced : —

Committee on Additional Publications. — Major John W. Powell, Dr. Franz Boas, Prof. Daniel G. Brinton, Prof. Thomas Frederick Crane, Mr. Stewart Culin, Prof. Alcee Fortier, and the President and Secretary, ex officio.

Committee on Revision of Rules and Incorporation of the Soci- ety. — Prof. Otis T. Mason, Hon. Charles C. Baldwin, Dr. H. Car- rington Bolton, Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, Dr. J. Walter Fewkes.

Editorial Committee. — Dr. Franz Boas, Prof. Daniel G. Brinton, Prof. Thomas Frederick Crane, Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, John H. Hin- ton, M. D., Mr. William Wells Newell, Prof. Frederic Ward Putnam.

Committee on Correspondence with Local Societies. — Miss Alice C. Fletcher, Prof. Alcee Fortier, Prof. Frederic Ward Putnam, Prof. Calvin Thomas.

Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society. 7

Committee on the Conduct of the Annual Meeting, 1892. — Mr. Walter Hough, Local Secretary of the Annual Meeting for 1891, the Retiring President, and the Secretary.

It was voted by the Council that the Annual Meeting for 1892 should be held in Boston, Mass., the date to be hereafter deter- mined.

The Local Secretary read the following list of members elected : — Mr. Paul Brockett, Mr. William Dinwiddie, Mrs. Edward Goodfellow, Mr. Frederic Webb Hodge, Rev. Sheldon Jackson, Mr. S. H. Kauf- mann, Mr. Perry B. Pierce, Mr. James C. Pilling, "six. E. Francis Riggs, Paymaster Eustace B. Rogers, U. S. A., Mr. Thomas W. Smillie, Mr. George Rockford Stetson, Mr. William B. Taylor, Mrs. A. H. Thompson, all of Washington ; Hon. C. E. Belknap, House of Representatives ; Mr. Warren K. Moorehead, Xenia, Ohio ; Prof. Merwin Marie Snell, Catholic University of Ohio.

The papers read and discussed at the sessions on Wednesday were : —

Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, Cambridge, Mass. : Some Bits of Plant- Lore.

Dr. James Deans, Victoria, B. C. : a Haida Folk-Tale.

Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C. : Nanibozhu in Siouan Mythology.

Mr. Alexander Francis Chamberlain, Toronto, Ont. : A Missis- sasfua Le2:end of Nanibozhu.

Hon. C. E. Belknap, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. : An Indian Legend of the Trailing Arbutus (from Lake Supe- rior).

Miss Ahce C. Fletcher, Washington, D. C. : The Haethuska So- ciety among the Omahas.

Mr. James Mooney, Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C. : Cherokee Talismans.

Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, Washington. D. C. : Thadodaho and the Founding of the Iroquois League.

Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, Hemenway Exploring Expedition, Boston, Mass. : The Ceremonial Circuit among the Hopi Indians.

Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing, Washington, D. C. : A Zuni Ver- sion of the Italian Folk-Tale of the Cock and the Mouse.

On Wednesday afternoon, Prof. Mason, President of the Society, gave a reception at his house, which was numerously attended by the members of the Society and their friends.

A vote of thanks was passed to the Columbian University, to the Women's Anthropological Society, and to the local officers of the meeting.

8 /otirfial of American Folk-Lore.

The following is a list of the committees concerned with the organization of the meeting : —

Committee on Arrangements. — J. Owen Dorsey, Wm. H. Bab- cock, William Dinwiddie, Weston Flint, F. Webb Hodge, L. D. Lodge ; Perry B. Pierce (U. S. Patent Office), Treasurer.

Reception Committee. — Thomas Wilson, J. H. Gore, Mrs. Helen Kane, Mrs. T. C. Mendenhall, Mrs. A. H. Thompson, Mrs. Miranda Tulloch, Mrs. Thomas Wilson.

Committee on Programme — Major J. W. Powell, Chairman; W. W. Newell, O. T. Mason.

Delegates from the Anthropological Society of Washington. — President J. C. Welling, J. W. Powell.

Delegates from the Women's Anthropological Society. — Mrs. J. M. Lander, I\Irs. W. H. Seaman, Miss Emily T. Mason.

The Porttcgitese Eleme7tt in New England.

THE PORTUGUESE ELEMENT IN NEW ENGLAND.

Among the foreign elements of Romanic speech settled in the United States, the Portuguese is the one which so far seems to have almost entirely escaped the notice of the public. Every one knows of the existence of large numbers of Canadians in New Eng- land, of the French settlements in Louisiana, of the Spanish in Texas, New Mexico, and California, of the Italians in New Orleans and in Eastern cities like Boston and New York ; but only few seem to realize the fact that every year from fifteen hundred to two thou- sand Portuguese men and women are landed in Boston and New Bedford, and that there is a large colony of them in California, sup- porting numerous churches, besides a literary review and a weekly journal ; that there is a Portuguese settlement in Erie, Pa., also maintaining a weekly paper ; and, especially, that in New England alone we have not less than seven Portuguese colonies, numbering at present more than twenty thousand. Of those seven colonies a large one is in Providence, R. I., while the other six belong to the State of Massachusetts. Naming the latter in the order of their numerical strength and importance, they are the following : — New Bedford, Boston (including Cambridge), Taunton, Fall River, Provincetown, and Gloucester. For the most part these Portuguese colonists are natives of the Azores, chiefly from the islands of Fayal, Pico, St. George, and Flores ; only few are from Madeira, and still smaller is the number of colored Portuguese from the Cape Verde islands.

What, it is natural to ask, brought about the immigration of these islanders into New England } And when did it begin .'' No official records exist to answer these questions, but from the statements of some of the oldest colonists it may be inferred with sufficient cer- tainty that the first Portuguese arrived in New England some sixty or more years ago as sailors on the whaling vessels sent out from New Bedford, then the most important whaling port of the East. Hence it is that New Bedford can boast of the oldest as well as the largest Azorian colony in the New England States. Later, it was the report of the liberties and opportunities offered in America to industrious people that induced the over-taxed and poverty-stricken islanders to try their fortunes here, and set in motion that wave of emigration to the United States which is still on the increase. The young man thus escapes the military service which means to him an exile of many years in the barracks of continental Portugal, with the gloomy prospect of at the end returning home without a penny to support him in the autumn of his life. The young maiden leaves

lo J oiir7ial of American Folk-Lore,

her native village in the expectation of better pay for her needle and straw work, for the delicate quality of which the Azorian women have long been famous. IMost of them, no doubt, consider the ab- sence from their native land as an exile, and intend returning as soon as they shall have saved up their " little pile ; " but, having once enjoyed the benefits of the free institutions and the many opportunities of this country, and become more or less imbued with the spirit of American life, they generally conclude to make the United States their permanent home.

The Portuguese colony in New Bedford being the oldest as well as the largest and most prosperous in the State, it may, for the sake of brevity, serve us for illustrating the material and intellectual condition of the whole Portuguese element in New England. The Azorians occupy almost the entire southern section of the city of New Bedford, and a goodly part of the western section. The Por- tuguese quarter is popularly known as "Fayal." According to the register of their church, they number now over seven thousand in the city itself, while some two hundred live in the neighboring country on farms partly owned by themselves. There are also Por- tuguese residents in the adjacent towns of Dartmouth, Acushnet, and Fairhaven. The large majority of them, belonging chiefly to the illit- erate class, are employed in our numerous cotton-mills and other factories, in the lumber-yards, and in the service of the city street department. The more intelligent of the young men, unwilling to submit to the drudgery of the work in the mills, choose hairdressing as their profession. This is done even by most of those who at home enjoyed the advantages of a college course. Unable to speak English, they find it almost impossible in this country to turn to profitable account what little information of practical value they may have acquired in a Portuguese college, mediaeval as this latter still is in its aims and methods of instruction. But comparatively low as their present position is, they constitute the most wide-awake ele- ment of the colony. It is among the barbers that we must generally look for the leading members of the social and other societies of our colonies, such as the Club Social Lusitano and the Sociedade Dra- matica of New Bedford, and the Club Social Dom Luis I. of Boston. Many of the Portuguese settlers are engaged in fishing, as espe- cially the colonies of Provincetown and Gloucester. The women earn their living either in the mills or as servant-girls and seamstresses. All, both men and women, are looked upon by the community as a valuable accession to the laboring population. They are industri- ous, thrifty, honest, and as a rule far more refined in their senti- ments and manners than the Canadians. Some of the older residents among them have acquired considerable wealth and own handsome

The Portuguese Element in New Engla7id. 1 1

houses. The New Bedford colony supports a substantial church in which the Roman Catholic service is conducted in Portuguese by three priests, one of whom is also in charge of the colony at Fall River. They have a charitable society which a few years ago erected a spacious building called *' The Monte Pio Hall." It is in this building that the social life of the colony centres, where the cele- brations of national holidays, balls, dramatic performances, and other entertainments take place. On such occasions, one cannot but ad- mire the decorum and courteous demeanor observed by these people. Several of the other colonies, such as Boston and Taunton, have their own churches and social clubs, but it is New Bedford that has always given the initiative for any demonstration of national spirit. It is here that the Club Social Lusitano, on the ist of December of every year, celebrates by a sumptuous banquet and a ball the libera- tion of Portugal from Spanish rule in 1640, a celebration to which delegates from the other New England colonies and the Portuguese consul in Boston are invited. It is in New Bedford, again, that some ten years ago a Portuguese weekly, called " O Luso-Americano," was published, wKich unfortunately, enjoyed only a very short exist- ence. A similar enterprise was started a year ago, with the title, " O Novo Mundo " (The New World), and continues to be published. But if the maintenance of a Portuguese church, the existence of clubs devoted to the observance of national festivals, and the culti- vation of dramatic art may be considered as so many laudable signs of the loyalty of our colonists to their native land, it is none the less evident that they are undergoing a rapid process of assimilation to their new surroundings. The inexorable struggle for existence, to which they are subjected almost immediately upon their arrival here, the novelty of their occupations and their every-day life, the more or less intimate contact into which they are thrown with the far more numerous English-speaking population, with its practical, sober way of looking at things, — all these manifold influences unite in pro- ducing a marked change in their habits of speaking and thinking. Their new experiences suggest to them ideas which they had not been called upon to express in their mother-tongue, and they are forced to resort to the medium of the English language, by which alone they may hope to. make themselves intelligible to all; their new surroundings fail to recall to their minds many of the traditions which had ever been associated with their former homes and haunts, and the freshness of these traditions gradually fades away. With them must needs disappear much of the native vocabulary which was embodied in them. In order, however, to appreciate Azorian speech and folk-lore, such as it survives in our midst, it will be necessary to inquire briefly into what it is and has been in its original home.

12 journal of A 77teruan Folk-Lore,

Whether the Azores were discovered in 1350 or a century later, and by whom, does not concern us here ; suffice it to say that their occupation and colonization by the Portuguese began in 1436 and was practically accomplished in 1457. The speech of the Azorians, which divides itself into two main groups, one represented by St. Michael, the other by Fayal, reflects on the whole the middle and northern Portuguese of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and has suffered no perceptible influence either from the strong influx of the P'lemish at the end of the fifteenth century or from other for- eign, notably Moorish, elements. As all colonial speech, the Azor- ian is markedly archaic in its nature. And as the Azorians, in their isolated position, have preserved to us an older stage of the Por- tuguese language, so are their folk-songs the most ancient in the whole domain of Portuguese tradition, their origin dating back to that epoch of Portuguese history previous to the fifteenth century when poetic creation was still free from literary influences. These folk-songs naturally divide themselves into two main classes, one purely traditional, the other still in constant elaboration. The first class comprises the traditional, historical songs such as the ballad or romance, which, though portraying events and conditions which have long ago ceased to exist, are still piously repeated by the people. To illustrate : in one of these ballads, collected by Theophilo Braga on the island of St. Michael, we find the following passage : —

Hei — de atar o meu cabello, E vira — lo para traz, Com uma fitinha vermelha Que me deu o meu rapaz.

Roughly translated, this is : "I shall tie my hair, I shall gather it in a coil with a scarlet ribbon which my lover gave me.*' Here we have an allusion, frequent in these songs, to an ancient Portuguese law, according to which a single woman had to leave her hair flow- ing, a married woman was to wear it gathered in a knot in token of her conjugal submission, and a widow had to wear it covered under a cap.

It is highly significant for the venerable age of insular tradition, that on the Azores the historical songs are popularly called AraviaSy a designation derived from Arabe, and still bearing witness to the fact that at the beginning of Portuguese nationality and when these ballads were in process of creation, the Arabic was the com- mon vernacular of the Christian as well as of the Moor ; the modern term romance marking the ascendency of the neo-Latin idioms over their predecessor. To this may be added that in Fayal a kind of rhyme sung by the children is called Aravenga^ a name which also testifies to the indebtedness of the ancient Portuguese to the Moor.

The Portuguese Eleineiit in New England,

13

While many of these historical songs are still remembered by our Luso-Americans, they have ceased to be repeated by them, and are rapidly passing into oblivion.

In connection with this traditional, historical poetry must be men- tioned a form of popular drama which has survived on the Azores. It is called Mouriscaday a term derived from Monro, Moor. The rep- resentation consists in a dialogue and a sham battle between a Christian and a Moor, thus commemorating the reconquest of the Spanish peninsula from the Arabs. It is therefore a parallel to the Italian tcatro dci marionctti^ the well-known opra of the Sicilians, of the character of which there is so welcome an illustration in the Teatro italiano on North Street in Boston. It is greatly to be re- gretted that the Mouriscada^ the popular theatre of the Azorians, should have been abandoned by our Azorian colonists, who, perhaps owing to the influence of their clergy, substitute for it on their excellently conducted stage in New Bedford, representations of a decidedly ecclesiastical and literary character.

The second class of popular poetry comprises those songs which, though in a large part also traditional, are still a living growth, echo- ing the actual life of the people by whom they are sung and embody- ing their loves and hates. It is the lyric poetry of the Portuguese people. As these love-songs belong to the few elements of insular tradition which, to a limited extent at least, still form a vital part in the social life of our American colonies, it may be well to give here a brief characterization of their nature.

The caiitiga d'amor, or love-song, is an octosyllabic quatrain, the second and fourth lines of which rhyme. These quatrains have two distinct, antithetical parts, the first two lines containing as a rule a general idea, mostly drawn from nature or natural objects, whereas the last two lines express a particular idea, which stands in a certain antithesis to the first and applies to a given case. To illustrate : —

Ja la vae o sol abaixo, Ja nao nasce onde nascia : Ja nao dou as minhas fallas A quem as dava algum dia.

There already the sun goes down, The light of day has passed away : Already I have ceased to speak To whom I used to speak one day.

It will be noticed that the sentiment of this quatrain is as direct as it is simple. The antithesis or comparison between the two parts is clear. As the sun has gone down and is no longer seen, so has my love for you disappeared. The same is the case in the following instance : —

Candeia que nao da luz, Nao se espeta na parede : O amor que nao € firme, Nao se faz mais caso d'elle.

Candle which gives no light, Never is hung from the wall Love which is not strong, Never is noticed at all.

1 4 yournal of A merlcan Folk-Lore.

Often the comparison between the two parts is so perfect as to re- sult in the complete absorption of the two terms in one, in an image. Such is the case in the following quatrain, in which the beloved, but inaccessible, woman is identified with the rose : —

Oh ! que linda rosa branca Amor perfeito plantado

Aquella roseira tern ! Em qualquer parte, enverdece ;

De baixo ninguem Ihe chega, So em peito d'homem vil

Ld ciraa nao vae ninguem. Amor perfeito fenece.

Here the two terms of comparison, the woman and the flower, blend in the word rosa^ " rose," which is also a proper name. Qua- trains like this one, wherein the comparison results in a sort of play on words, are numerous in the lyric poetry of the Spanish peninsula.

Even in quatrains in which the comparison is not perfectly clear, or where it has become quite obscured, the people invariably make a pause after the second line, showing that they are conscious of this formal distinction.

Satirical epigrams are also clothed in the metrical form of these love-songs. Only one instance of this kind may here be quoted, as illustrating very strikingly the conception in which the social posi- tion of woman is held by the people : —

Tambem o mar e casado, Even the sea is married,

Tambem o mar tern mulher ; Even the sea has a wife,

£ casado com a areia, He is married to the seashore,

Bate n'ella quando quer ! He beats it whene'er he likes.^

These songs are invariably accompanied by the viola or the rabecay the favorite musical instruments of the islander, and are sung to the Chaina-Rita, the most popular dance of the Azorians, which is still continued in our American colonies.

Equally rich as in folk-songs is the Azorian in folk-tales, many of which are yet to be collected, in nursery-rhymes, riddles, and super- stitions. Here also the insular tradition has preserved much that is no longer remembered in Portugal. Of the popular tales, especially the so-called contos da caroiichiiihay and of nursery-rhymes, a goodly number may still be heard in the homes of our Azorian colonists, by the cradle or the fireside. Many of them, however, while they are still remembered for a time, are no longer repeated or observed. This is especially true of the superstitions, the number and intensity of which corresponds to the social as well as the intellectual con- dition of man. The greater the number of accidents to which men are exposed, the greater the dependence of their physical and moral welfare on agents which they cannot control, the greater, therefore, their fear of the unknown, the more intense will be their supersti-

^ Cf. J. Leite de Vasconcellos, Revista lusitana, i. pp. 145, 176.

The Portuguese Elaneut in New England. 1 5

tious beliefs. Now, such is precisely the state of mind which plagues, famines, earthquakes, and similar causes have produced in the inhabitants of the Spanish peninsula and of the Azores. Hence the intensity and tenacity of superstition there, hence also its com- paratively rapid disappearance here, where fear-inspiring natural phenomena are far less numerous, and where the social medium gives a much freer scope to the independent action of the individual. Still, it must not be supposed that superstitious belief and practice entirely cease to exist in our Portuguese colonies. They do not show themselves as openly as in their former home, but they may continue to play, in many a case, the determining part in the choice of a course of action. As a clue to the mental characteristics of our colonists, the superstitions surviving among them are entitled to a careful study.

Here follow a few specimens of Azorian folk-lore, collected among our Luso-Americans, in addition to the popular folk-songs which have been spoken of before.

There is a Portuguese proverb which says : " A f ^ e que nos salva, e nao o pao da barca ;" in English : ''It is faith that saves us, not the wood of the ship." This adage is the remainder of a popular story still current in the northern part of Italy, but unknown in Portugal. Two versions of it exist in Azorian traditions, of which the one from St. Michael, being the more perfect, will be given here : A maiden who was very ill and had lost all faith in the physicians, asked her lover, who was going to Jerusalem, to bring her from the holy city a piece of wood from the Saviour's cross, which she wished to take in wine, to see if it might cure her. The young man, having forgotten the request of his betrothed, cut a piece of wood from the ship in which he was returning home, to deceive the girl. Finding, after some time, that she had really taken it and was entirely cured, he exclaimed : " It is faith that cures us, not the wood from the ship."

The following game, unknown in Portugal, is quite popular among Azorian children, especially in Fayal. The words are almost all un- intelligible, a fact which shows that they must be very old.

Minzin Minzol, Cazim Cazol, Por mor de ti, Jose Manzol. Cascaranhas, Malaguetas, Tringue la fdra.

The game is played as follows : A girl holds out her apron with one hand and all her companions take hold of the edge of the apron

1 6 yournal of AmeiHcan Folk-Lore.

with two fingers of each hand. The girl thereupon recites the rhymes, one line for each hand, moving her finger from right to left.

The hand which is touched at the last line — Tringiie Id fora — must be withdrawn.

The Azorians are fond of lending zest and humor to their familiar conversation by jocular sayings in which their language is very rich. Thus to the question : What time is it } (^Qiie horas saof) the play- ful reply is : Horas de comer pdo ; that is, Time to eat bread. To the favorite exclamation, Pacicncia ! they answer: Morrcn o pae a Viccncia. A narration interrupted hy eiitdo, "then," is jocularly con- tinued by the rhyme : Sardinhas com pdo, " Sardines with bread," very much as in English a person saying, ** Well, well ! " is playfully asked : " How many wells make a river } "

To mention, finally, a characteristic gesture, the Azorian woman is accustomed to express her high appreciation of the value of an ob- ject, a present for instance, by taking the flap of her right ear be- tween the forefinger and the thumb and exclaiming : Estdd'aquil that is to say : It is from here ! This gesture plainly points back to the presence of the Moors in Portugal, whose women wore their most precious ornaments on their ears.

Having examined some of the aspects of Azorian folk-lore, such as it survives among us, it now remains for us briefly to consider the changes which the native speech of the Luso- American is undergoing. The influence of the new condition of things shows itself in the vocabulary, in the accent, and finally in the total loss of the ability of speaking Portuguese. The vocabulary shows a constantly in- creasing mixture with English elements, of which only a few instances can be mentioned here : bordar, " to board," for hospedar ; bordoy "boarder," iox hospede ; binSy "beans," for feijdes ; carpete, "carpet," for tapete ; o bebe td chttlipe, "the baby is asleep;" estima, "steamer," ior vapor ; gairete, "garret," ior airiques ; notas^ " notice," for noticia ; offas, "oflfice," for escritorio ; salreis, "celery," for aipo. Often it is the signification of a Portuguese word which is affected by the influence of the English. Thus our Luso-American speaks of ter 21m frio, " to have a cold," the proper Portuguese ex- pression being : estar constipado. Or again he says : Esta gravaia olha bem, "this cravat /^^^i" well," where ^///<^r, "to behold," is a direct translation of the English "to look," meaning "to appear" as well as "to behold." Interesting is the word ^^ cspalha-gracc,' wherein one may recognize a popular attempt to interpret the Eng- lish term " sparrow-grass," which in its turn is a popular etymology for "asparagus." There are cases in which the Portuguese idiom influences the English. Thus an English-speaking Azorian may be heard to say : " I had cabbages for dinner," the form cabbages being

«i

The Portuguese Elemeiit in New England, 1 7

due to the plural form of the corresponding Portuguese term, couves.

But not only the speech, nay the very names of our Azorian col- onists are Anglicized, though it is the proper name which as a rule longest resists the destructive influence of foreign elements. This custom of Anglicizing their names dates back to the earliest times of these colonies when the Portuguese sailors commonly adopted the names of their American captains. To quote a few instances : the family name Liiiz is disguised in the English Lewis y JMaiiricio in Morrisy Pef^eira in Perry, Rodriguez in Rodgers. Still more. The Portuguese Christian name yoaquim, quite common among the Azor- ians, is by the practical English mind interpreted as representing the two English names Joe King, an appellation readily adopted by our Portuguese colonists. That these latter should be so willing to aban- don their real names will appear less strange when we consider that in their old as well as in their new home they were wont to be called by nicknames in preference to their first or family names. A few years ago an old man was living down on Hanover Street in Boston, whom every one knew by his nickname, '^ Bate-canellas^' "Old Knock-knee," but hardly any one by his family name, Carvalho.

The most potent factor in Americanizing our Azorian colonists is the American school. The Azorians are keenly sensible of their want of education and seize with eagerness every opportunity to learn. Whereas the Canadians everywhere maintain their parochial schools, the Azorians, fervent Roman Catholics as they are, send their children to the American public school. In consequence of the education they here receive, they become estranged from their inherited traditions and their native speech, which most of them cease to speak; but much as this loss may be regretted, we must re- joice in the consideration that it is more than outweighed by what they gain in return. To the many sterling qualities, such as kindness of heart and delicacy of sentiment, which they already possess, our Luso-Americans now add a mind stored with useful information and better trained to cope with the many difficult problems of American life. Formerly obliged to earn their living by hard and confining manual labor, they now enter into a wider sphere of activity and usefulness and rise in the social scale. From whatever point of view we may consider our Portuguese colonists, they bid fair to become a highly respectable element of our population, more and more able to contribute to, and hence worthy to participate in the benefits of the material and intellectual progress of our commonwealth.

VOL. V. — NO. 16.

1 8 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

APPENDIX.

As the preceding article was only intended to be read as a short lecture, not to be published, it is not clothed in that rigid form which a treatise ap- pearing in a scientific journal should invariably have. The author may therefore be pardoned for making here a few additions and corrections.

1. The lines beginning Hei de atar o meu cabello are a lyric quatrain and should be mentioned in the section treating of lyric poetry.

2. For the remarks on the quatrain, cf. J. Leite de Vasconcellos' article on cantigas popularcs in the Revista lusitana, i. pp. 143-6 and 176.

Of two quatrains, no translation is given in the above paper. Here it is : —

O how white and sweet the rose Perfect love, whene'er you plant it,

That blooms on yonder briar : Sweetly blooms in every part:

From below it can't be reached, Perfect love will fade away

Nor attained by climbing higher. Only in the villain's heart.

In the second quatrain there is a play of words on the expression amor perfeito, " perfect love," which is used both in its ordinary literal sense and as a popular name of the flower which we call " pansy."

It need hardly be said that the English renderings given were solely meant to convey to the audience some idea of the form and feeling of these quatrains, but claim no other merit whatsoever.

3. In conclusion, we may here mention the following publications as bearing on the Folk-Lore of the Azores : —

Theophilo Braga : Cantos populares do Archipelago agoriano. Porto, 1869. — O Povo portuguez nos sens costumes, cren^as e tradi^Oes. Lisboa, 1885. 2 vols. — O Conde de Luz-bella. Fdrmas populares do theatro portuguez. In : Revista lusitana, i. pp. 20-30. — Ampliagoes do . Romanceiro das ilhas dos Azores. Revista lusitana, i. pp. 99-116. — Cancioneiro popular das ilhas dos Azores. Revista lusitana, ii. pp. 1-14.

F. Adolpho Coelho: Revista d'Ethnologia e de Glottologia. Lisboa, 1880- 1881. 4 fascicules.

Francisco d'Arruda Furtado : Materiaes para o estudo anthropologico dos povos a^orianos. Ponta Delgada, 1884.

Hen'ry R. Lang : Notas de philologia portuguesa. In : Zeitschrift fiir ro- manische Philologie, xiii. pp. 213-216. — Tradigoes populares a9orianas. In: Zeitschrift fiir rom. Philol. xiii. pp. 217-224 and 416-430. — Tradi^oes populares a^orianas. In: Revista lusitana, ii. pp. 46-52. Respigas do vocabulario a9oriano. Ibid. pp. 52-55.

Henry R. Lang.

Some Bits of Plant- Lore, 19

SOME BITS OF PLANT-LORE,i

There is a good deal of interesting Plant-Lore to be found among the negroes of the Southern States, and in the Canadian Provinces, but on the whole, save that of the American Indians, our American folk-lore in this particular direction is comparatively meagre, and little of what there is seems indigenous. The newness of the coun- try, the practicality of a wealth-seeking nation furnishes poor soil for the dreamy, poetic traditions and scraps of traditions about trees and plants that have been brought to us from older countries.

The holm-oak {Que reus Ilex) in Russia has power to work miracles, the old Germans consecrated the oak to Thunar, their god of thun- der, their Norse neighbors held their solemn war councils beneath some venerable oak, the Roman civic crown was of oak-leaves, the oak-groves in England's Druidical days were held sacred, but with us the oak is valued for its practical usefulness, the bark for its capacity to tan leather, the fruit to fatten swine, and the strong beautiful wood for making furniture and kerosene-barrels ! Among the sordid cares of money-making small opportunity has been left for fostering classic traditions that have been imported from Europe and Asia or for the development of poetical or romantic rites or myths. I think that we may say that our American plant-lore is in general of a practical character, and so a pretty large proportion of our superstitions and superstitious usages relate to folk-medicine. From a considerable mass of miscellaneous plant-lore I select a few remedial charms. For generally, I take it, the article used to work a cure is carried or worn as an amulet rather than on account of any direct physical effect that it is supposed to have upon the disease, though occasionally the wearer's motive may be somewhat confused.

I remember that in Mansfield, Ohio, many years ago it was gener- ally believed that the seeds of the Job's tears, Coix Lachryma, if worn about the neck would cure goitre (as would also amber or gold beads). In Portland, Maine, and in Boston it is thought that chil- dren teething should wear a string of Job's tears. They are also somewhat commonly sold for children to wear at this critical period in Philadelphia and in Cambridge, while in Peabody, Mass., they are generally kept for sale at the drug-stores, not only for this purpose but also to be worn as a prophylactic against or cure for sore throat and diphtheria. I knew of one mother triumphantly bringing to the druggist of whom she had bought them a string of these seeds covered with a dark incrustation which she identified as the sub-

^ Read at the Third Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, Washington, D. C, December 29, 1891.

2 o Jo2irna I of A merica^i Folk-L ore.

stance of the disease, driven out into the necklace, but which to the apothecary bore a suspicious resemblance to ordinary dirt.

In Miramichi, N. B., a double cedar-knot is carried in the pocket as a cure for rheumatism. For the same disease I have heard of a New Hampshire man carrying in his pocket a gall such as is com- monly found on the stems of golden-rod, caused by the sting of the Trvpcta solidaginis or the Galechia galli-solidaginis. This gall contains a small white grub, and the man who carried about in his pocket these " rheumaty-buds," as he called them, believed that as long as the grub in the " bud " remained alive it served as a sure preventive of rheumatism. In Missouri rheumatism is prevented by carrying in the pocket a nutmeg or a walnut, yiiglans nigra. In other localities a hickory-nut, Carya alba, is used, in others still a buckeye, ^saihis glabra, while perhaps the commonest of all these amulets is the very near relative of the buckeyes, the horse-chestnut. This in New Jersey is carried as a bringer of good luck. In Talladega, Alabama, the negroes believe that if one carries buckeyes in the pocket he will have no chills through the year. I have heard of people wearing a potato with a hole bored through it so as to form a sort of gigantic finger-ring as a cure for rheumatism, and have personally known of the potato carried in the pocket as another cure.^ In some places the potato thus carried must be a stolen one. The true chestnut, Castanea, is sometimes carried, doubtless from the resemblance of its common name to that of the horse-chestnut. Indeed almost anything seems to be sufficient to ward off rheuma- tism, for in southern Michigan a pebble in the pocket serves the purpose.

Other diseases besides rheumatism are thought to be prevented or cured by vegetable substances of various kinds, worn or carried. A New Hampshire remedy for sore throat consists in wearing about the neck a stocking in the toe of which a potato has been tied. It is a Maine belief that a nutmeg pierced and hung about the neck by a string will prevent boils, croup, and neuralgia.

In Barre, Vt., the leaves of the Habeiiaria orbiadata are thought to be a valuable application for lameness or soreness. I have known of a farmer recently using them on a lame colt. The Pyrus Ameri- cana is in some parts of New Hampshire called witch-wood, and occasionally carried in the pocket to keep off witches. In Nova Scotia it is thought that it is a cause of bad luck to keep in the house a common Begonia called beefsteak geranium. In Salem and Bos- ton it is thought to be unlucky to keep " Wandering Jew," Trades- cantia crassifolia as a house-plant.

It is among the negroes that the most delightful plant-remedies ^ This remedy is also an extremely common one in Southern Sweden.

Some Bits of Plant- Lore, 21

are to be found ; witness the combination of cure and spell as de- scribed under the name of "conjuring a tooth," from Talladega, Alabama. Go into a lonely part of the woods wdth one of the op- posite sex, who is to carry an axe. The bearer of the axe chops around the roots of a white oak, cuts off, with a large jackknife, nine splinters from the roots of the tree, then cuts around the roots of the aching tooth w^th the knife, dips each of the splinters in the blood that flows from these cuts, and finally buries the splinters at the foot of the tree from which they came. While doing this, the operator says over ** something you don't understand " (undoubtedly a charm). This suggests another toothache-cure recorded in Au- brey's Miscellanies : " Take a new nail, and make the gum bleed with it, and then drive it into an oak. This did cure William Neal's son, a very stout gentleman, when he was almost mad with the pain and had a mind to have pistolled himself."

From Tallageda also comes this curious remedy for the chills and fever : take the skin from the inside of an egg-shell, go to a young persimmon-tree three days in succession and tie a knot in the skin each day. This at once recalls a remedy for a cold, practised in the Netherlands, which consists in tying three knots in a wdllow- branch, and thus giving one's cold to the tree.^

On the eastern shore of [Maryland biliousness is treated by boring three holes in a carefully selected tree, and walking three times around it, saying, "■ Go away, bilious." No doubt it is a matter of the utmost importance whether the one who performs the spell walks " with the sun " or ''against the sun " (Scottish ** withershins "), but I have not been able to learn which is the approved direction.

In the West and South various plants are locally known as ** fever- weeds," and supposed to be specifics for ague. In central Illinois, the Verbena stricta is never known by any other name but fever- weed. Its efficacy as a remedy for malarial diseases is extremely doubtful. In central Missouri one is recommended to take for ague a whole pepper-corn every morning for seven successive mornings. That this remedy is of more than local repute is shown by the fact that Dr. Buck cites pepper-corns as a remedy for intermittent fever in his most interesting, '' Medicinischer Volksglauben und Volksaber- glauben aus Schw^aben."

We have comparatively few philters ; — perhaps hardly any have a truly indigenous reputation — but there are some of European origin naturalized among us. Some of these have undergone a cer- tain amount of variation since they have found a home on this side of the Atlantic. Plants used in love-divinations or "projects" are not uncommon. I subjoin an instance of the use of one common plant in a love-charm.

1 Ennemoser's History of Magic, Hewitt's translation, ii. 207.

2 2 yotirnal of A merican Folk-L ore.

In many parts of England and also in Scotland the familiar southernwood, Artemisia abtviajiiiiHy according to Britten and Hol- land's "Dictionary of EngUsh Plant-names," is known as lad's love, lad-love-lass, or lad's-love-and-lasses'-delight. Another British name for the plant is old man's love, or simply old man, from its use as rec- ommended by Pliny, lib. xxi. cap. 21, and explained by Macer in the line (cap. 11), —

" Haec etiam venerum, pulvino subdita tantum, incitat."

Now in Maine and in Woburn, Mass., this herb is called boy's love, and in the latter locality it is said that if a girl tucks a bit of it in her shoe she will marry the first boy whom she meets. In Salem a popular name for the plant is lad's love. In other parts of Massachusetts it is said that if a girl puts a piece of southern- wood down her back she will marry the first boy whom she meets. In Boston, if a marriageable woman puts a bit of southernwood under the pillow on retiring, the first man whom she meets in the morning will (so says the superstition) be the one whom she is to marry.

In these half-playful observances we have merely survivals of what three hundred years ago was a matter of serious belief. For Wylliam Turner in his fine old English '' Herb all " writes in 155 1, " some hold that thys herbe [Sothernwode] layd but under a mannys bolster, prouoketh men to the multyplyenge their kynde, and that it is good agaynst chermynge and wychyng of men, which by cher- mynge are not able to exercise the worke of generacion."

Fanny D, Bergen,

Conjuring Rats, 23

CONJURING RATS.

In New England, as well as in other parts of the United States, it is still believed, by certain persons, that if a house is infested with rats, these can be exiled by the simple process of writing them a letter, in which they are recommended to depart, and make their abode in another locality. The letter should indicate precisely the habitation to which they are assigned, and the road to be taken, and should contain such representations of the advantages of the change as may be supposed to affect the intelligence of the animal in question. This method of freeing a house from its domestic pests is well known, but is commonly regarded as a jest. As in most such cases, however, what is supposed to be mere humor is, in fact, the survival of a perfectly serious and very ancient usage. This custom, still existing in retired places, is illustrated by the following docu- ment, the genuineness of which may be relied on.

The country house of a gentleman, whose permanent home in Boston, being infested by rats, the owner proposed to use poison ; but the care-taker, who was in charge of the empty house, repre- sented that there was a better way, namely, to address an epistle to the creatures ; he prepared a letter, of which the following is a

reproduction.

* * * * Maine, October 3 r, 1888.

Messrs. Rats and Co., — Having taken quite a deep interest in your welfare in regard to your winter quarters I thought I would drop you a few lines which might be of some considerable benefit to you in the future seeing that you have pitched your winter quarters at the summer residence of * * * * No. i Seaview Street, I wish to inform you that you will be very much disturbed during cold winter months as I am expecting to be at work through all parts of the house, shall take down ceilings, take up floors, and clean out every substance that would serve to make you comfortable, likewise there will be nothing left for you to feed on, as I shall remove every eatable substance ; so you had better take up your abode elsewhere. I will here refer you to the farm of * * * * No. 6 Incubator Street, where you will find a splendid cellar well filled with vegetations of (all) kinds besides a shed leading to a barn, with a good supply of grain, where you can live snug and happy. Shall do you no harm if you heed to my advice ; but if not, shall employ " Rough on Rats."

Yours, * * * *

This letter was greased, rolled up, and thrust into the entrance of the rat-holes, in order that it might be duly read, marked, and in-

24 Jourjia I of American Folk-Lore.

wardly digested ; the result being, as the owner of the house was assured, that the number of the pests had been considerably dimin- ished.

The reader cannot but admire the persuasive style of the Yankee farmer, and the judicious mixture of argument, blandishment, and terror, exhibited in the document ; while in the choice of the barn of a neighbor, recommended as a desirable place of abode, is shown a shrewdness worthy of its reward.

That the practice of writing letters to rats is not confined to New England will appear from the following extract, taken from the "Baltimore Sun," February 21, 1888 (as cited in the " New York Times," February 23) : —

The testimony in the contest over the will of George Jessup, of " Ken- ilworth,*' near Cockneyville, in Baltimore County, was completed yester- day. The will bequeaths " Kenilworth," the ancestral home of the Jessup family, to George Jessup, Esq., son of the testator, after the death of his stepmother, and the widow, and other children of the testator seek to have the will set aside, on the ground that the elder Mr. Jessup, who died April 3, 18S7, in the 84th year of his age, was of unsound mind. Among the witnesses for the defence examined yesterday was Mr. James Howard, residing in Baltimore County, about two miles from " Kenilworth." He testified that Mr. Jessup was entirely competent. On cross-examination, Colonel Charles Marshall asked him if he ever proposed to Mr. Jessup to try to drive the rats away from the house.

"I did, sir," replied the witness.

" How did you tell him you were going to drive them away ? "

"By letters."

" How were you going to do it by letters ? "

"By reading them."

" To whom."

" To the rats."

" How much was he going to give you for doing that ? "

" There was no contract between us."

"You were to write the letter and he was to read it ? "

" I was to write the letter and Mr. Jessup was to read it."

"You thought that would drive them away 1 "'

" I did n't think anything about it ; I tried it, and I know it.'*

"You have done that?"

" I have done it."

" Did you write a letter to Mr. Jessup's rats, or ask him to write one to them ? "

" Mr. Jessup wanted to write it, but I would not let him ; I wrote it when I went home that night ; at least I got my daughter to write it, and I took and gave it to Mr. Jessup."

" What had he to do with it ? "

" I told him to take the letter to the meat house, and read it, and lay the letter down on the meat-house floor."

Co7ijii7'ing Rats. 25

'• Did he do that ? "

" He told me he did."'

" In that letter did n't you tell them they had lived on Mr. Jessup long enough ? "

'• Yes, sir."

'• Did n't you tell them they must leave ? "

"Yes, sir^ I did."

" Did n't you tell them to go up straight to the lane t '*

" Yes, sin"

" Past the stone house, and keep on up the hill, right past the church, and not to go down the turnpike or up the turnpike, but to keep on until they came to the large white house on the right, and turn in there ; that it was Captain Low's house and they would get plenty to eat there ? "

"I did."

'• Did Mr. Jessup report to you that the paper had disappeared ? "

*' Yes, sir, he did,"

" Did n't you tell him that broke the charm ? *'

" Yes. sir."

" What did he say had become of the paper ^ "

" He did n't know, and I did n't know."

*' He came to tell you that it had disappeared — the rats did not go ? "

" The last time I called on him, he said that he really believed a great many of them did go, but they had n't all gone."

" All those who understood the letter had gone ? ''

" I don't know about that. May be some understood it, and did n't go, too."

During this examination the attorneys and their clients, the jur}', court officials, and the lar2:e audience were convulsed with laughter, and durins: the dav the slightest allusion to the '' rat ston- " was the signal for a fresh outburst.

Mrs. Katie Barker, one of the contestants of the estate, confirmed the evidence of Mr. Howard, and said the episode occurred in 18S2. Her father, she said, shut the door, and refused to allow her to accompany him any farther when he went out to read the letter to the rats.

It will be noticed that in this case the writ is to be sen'cd z'k'a voce, and also that the document must not be written by the same person w^ho reads it, who, apparently, must be the master of the house.

As usual with American superstitions, the practice can be traced in the mother countr}-. R. Chambers says, in '*' Popular Rhymes of Scotland" ( new ed. p. 339), under the heading, ''A charm against rats and mice," —

When these creatures become superabundant in a house of the humbler class, a writ of ejectment, in the following form, is issued upon them, by being stuck up legibly upon the walls.

2 6 Journal of A merican Folk- Lore.

Ratton and mouse, Lea' the puir woman's house, Gang awa' owre by to 'e mill, And there ane and a' ye'll get your fill.

It will be observed that at the mill there would be a bridge, one object being, probably, to get the creatures on the other side of running water, which they would find a difficulty in recrossing, all ghosts and evil spirits being deterred by a stream, as illustrated in " Tarn o' Shanter : " —

Now do thy speedy utmost, Meg ! And win the key-stane o' the brig : There at them thou thy tail may toss, A running stream they dare na cross.

The formal citation, however, is apparently considered to give the pests the privilege of going over, and reaching a territory from which they would not be able to return.

The practice attributed to Ireland, of rhyming rats to death, is re- peatedly alluded to by writers of Shakespeare's period. Thus Ran- dolph, —

My poets Shall with a satire, steep'd in gall and vinegar, Rhime 'em to death, as they do rats in Ireland.

And Ben Jonson, —

Rhime 'em to death, as they do Irish rats, In drumming tunes.

It is with reference to the same custom that Rosalind says, in " As You Like It " (act iii. sc. 2) : ''I was never so be-rhymed since Pythagoras* time, that I was an Irish rat, which I can hardly re- member."

The Elizabethan poets have not their folk-lore quite right. Rats are not charmed to death, but charmed to another habitation ; for it is one of the principles of sorcery, that in order to conjure away any evil, it must be transferred, not annihilated ; as Bacon says in his essay on Envy : —

Lastly, to conclude this part, as we said in the beginning that the act of envy had somewhat in it of witchcraft, so there is no other cure of envy but the cure of witchcraft ; and that is, to remove the lot (as they call it) and to lay it upon another ; for which purpose, the wiser sort of great persons bring in ever upon the stage somebody upon whom to derive the envy that would come upon themselves.

The popular notion formerly was, and in some places still is, that all living beings, however noxious, had their proper place in the

Conjuring Rats, 2 7

world, and were entitled to a share of its produce, provided that they did not exceed the limits of discretion. As E. Rolland remarks, in a work hereafter cited, exorcisms, formulas, and ceremonies are em- ployed, not to *' exterminate them, for one ought not to touch the life of these animals, which are, after all, creatures of the good God, but to cause them to quit the place of their depredations."

It is certainly singular, that the poets of the time of Elizabeth should have regarded as peculiarly barbarous and Irish a custom which has continued until the present time in America, and which must have been common among the peasantry of the sixteenth cen- tury, although apparently unknown to the scholars.

This practice is not confined to England, but also exists on the Continent. E. Rolland, in his " Faune populaire de la France," vol. i. p. 22, gives an account of beliefs respecting the conjuring of rats, mice, field-mice, and moles. It will be seen that the practice is iden- tical with that mentioned.

In the Ardennes on scraps of paper are written the words : " Rats, male and female, you who have eaten the heart of St. Ger- trude, I conjure you in her name to go into the plain of Rocroi." These notes are placed in holes where rats pass, taking care to smear, with butter or grease, the pieces of paper, of which have been made little balls. (The reporter of this custom suggests that the balls are poisoned, but this is an erroneous guess, as will be seen by comparison with the New England usage.) In other places, a kitchen pan is beaten with an old harrow's tooth, picked up by chance, while the words are uttered : ** Beat for the rats ! beat for the rats ! Go to ... ; there is a bridge to pass." Another exor- cism runs : —

Rats et rates, souviens-toi

Que c'est aujourdhui la Saint-Nicaise.

Tu partiras de chez moi

Sans attendre ton aise

Pour aller a ... en poste

Tu t'en iras Irois par trois.

In the note containing this formula, mention must be made of the person who writes, of the locality, and of the number to go in each file, which must be three, five, or seven. If a watercourse is to be passed, a board must be put across to serve as a bridge ; and five paters and aves must be recited.

In the departments of Yonne, Aube, and Marne, the following ex- orcism is pronounced, while traversing the fields on the first Sunday of Lent, with lighted torches in hand : —

Sortez, sortez, d'ici mulots !

Ou je vais vous bruler les crocs !

2 S yotirnal of A merican Folk-L ore.

Quittez, quittez ces bids ! Allez vous trouverez Dans la cave du cure Plus a boire qu'a manger.

In the centre of France, this feast is known as La Fete des Bran- dons, or the Feast of the Torches, and is celebrated on the First Sunday in Lent. Laisnel de la Salle has given an interesting ac- count of the ceremony.

After sunset, the whole population, armed with lighted torches of lighted straw, issue from the hamlets, and diffuse themselves among the fields and orchards. While the men brandish their torches among the boughs of the fruit-trees, the women and children sur- round the trunks with a ring of wheat straw. Wooden crosses are set up, the arms of which are provided with bundles of straw, which are fired. In some communes are chanted in chorus rhymes similar to those cited. In the neighborhood of Bourges, the peasants re- ceive under such circumstances the names of brandonnetix and bran- donneiiscy and the usage is called brandeler ; the song chanted has various forms. An interesting variant is given by A. de Gubernatis, which might lead us to suspect that the original rhymes consisted of a series of verses, including a blessing of the trees, in order that the next season might be fruitful, as well as a banishment of the pests which injure them. This latter ceremony was performed on Twelfth Night.

The day of the Brandojis appears originally to have ended with a feast, at which the principal feature was the consumption of a certain kind of fritters {beignets). The bearers of the torches endeavored, by the uncertain light of their flambeaux, to uproot as many plants of 7iielle (an obnoxious weed) as they could, and were rewarded with a proportional number of pancakes. In some districts, observes the writer on the customs of Central France from whom are borrowed these details, such fritters are made of millet ; and he observes that the same was the case with cakes anciently offered to Ceres. In the department of the Cher, these delicacies are called sanciatix, a name which by derivation appears to indicate that they were considered as possessing a sacred character. Banquets are described in accounts of the sixteenth century as given on this day by vestries (fabriqiies) of the churches to the clergy, and as especially characteristic of such repasts are mentioned beans and warm cakes. A passage from the " Evangiles des quenouilles " sets forth : *' He who, on the day of the

^ Croyancei et Legendes du centre de la France. Paris, 1875, i- 34^ 42- See, also, vol. ii. p. 114 of this Journal. De Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, Lon- don, 1872, ii. 74, cites Ducange as mentioning the same performance as elsewhere taking place on Christmas Eve. — The day of Saint Nicaise is December 14.

Conjuring Rats. 29

Brando7ts, burns his trees, will have no bugs or vermin for that year." These references, given by Laisnel de la Salle, seem to establish the celebrity and general observance of the rite in question, which has every appearance of being the survival of a religious festival of Roman antiquity.

Curiously enough, a nursery rhyme appears to furnish evidence that a practice similar to that of the French ceremony was once also common in England. The rhyme now runs : —

Snail, snail, come out of your hole. Or I will beat you as black as a coal.

Mr. C. G. Leland, in this Journal, has suggested (vol. ii. p. 114) that mole ought to be substituted for snail, and in this, no doubt, he is correct ; the lines may have been : —

Mole, mole, come out of your hole. Or I will burn you as black as a coal.

The allusion would be to the same rite as that described. The explanations of this rhyme were odd ; school-boys thought that the word hole meant the shell of the animal ; Mr. Halliwell-Phillips, that it related to the holes made by snails in certain limestone forma- tions ; whereas, it would seem likely that the confusion with a familiar rhyme, common in many countries, in which the snail is ad- jured to put out its horns, such extension being a sign of fine weather,^ led to the introduction of the snail into the present lines, where he had no right.

I am not able to follow either the practice of writing a letter to the rats, or the exorcistic ceremony of the your des Brandons, in other European countries. But a singular chance has preserved the memory of the custom of addressing written citations to field-mice, and appears to prove it a pre-Christian practice, originally belonging to the Graeco-Roman world.

The " Geoponica " of Cornelius Bassus is a Greek treatise on agri- culture, composed in the tenth century for Constantius Porphyrogeni- tus. Emperor of Constantinople ; but the composer has borrowed his material from earlier writers. The thirteenth book, in which occurs the passage relating to this subject, is regarded by the best critic of the work ^ as borrowed in the main from a certain Apol- lonius who wrote in the time of Hadrian, and who in his turn used Pliny and other authors. It cannot be shown that the particular passage belongs to this ancient material ; the character of the cita-

^ Snail, snail, put out your horns, I '11 give you bread and barley-corns. See Nursery Rhymes of Englatid, 6th ed., London, no date, p. 272. ^ W. Gemoll, in Berliner Stud.f. class. Phil, und Arch. i. 1884.

30 you rna I of A merican Folk-L ore.

tion, however, as will be seen, seems to establish its claim to a pre- Christian derivation. The writer of the treatise, after giving re- cipes for poisoning field-mice, adds (xiii, 5) : —

Having taken a leaf of paper, write on it the following words : " I con- jure you,^ O mice who inhabit here, not to injure me yourselves, nor to allow any other mouse to do so ; and I give you this field ^ (mention which one it is). But if I find you residing here in the future, with the aid of the mother of the gods, I will cut you up into seven pieces." Having written this, paste up the paper at the spot where the mice are, against a natural stone, taking care to keep the letters on the outside. I have written this, in order not to leave out anything ; but I do not believe all such things, heaven forbid ! And I counsel every one not to pay any attention to such rubbish.

The mention of the Mother of the Gods seems to stamp the for- mula as of ancient origin ; and obviously, from his contemptuous tone, the compiler would not have quoted the usage unless he had found it in his sources.

An examination of the passage shows that the custom was sub- stantially the same as that which forms the subject of our article. Since the paper was affixed to the stone at night, and in the field, torches would of necessity be used ; according to the nature of prim- itive religion, the usage would take a ritual form, as indicated by the appeal to the goddess. We may suppose that the proclamation was read aloud, and heralded by beat of drum, as indicated by the survival in France.

The formal character of the citation addressed to the rats, in Scot- land and America, connects the practice with the writs and excom- munications against noxious animals employed in the Middle Age. Such a process against rats is said to have taken place at Autun as late as 1550, when the official of that town issued a summons to rats who were ravaging the canton of Lucenay. Chassane, assigned as an advocate to the defence, objected that his clients w^ere not able to be present, inasmuch as the avenues to the court were blockaded by the cats. The affair seems a comic turn of what was originally a serious procedure, but I have not the means at hand for examining the case.

1 The Greek word is exorkizo, " I exorcise you." But it appears to me that the word is used in an earlier signification than that which it bears in ecclesiastical Greek (where it would be equivalent to the Latin adjuro), and that it here has the sense, " I bind you by an oath," in which it is employed in the classical lan- guage. But to discuss this point would be to involve too long a digression.

2 "According to the commentator, the field assigned the mice is a neighbor's; but it may be a patch of waste ground on the farmer's own land." J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bought London, 1890, ii. 131. Frazer does not mention the modern parallel.

Conju ring Rats. 31

Exorcisms of this sort had a tendency to take an annual form, as has been shown to be the case in the example of the Jour des Brafi- doits. At Bourges, the cure of Saint-Pierre-le-Guillard every year exorcised a species of weevil which injured the buds of vines. In consequence of this ceremony, a street of Aron received the name of the Rue des Urbets. At Levroux, in the department of the Indre, on Ascension Day, the last vicar of the chapter of Saint-Silvain was bound to proceed in procession from the church to the tower of Bon-An, and from the platform of the latter to excommunicate the bugs who ravaged the surrounding country. At the end of the cere- mony he was entitled to receive a sheep from the lord of the manor.^

From what has been said, it would seem that the custom of writing to rats, as still occasionally practised in the United States, is a sur- vival of the habit of issuing a formal proclamation to them ; and further, that this proclamation, though at present not restricted to any particular time, may formerly have been an annual practice of a ceremonial character, belonging to one particular day of the year, and indeed to the festival of a special saint, under whose authority the injunction was declared.

It cannot be doubted that this mediaeval rite was, in its turn, the survival of an ancient sacred festival ; even with our limited means of information, I think that important observations could be made regarding this topic, on which, however, I will not now venture.

The Greek or Roman custom, mentioned by the Byzantine, as recorded, is also unconnected with any particular occasion, but per- haps, like its modern analogue, once had its place as part of a deter- minate ceremonial, connected with the worship of a deity.

From a psychological point of view, it is exceedingly interesting to observe the close correspondence of reasoning on the part of the Greek and the Yankee ; but the palm of ingenuity and persuasive- ness must certainly be awarded to the latter.

Since the above was written, I find in " La Tradition " (Decem- ber, 1891), an article on " Les Brandons" by H. Carnoy, in which he brings together testimonies relative to the festival. This is mentioned in a document of 1297 as the yoiir du Behoiirdich, or Day of the Tournament, probably because a tournament was usually held at the time of the feast. According to analogy, if the truth could be known it would perhaps be found that the tourney super- seded an ancient religious rite of a dramatic character.

The most interesting addition made by Carnoy, however, is an ac- count of the day in Alsace, where this custom seems to bear an especially primitive stamp.^

^ Laisnel de la Salle, op. cit. i. 41.

^ Cited from Abbe Braun, Legejides dti Florivaly 1866, p. T^. For other points mentioned, see Carnoy's references.

32 Journal of A merican Folk-L ore.

In the valley of Poimbach, every year, on the first Sunday of Lent, the young lads, issuing from the vesper service, traverse the village in order to collect wood and stubble. They go from house

to house singing, —

Stengel, Stengel Fur e goldigen Engel !

Farn, farn, Fur e goldige Zahn !

Strau, Strau, Fur en alti Frau !

As soon as the fagots come to the hill, they are piled up about a high pole solidly planted in the earth ; then, at the first stroke of the evening bell, while the whole village has its eyes fixed on this point, the fire is lighted, the flame sparkles and ascends, and the light, like a beacon, illuminates the mountain and the valley. The Angehis is recited, while the youths, each holding in his hand a torch, make a circle of the fire, repeating the words, —

Der Engel des Herre, Wir sprenge de Herre Mit fiirige Schitter, Wie laenger wie witter.

Meantime the shades of night fall on the valley. The torches

then begin to descend the hill, appearing at first like a torrent of fire

which advances, and afterwards as separate fires, which disperse and

traverse the several properties, while this cry is heard repeated by

the echoes : —

Das woll Gott ! Das soil grothe !

After this, the carriers of torches return to the village, singing a stanza which may be rendered : '* Maiden, give me a cake, my feet are cold, I hear the dish ring and the pan crackle, the cake is baked."

The dialectic songs above given seem to denote that the torch- bearers represent angels, who are supposed to drive out ill spirits and pests of the crops. A French writer mentions that the inhabitants of the city of Senlis also held the feast on a mountain ; probably the sacred fire was originally lighted at first on an elevation, dances held about it, and from this burning pile torches were taken to bear in procession round the fields. The exorcistic idea, which has sur- vived longest, was perhaps also the earliest part of the rite.

William Wells Newell.

I

The Ceremonial Circuit among the Village hidians. ^ili

THE CEREMONIAL CIRCUIT AMONG THE VILLAGE INDIANS OF NORTHEASTERN ARlZONA.i

During the progress of kib-va or secret observances among the Indians of the old province of Tusayan, it is customary for a priest on entering a kib-va to pass to the north side of the fireplace as he approaches the altar, and on the south side of the same as he goes from the altar to the ladder. So conscientiously is this custom fol- lowed that I have on several occasions seen boys, and even old priests, corrected and sent back when they had violated this simple custom. What is the meaning of this, and why should it be adopted in the secret rites of these Indians ? I cannot answer these ques- tions satisfactorily, but I can instance several facts to show that the custom permeates many of their religious ceremonials. Possibly if the different modifications in which it appears be described, some light may be thrown upon its meaning.^

In all ceremonies of these Indians, four cardinal points and the zenith and nadir occupy a most prominent part. I have called the sequence of directions followed in the celebration of religious observ- ances the Ceremonial Circuit. When it follows the direction of the motion of the hands of a watch, it may be called dextral and when the opposite, the sinistral circuit. On the very threshold of our sub- ject, it may be well to determine exactly the position which the In- dian has in mind when he refers to these points. When a Hopi-^ Indian mentions the four cardinal directions, he always adopts the following sequence : — north, west, south, and east. His word kwi-

1 Read at the Annual Meeting of The American Folk-Lore Society, Washing- ton, D. C, December 30, 1S92.

^ These observations were made while connected with the Hemenway South- western Archaeological Expedition. I was aided in making them by Mr. A. M. Stephen and my assistant, Mr. J. G. Owens.

3 The tribe whose ceremonial circuit is considered is usually called the Mokis and by that name has been designated for many years. It is, however, a term of de- rision and is strongly objected to by the more intelligent of their number. Their own name for themselves \s> H6-pi-UVi-c{-7iyii-7mVi, which being translated means, peaceful people. Ci-nyii-tmVi is their ordinary name for people and forms the ter- mination of many names of races. The KastU-c{-7iy2i-miVi, for instance, are the Mexicans, the Ta-cdb-ci-7iytc-7)nih are the Xavajos, and the Utce-ci-7iy7i-7iiuh the Apaches. Moki in their vocabulary means dead, and they strongly object to being called by it. They say they are not Mokis but Hopi or Hopituh.

The term Cl-7iyu-77iuh^ or people, suggested by Major Powell, may be the best designation for the Mokis as a tribe. It has the advantage of rendering the no- menclature uniform with that used among other tribes whose name for people has been adopted as their tribal name. I leave this question to those more acquainted with racial nomenclature than myself, and use the term Hopi simply out of def- erence to the wishes of the priests, not to suggest a new nomenclature.

VOL. v. — NO. 1 6. 3

34 Journal of American Folk-Lore,

wi-ni-kay north, does not designate the polar or magnetic north, but a point forty-five degrees west of it. One of the priests recognized this fact, and said that their north is not that of the Americans. Kwi-wi-ni-ka might be translated west if it were not for the fact that the priest referred it to the direction known as the north to the white man.

I think we can readily explain this determination of cardinal points by a study of the directions in which the mesas, upon which these Indians live, extend, or, more accurately speaking, by a study of the clefts in the rock of which these mesas are formed. The kib-vas or sacred chambers in which ceremonies are performed are built under- ground, and in constructing them, the directions of the edges of the mesas or the clefts in the rock are necessarily followed. These fis- sures on the East Mesa, where my observations have been made, extend northeast and southwest. As a consequence, the four walls of the building as determined by this fact are really N. E.-S. W. by N. W.-S. E. by compass measurements. The four sides of the chamber naturally determine the cardinal points in exercises in these rooms. ^

The ceremonial circuit is followed in mixing medicine. Let us take for an illustration one of the many in which it is illustrated. In the celebration of the Ni-mdii (Farewell) Kd-tci-nd, medicine is pre- pared with ceremony on the days preceding that of the public dance, to be used in sprinkling the shoulders of the participants and for other purposes. When this is made, the priest, In-ti-wa, places a little pile of sand on the floor of the kib-va, makes upon it six lines of sacred meal ^ radiating from a common point. He first draws the line to the north, then to the west, then to the south, and then to the east, which he follows with two others, the up and down, the former of which is between the north and east, the latter between the west and south. When these lines are made, he generally fol- lows the ceremonial circuit, adopting the sequence of which I have spoken. Having done this he places an ear of corn of different colors on the extremity of each line, so that their tips point to a common junction. In placing this corn upon the floor, he first lays down an ear at the north, and then the others, following the same circuit which he adopts in drawing the lines of meal. By the side of each ear of corn he then places an aspergill, following the same circuit. Having done this he poises on the ears of corn the small crystals and other objects which are later washed into the medicine.

1 When I refer to north in this article, I mean the kwi-wi-ni-ka, not the polar north.

2 Literally, scattering meal. Sometimes the north-south line is made, then the west-east, and lastly the above and below.

The Ceremonial Circuit among the Village Indians. 35

These are invariably placed in their position following the same sequence, and in case he by mistake violates that order, he begins over again to correct it. Before placing the corn in position, a ter- raced rimmed bowl is put over the point of junction of the lines of meal. In placing the medicine in this bowl, he first pours a little liquid into it from the north side, then from the west, then from the south, and then from the east. Having done this, while traditional songs are being sung by himself and an associate he sprinkles pinches of sacred meal into it, casting first an offering of the same to the north,! then into the bowl on that side, after which he throws a small pinch of meal to the other points, following the same direction which we have mentioned above. This is followed by a similar ceremony with corn pollen, in which the same order is observed.

A little later, while the ceremonies are still going on, he picks up the ears of corn one by one, and washes the crystals from, them into the medicine. In doing this he likewise follows the same circuit. He then w^ashes the aspergills in the same order. Somewhat later in the ceremony the priest takes a whistle made of the leg bone of a bird and whistles into the medicine, blowing four (.?) times into the liquid on the north and then on the other sides of the bowl, in the sequence mentioned above. In all ceremonies in which the dif- ferent regions of space occur in circuit in placing the ingredients of medicine in the bowl, this same sequence is adopted. I might men- tion instances of it in the various celebrations of the Snake Dance, but those which we have given illustrate the application of the cere- monial circuit in mixing medicines.

We find the same ceremonial circuit adopted when offerings are made. In the simplest form of this observance, or the ceremonial smoke, the priest on receiving the pipe from the pipe-lighter first puffs a whiff of smoke to the north, ^ then to the west, south, and east. In this case, however, the sequence is not always followed.

^ Many peoples begin the circuit with the east, the point of sunrise, but the Hopi begin the same with the north. Why is this ? Possibly it can be ex- plained in this way. The Hopi si-pH-pii or opening out of which races emerged, according to legendary history, lies, it is said, to the north. The race came from this region, according to their folk tales. It is customary first to sprinkle the hole in the kib-va symbolic of the si-pd-pji, or the sand mosaic which is made about it. It would seem natural to make an offering to that region where the great open- ing which it typifies is situated before those of the other cardinal points.

2 Mr. A. F. Chamberlain was informed by Rev. Allan Salt, that in honoring the gods of the cardinal points the Ojibways of the Rain River turn the " stem of the calumet before commencing the business of a council-meeting in the fol- lowing order : first towards the sun, and then in succession towards the east, south, west, and north." Journal of AmericaJt Folk-Lore^ vol. iv. p. 26.

36 journal of American Folk-Lore.

Perhaps the most elaborate of all the illustrations which might be mentioned of following the ceremonial circuit in making offerings, is to be seen in the proceedings at early dawn of the day following the Farewell Kd-tci-?id. At that time four personages dressed in appropriate costumes take their position on the roof around the entrance to the kib-va. One of these is called Ai-wo-to-to'^ and the other three are dressed as the participants who took part in the pub- lic dance on the preceding day. Ai-wo-io-to stands at the north of the hatchway, the others at the other cardinal points. A priest in the kib-va below, standing on a lower rung of the ladder, throws out of tne hatchway a pinch of meal four times. When this meal touches the garment of Ai-wo-to-to he walks four times around the hatchway, following the ceremonial circuit, and as he does so, throws a few drops of water from a little gourd bottle which he holds, first casting a little to the north, then to the other three points, west, south, and east. The priest in the kib-va below then throws out a pinch of meal upon the dancer who stands at the west side of the kib-va entrance, and when he is struck with the meal he follows the example of Ai-nw-to-to. This is continued in the order mentioned for the other two. There are numerous other examples of the cere- monial circuit in the complex celebrations around the mouth of the kib-va at this time, an account of which will be published later, where I shall describe the ceremonies of the Farewell Kd-tci-nd in detail. Suffice is it to say that in no case was the ceremonial circuit violated in the celebrations of the morning following the farewell of the Kd-tci-nds.

Another interesting example of the use of the ceremonial circuit in making offerings is to be seen in the consecration of the feather stick offerings or bd^-hos in the Mung-kib-va during the Snake Dance. 2 In the course of this rite the pipe-lighter dips his aspergill into the medicine and throws the liquid to the cardinal points. He in- variably does this in the same order as in all the ceremonies which we have described. First several times on the sand picture, then to the north, to the west, south, and east, and the zenith. The details of this ceremony will later be described. It is repeated several times in each of the sixteen traditional songs which are sung at this time.

After the feather sticks have been consecrated in this ceremony they are sent out to be deposited in four shrines, one of which is situated at each of the cardinal points. The messenger of the Ante- lopes who is intrusted with these offerings, and who deposits them

^ I am not sure of the .spelling; of this name.

2 Many instances of the ceremonial circuit in the Snake Dance are not men- tioned, from the fact that they will be published later in a memoir on this cere- monial.

The Ceremofiial Circuit among the Village Indians. 2>7

on the altars, runs first to the north shrine, about six miles distant, and then makes a circuit to the west, south, and east, returning to the kib-va. This is repeated on seven consecutive days, the radius of the circle diminishing each day until the last, when the offerings are deposited around the edge of the mesa.

We might mention several instances of offerings made in the Flute celebration which illustrate the ceremonial circuit in the deposit of offerings. There is one remarkable instance which might be quoted. The man who personifies the rain god, O^ -mow-iih, in a ceremony at the great spring, deposits feather offerings or bd'-hos in the bed of the spring on the afternoon of the dance. As he does so, he wades around breast deep in the water four times, following the ceremonial direction. In a midnight ceremony the night before the Flute dance, there are many examples of the ceremonial circuit. At a certain time in the celebration a priest takes a tray of meal and, passing to the north side of the house, takes a handful of it, holds it to his mouth, says a prayer, and makes four parallel horizontal marks in meal upon the wall. Having done this, he passes to the west side of the house and does the same. This is repeated for the south and east, and for the ceiling and floor. The same ceremony occurs in the dedication of the infants in private dwellings, and in the woman's dance called the La!-ld-kon-ti.

In gathering the snakes during the preparatory celebrations of the Snake Dance, the Snake priests hunt these reptiles for four succes- sive days. The hunt on the first day is to the north of the pueblo, on the second to the west, on the third to the south, and on the fourth to the east. There is a snake house or shrine at each of these points wherein a ba!-ho is deposited on each hunt by the Snake chief. This offering is given to the Snake chief ceremonially by the Antelope chief.

As is well known, among our Indian tribes there is an association of color with the different cardinal points. This association differs among different races, and varies among different pueblos. Among the Indians we are considering it is as follows : North is represented by yellow, west by blue or green, south by red, and east by white.

The ceremonial circuit, which as we have seen is persistently fol- lowed in mixing medicine and in making offerings, is followed in the use of colored sand used in making dry paintings or sand mosaics. In the production of the dry painting of the O'-mow-iik, clouds, in the Mung-kib-va during the Snake Dance, the old Antelope chief, Wi-ki, first makes the yellow border of the picture, and in making this border he first draws the north line of the rectangle which forms the margin. Having made the north line of the yellow border, he follows it with the west line of the same color, then the south and

38 journal of American Folk-Lore.

then the east. Within this he then draws the green border on the north side, then on the west, then on the south, and lastly on the east. This is followed in the same sequence by the red and white. On the field of the sand picture he first makes the yellow clouds, then the green, then the red, and lastly outlines the white.

The same circuit is followed in painting the four snakes which represent the lightning from these clouds. The yellow lightning snake is made first, followed in sequence by the green, red, and white. The details of the painting of this picture will be consid- ered in another place. There are many examples which might be instanced in making dry paintings in which the sinistral sequence of colors is followed, but there is one striking example which it might be well to mention.

The broad black border which surrounds the figure of the moun- tain lion in the sand picture in the Snake kib-va has four snakes de- picted upon it. Each of these snakes occupies one of the four sides of the picture, and are all represented as crawling ^ in the same direction as the Hopi ceremonial circuit, that is in the so-called sin- istral course. The snake on the north side is yellow, that on the west is green, that on the south is red, and that on the east is white. Each snake is bordered with the color of the cardinal point directly opposite. The yellow snake is bordered with red, the green with white, the red with yellow, and the white with green. This is a significant fact, the meaning of which I cannot explain, but which is illustrated by a somewhat different instance farther on in my remarks.

An instance of the connection of colors with the circuit which is found among the Hopi is seen in the offering of disks which are thrown into the kib-va on the morning ceremonial after the Farewell Kd-tci-nd. Each of the four persons who stands around the kib-va entrance carries in his hand a little bush. Upon each bush were four gourd disks about an inch and a half in diameter which were painted

^ The position of decorations representing animals on objects has an interest in relation to the ceremonial circuit. Prof. Cyrus Thomas in his article on the Shawnees in pre-Columbian times arrives at the following deduction which is in- teresting. " That the order in which the groups and characters are to be taken is around to the left, opposite the course (apparent) of the sun, which tallies with most of the authorities, and in reference to the Maya calendar comprises Perez's statement heretofore mentioned." Speaking of the bird heads on certain en- graved shells from mounds in the United States, which are described by Mr. Holmes, he says, " the four bird heads on each shell are pointed to the left, just as on plate 44 of the Fejervary Codex and plates d^ and 66 of the Vatican Codex B." (American Anthropologist, July, 1891, p. 242.) The Serpent Mound, well described by Professor Putnam, has the head pointing west, and the coil is on the south. It would thus seem to be in a position corresponding with figures in the sand pictures of the Hopi rather than those of the Navajos.

The Ceremonial Circuit amonz the Villa o^e Indians.

^>

with the four cardinal colors. When in this part of the ceremony the priest inside the kib-va threw a pinch of meal on Ai-ivo-to-to who stood at the north side of the kib-va entrance, he marched four times around the kib-va entrance, waved the bush which he held to each of the four cardinal points and then threw it into the opening. The other three personages did the same, casting first the bush with yellow disks, then that with green, that with red, and then with white. It is an interesting fact that upon these disks, as upon the snakes of the sand picture, the yellow disk is spotted with red, the green with white, the red with yellow, and the white with green.

In the public observance of the Kd-tci-7id dances in which the line of participants have occasion to make a circuit of the dance plaza, this circuit is always made in the same direction which we have called the sinistral ceremonial circuit. It is probably more than a coincidence that the Snake priests, at the time of the Snake Dance, move around the plaza four times in this same direction,^ and the Antelope priests did the same. When the Snake priests carried the snakes in their mouths they endeavored to carry them around the cir- cuit in the same direction. At the close of the ceremony, when the ring of meal into which the snakes are thrown is made, the priest who drew the line moved in the same direction. In the majority of the dances, the participants when they turn generally turn from right to left, but this is not always the case.

Connected with this subject may also be considered the predomi- nance of the numbers four and six^ in ceremonials among the Hopi Indians. In many cases where four occurs, we undoubtedly have

1 The Indians of the northwest coast use the same sequence of the cardinal points as the sedentary tribes of Tusayan. Amongst the Kwdki-ats the same cere- monial circuit is recorded by Boas. '• When the festival begins, the ' drum mas- ter" carries his drum into the house on his shoulder, going four times around the fire, which is on the left, before he takes his place in one of the rear corners of the house." The dancer also, according to the same authority, leaves the house, " having the fire on his left side." (Sixth Report on the Northwestern Tribes of Canada, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Leeds Meeting, p. 72.)

2 This article deals only with the circuit of the four cardinal points. I am not competent to express an opinion whether the Tusayan villagers, like the Zufiis. as pointed out by Gushing, recognize a seventh point, the middle, or not. It would be most interesting to find evidence of this number among them, as among so many other peoples, and to demonstrate that it is an aboriginal Amer- ican conception.

Among the Indians of Tusayan, as I have said in the text above, there are six points, ceremonially recognized, which are called nd-nd-i-bo-o. The personage " Hi-cd-ttd-vdi-ya sits in the centre of the below, which may be interpreted as the intersection, and the word ' below,' which covers the centre, is distinctly recognized, but never reckoned as a cardinal point. In all the ceremonies which I have studied, these cardinal points are duly represented, and, with the exception of what

40 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

references to the cardinal points, and a remote connection with the direction of the circuit. Take, for instance, the traditional songs which are sung during secret celebrations. When the feather plumes are consecrated by the Antelope priests, sixteen songs are sung in the kib-va. These songs are divided into tw^o sets of eight each. The archaic song sung by Tci'-no in front of the ki-si in the Snake Dance,^ the meaning of the words of which no white man knows, refers to the cardinal points in the sinistral circuit.

In the Flute observance we have the same number of songs which are sung with the same purport. The number four appears very constant on prayer emblems. The novices in the initiation to the Antelope priesthood carry a twig upon which four feathers are tied. Another very interesting example of the predominance of the num- ber six, and the ceremonial circuit, is to be seen in the arrangement of the effigies of birds on the Flute altar. When the altar of this priesthood is put in position, there is drawn along the floor reaching from the centre of this altar to the door by which one enters the room, a pathway made of four substances. First a line of brown sand is sprinkled on the floor. Upon that is placed a line of coarse meal, upon that a line of fine meal, and last of all a line of corn pollen.

These four different substances are theoretically supposed to cor- respond with the four cardinal points, the lowest representing the north and the uppermost the east. Along this line or pathway there is stretched a cotton string with two feathers tied at the ends. The string rests upon the heads of six rudely carved wooden images of birds, which resemble closely ordinary decoys used in bird shooting. The bird nearest the altar corresponds with the north, the next one the west, the next the south, the fourth the east, and the last two up and down.2

The number four is seen on the roof of the houses '^ in which the

is said above, I have never detected the seventh." For this information I am in- debted to my friend, Mr. A. M. Stephen.

Hi-cd-nd-vdi-yd is the " ancient of the six " (cardinal points) to whom in the Snake legend Ti-yo gave one of his bd'-hos in the Underworld. This person may be comparable with the personage (the mother of the six) which Gushing recog- nizes as the seventh among the Zunis. (Cf. Bandelier, Papers of the Archccological Institute, kvci. ser. iii. pt. i. p. 305.) Wi-ki, the chief of the Antelope Snake cele- bration, is also called Hi-cd-nd-vdi-yd as the representative of the chief (a man), in the kib-va, of the Underworld to whom Ti-yo gave his offering as recorded in the Snake legend.

1 In a way which will be indicated in a memoir on the Snake Dance.

2 Their names will be given in my volume on the Summer Ceremonials in which the Flute observance is described, — Joiwnal of Ajuerican Ethnology and A fchcr- clogy, vol. ii.

^ Two houses in Ci-paii-Io-vi, one in Wdl-pi.

The Ceremoiial Circuit among the Village Indians. 4 1

Flute observance is performed. At this place there is a standard which indicates that a ceremony is going on in the chamber below. The standard is an upright stick set in a clay pedestal, and to the top of it is tied a bunch of feathers, two skins of a small mammal, and a cluster of horsehair stained red. On the four sides of the roof, corresponding with the four points, are arranged small square tiles originally colored to correspond with the cardinal points, and ornamented with figures of rain cloud ornaments.

There is another instance in the Flute Ceremonials in which the number four occurs. After the ceremony at the spring in which the priest who personifies O'-inoiv-uh plants the feather sticks, a pro- cession is formed and the Flute priests march up the mesa trail to the dance place. At intervals this procession halts, the leader draws four rain cloud ornaments in meal upon the trail, and into these offerings are cast by a boy and two girls, as will be explained in my complete description of the ceremony. This custom occurs in the La-ld-koii-ti, a woman's dance in the September moon, and in vari- ous running races.

The number of instances where the number four plays a promi- nent part might be increased by references to many other cere- monies, but those which are given will, I think, sufificiently illustrate this side of the subject. Whenever this number is used there is always a connection in the Hopi mind between it and the cardinal points.

The wealth of illustration which might be taken from folk-tales is very great. One of the most interesting stories which is told by the members of the Antelope priesthood is the account of the visit of the youth Ti-yo to the underworld. Throughout that story, again and again the number four occurs. The youth, for instance, who was led through the underworld by the sun, remained four days in the western house awaiting the return of his guide. In the Snake house he was instructed by the Snake priest four days. He was given four kinds of sand to carry to the upper world as typifying corn of four colors. He visited four houses or sacred places of wor- ship in his trip through the underworld. In the creation myths of the Hopi, the race has dwelt in four different worlds.

It is instructive in a comparative way to find that the Hopi have the sinistral, while their immediate neighbors the nomadic Navajos have a dextral circuit.^ The ceremonial circuit in some of the cere-

1 It might be profitable to instance a few examples of the ceremonial circuit among other American aborigines, as there is a want of uniformity, and signifi- cant resemblances. Additions to a collection of observations bearing on this point is a great desideratum, for at present not enough is known to justify any broad generalizations. No attempt is made to compare with any but their nearest neighbors the Navajos.

42 yotirnal of American Folk- Lore.

monies among the Navajos, judging from plates and statements in Matthews's " Mountain Chant," is dextral, and begins with the east, passing then to the south, then west, and lastly north. It is there- fore with them just opposite that of the Hopi.

Among the Navajos several instances of this dextral ceremonial circuit might be mentioned. The course of the dancers in the dance of the Na-hi-kaiy judging from the plate of the same (Matthews, op. cit. p. 432), is with the apparent course of the sun, as is also true of the "Fire Dance" (p. 442). The snakes are figured as if the animals were moving the same way, as shown by the plate and by the following quotation : " They seem to follow one another around the border of the picture in the direction of the sun's apparent course, the head of the east snake approximating the tail of the south snake, and so on." In the fourth dry painting, figured and described by Matthews, the course of the arrows is dextral. In the first dry painting the four snakes surrounding the picture are dex- tral in the direction in which they are placed. The course of the rainbow which incloses the third dry painting is dextral. The fol- lowing quotation from Dr. Matthews [pp. cit. p. 445) indicates that the dextral ceremonial circuit is adhered to in these Navajo dry paintings. " The drawings are as a rule begun as much towards the centre as the nature of the figure will permit, due regard being paid to the order of precedence of the points of the compass, the figure in the east being begun first, that in the south next, that in the west third, and that in the north fourth."

In what has been given I have simply tried to show that the cere- monial circuit among the Hopi has in many ceremonies a fixed char- acter, and that it is, as far as observed, sinistral ^ with these peo- ple. Further than that I am not prepared to go, and any explanation would take me beyond the boundary of knowledge into speculation. Plausible explanations have been suggested to me as I have been given the names of certain gods who are seated on the clouds, in the cardinal points, but while it is fascinating to glide into speculations, knowledge of facts must be bounded by a strict line of demarkation from theoretical explanations of the same. The latter I leave to others, or reserve until I may be more competent than at present to approach this side of the subject with more extended observations.

J. Walter Fewkes.

1 It is not claimed that an opposite circuit does not exist in Hopi ceremonials, but the author has never seen it if it does.

Legend of the Fm-Back Whale Crest of the Haidas. 43

LEGEND OF THE FIN-BACK WHALE CREST OF THE HAIDAS, QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S ISLAND, B. C

The following story I heard among these people many years ago. What I then learned was merely a fragment of the tale as I know it to-day. After first hearing it, I spared no time or trouble, in order to obtain the whole if possible. Yet with all my labor, through many long years, I am afraid that what I now possess is very far from correct, but am determined to satisfy myself on this point whenever I have an opportunity.

What I do know I give in this paper, believing it to be an inter- esting piece of Haida Folk-lore.

As a people, the Haidas were, up till lately, divided into a number of crests, or clans, each having for its crest some animal, bird, or fish.

There were formerly two principal crests, or as some people style them, phratries, each being divided into a number of smaller ones.

The two principal were the Raven, or as he is called in the Haida language Chaoek, and the Eagle, called C/ioot.

The smaller ones were as follows : —

The Raven contained the Wolf, Bear, Scannas, Skate, Miit or Mountain-goat, Sea-lion, Chc-moosc} Moon, Sun, Rainbow, and Thun- der-bird.

The Eagle contained : the Eagle, Frog, Beaver, Shark, Moon, Duck, Codfish, Wasco, a sort of whale. Whale, and Owl. Each of these crests had a legend. Those of the Bear crest and of the Sun crest have already been printed in the Journal of American Folk- Lore. That given in this paper is the le2;end of the Scannas or crest of the fin-back whale, Orca ater. Scanna gan Nuncus means, the hero or the story of the Fin-Back Crest.

SCANNA GAN NUNCUS.

It has long been related among these people, the Haidas, that at Quilcah, where the oil-works stand, about three miles west from the village of Skidegat's Town, lived, long ago, a boy, who dwelt with his aged grandmother. He was the youngest of a family of eleven sons, both his parents being dead, and also his brothers, of whom I shall say more by and by. Excepting himself and the old woman, no other person lived in that place, all the other Indians in that quarter being on Mand Island. Our hero and his grandmother belonged to a different crest from the others. Close to the spot where they lived were three stone boats or canoes. What is meant 1 A sea animal, said to live in Skeena River, British Columbia.

44 Jou r7ial of A merican Folk-L ore,

bv these I do not know, unless it be canoes made entirely by hot stones and stone hammers, as used to be the case in by-gone ages. This boy, it seems, was so weak and sickly that he could neither stand upright nor walk. His weakest parts were from the knees down.

One day he said : " Granny, put me into one of these three canoes," and this she did. After sitting in the canoe for a considerable length of time he became quite strong, and was able to walk like any other person.

After becoming strong, he used to swim about in the bay. One day, instead of a swim, he concluded to have a sail, and with this idea got his grandmother's aid to put one of them into the water. While this was being done, two of them broke, but they were suc- cessful with the third. After this, instead of swimming, he used to sail about on the bay, gradually venturing farther and farther from the shore.

One day, making a further venture than usual, he sailed up the Hunnah River, a mountain stream emptying its waters into Skidegat channel, four or five miles west of the place where he lived.

Tradition says that this river in olden times was three times larger than it now is. At present there is seldom water enough to float a canoe. It is also related that the waters of the sea came higher up on the land than is now the case. (Of the rise of the land evidence is everywhere to be found.)

After pulling up the river, he became tired, so in order to rest he pulled ashore and lay down. In those days at the place where he went ashore, in the bed of the river, were a number of large boul- ders, while on both sides of the stream were many trees.

While resting by the river, he heard a dreadful noise, up stream, coming toward him. Looking to see what it was, he was surprised to behold all the stones in the river bed coming down towards him. The movement of these frightened him so much that he jumped to his feet and ran into the timber.

He found he had made a mistake, because all the trees were cracking and groaning, and all seemed to him to say : " Go back, go back at once to the river, and run as fast as you can." This he lost no time in doing. When again at the river, led by his curiosity, he went to see what was pushing the stones and breaking the trees ; on reaching them he found that a large body of ice was coming down, pushing everything before it. Seeing this, he took his canoe and fled towards home.

Some time after this adventure with the ice, Scanna gan Nuncus took his trusty bow and quiver filled with arrows and went out in order to shoot a few birds.

Legend of the Fin- Back Whale Crest of the Haidas. 45

Walking along the shore, he saw at a distance what seemed to be a man, standing on shore at the edge of the bushes, looking at him. Wondering who the stranger could be, he walked over toward him and hailed him. Receiving no answer, he went up to him, and was surprised to find only a stump with a curving dome resembling a man's head. Turning to go away, a voice which seemed to come from the head said : " Don't go away ; take me down, take me down." Hearing these words, he took the stump in his arms, pulling him down at the same time. I say him, because it was a man under enchantment. Taking him down broke the spell, and he instantly became himself again.

When thus restored, he told our hero that long ago he had been taking liberties with the Cowgans, who as a punishment had cast upon him a spell, under the influence of which he was to remain as a stump until a young man who lived with his grandmother would come and set him free, and he, our hero, was the person predicted. The Cowgans, or wood nymphs (literally wood mice), were said to be a number of beautiful young women whose homes were in the woods and among the mountains. At the head of these was a queen who was remarkable for her beauty, and who also lived in a magnificent palace in some unknown locality.

In order to discover the palace, and to see the queen, a thing permitted to none except those who could show some act of kindness done, the young man used to go to the woods and mountains, from which quest many never returned, and of this number were the ten brothers of our hero. These nymphs, it also appears, used to seek the company of young men, and lead them to take liberties with them, and when tired of their services would turn them into stumps.

The stump man asked our hero if he would like to see the queen and her palace, to which he answered yes.

"Well, then, go your way until you find a lame mouse trvang to run on a big log, be kind to it, and it will show you what to do, and where to go."

After leaving the stump man, our hero did not go far until he saw a poor lame mouse trying to run along a large log of wood ; he watched it for a while, and saw that it would run a little way and then fall off. Seeing this, he went and picked it up, put it on the log and set it going again ; this he did several times. At last it stopped trying, and told our hero : *' You are a good man and a kind one. Instead of kilHng me, every time I fell off the log you picked me up and put me on again. Many a one would have chased me and tried to kill me, but you did neither. I am not lame ; I only feigned lameness in order to try you. You are Scanna gan Nuncus, and you would like to see the queen of the Cowgans. Your ten

46 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

brothers also wished to see her. They could not because they were bad men ; they ran after me and tried to kill me. No bad man can try to kill me and see the queen and live. That was why they all disappeared so mysteriously. By trying to put me out of the way, they all met the same fate. Now, come follow me, and I will show you the queen and her palace."

The mouse led and our hero followed, through long grass bushes and timber, until they reached a beautiful country, where everything was fair and young. After travelling across this region for some time, they came to the palace. Anything so beautiful Scanna gan Nuncus never saw, nor ever could picture in his imagination.

"Now," said the mouse, "let us go inside, and I will introduce you to the queen of the Cowgans." This it did, telling her that he was a good and kindly man who, unlike his brothers, did not run after it to kill it.

When they found the queen, she was sitting spinning with a wheel. She was so pretty and fair to look on that our hero nearly forgot himself. The queen made him welcome, left her spinning, and came and sat beside him, telling him that as he was a good man he should be always welcome to her palace, and whenever he decided to visit her he had only to come to the log, and he would find her servant, the mouse, who would show him the way. How long he stayed with her I have as yet been unable to learn. Thus much I can say, that his grandmother asked him where he had lived so long. He replied that while absent he had been where few or none had ever been before ; he had visited the queen of the Cowgans.

After closing this paper, I find it necessary, for the proper under- standing of a few points mentioned therein, to say a few words drawn from my own observation and research, and from the report of Prof. G. M. Dawson of the Canadian Geological Survey, who spent a part of the summer of 1878 among these islands. I wish particularly to call the attention of thinking men and women to our hero's en- counter with the ice.

Who was the author of the story, or when it was adopted by the Scannas, I cannot say. Doubtless a tradition of ice coming down the valley of the Hunnah was current at the time when the Scannas chose that fish as their crest. This event happened very early in the settlement of these islands, for tradition says that at that time only one or two families lived on the southeast side of these islands, and that, excepting our hero and his grandmother who lived at Quil- cah, all the others dwelt in a small village on Mand Island, a mile and a half away.

The Hunnah is a stream flowing eastward and southward until it

Legend of the Fin-Back Whale Crest of the Haidas. 47

falls into the channel from the axial range of mountains of these islands. ' Professor Dawson says that everywhere in the islands we find evidence of the descent of glacier ice from the axial range to the sea, and describes a number of valleys where action of ice on their hillsides is plainly shown. He also shows from the evidence given that the final retreat of these valley glaciers would seem to have been pretty rapid. A few years ago, I took an Indian with me up the Hunnah valley, in order to see for myself the effects of glacial action- After observation, I agree with Professor Dawson, as well as with the tradition, that the retreat of the glacier down this valley from the place of its birth at the head-waters of the Hunnah must have been pretty rapid. The great glacial period lingered longer in these islands, or else a smaller glaciation must have taken place. Whether this had anything to do with the legend, may be a matter of opinion. Up to within a few years ago, it was customary, when a bevy of girls were going to the woods or mountains, to say : Cooso tii toggan Cowgans ? *' Where are you going to Cowgans .<* " The mode of spinning among the Haidas was with a spindle and disk or wheel, like various tribes in other parts of America.

James Deans. Victoria, B. C.

48 JotL f'7ia I of A mcrica n Folk-L ore,

COLLECTION OF FOLK-LORE IN FINLAND.

The Literary Society of Finland {Siiomalaisen Kirjallismiden Seiira), which has from its foundation been an important element in the national life, is by far the most active, as it is the oldest, society of folk-lore in the world. It was established in 183 1, in order to gather up oral material as well as manuscripts relating to the archae- ology and linguistics of the race. It gave pecuniary assistance to the famous Lonnrot, and to Castren ; in 1859, as the result of Lonnrot's work, appeared the celebrated Kalevala. In 1850, the reaction in Europe affected the activity of the society, which could not even obtain permission to publish the translation of a Latin work. From 1866 to 1880, the society printed the Swedish-Finnish dictionary of Lonnrot, at an expense of more than $15,000. In 1891 it printed Kalevalan esityot (works preparatory for the study of the Kalevala), giving the original popular songs, of which Lonnrot made the redac- tion which has become so well-known.

The various pieces of folk-lore now in manuscript in the library of the society amount to more than 110,000 numbers. This im- mense mass of material is divided by Kaarle Krohn, in a statement of the career of the society, into (i) songs, epic and lyric; (2) su- perstitions ; (3) games ; (4) tales ; (5) proverbs ; (6) riddles. The first interest naturally belongs to the national epic. Much of the ma- terial of this is borrowed, the songs have undergone a process of collation, through which they have been grouped into an epos ; the questions which arise, as to how much of the matter is genuinely national in character, and in what manner borrowing has taken place from Swedes and Russians, will not be settled until time and oppor- tunity are given for a full examination. The lyric poetry is partly old and local, partly borrowed from neighboring races. A selection of the remarkable magical songs has recently been translated by the Hon. J. Abercromby, and printed in ** Folk-Lore." In 1891 M. Waronen published a collection of superstitions relative to the hunt. In regard to superstitions in general, also, as would naturally be ex- pected, the influence of Western Europe is marked. Comparative studies on Finnish Folk-Tales have been by Kaarle Krohn, appear- ing in " Suomi," the journal of the society. Proverbs form forty per cent, of the collections ; a book of Finnish proverbs, by J. Juden, appearing in 18 16, was the first publication on Finnish folk-lore. Riddles number about 10,000; a revised collection is soon to appear.

Take it all together, one cannot read such a statement without a certain degree of envy as well as of admiration.

A Zuhi Folk-Tale of the Underworld. 49

A ZUNI FOLK-TALE OF THE UNDERWORLD.

translator's introductory.

Heretofore I have withheld from pubUcation such single ex- amples of Zuni folk-lore as the following, in order that a completer series, only a part of which is now accessible to me, might be brought forth in the form of an unbroken collection, with ample introductory as well as supplementary chapters, absolutely essential, it has seemed to me, for the proper understanding by ourselves of the many dis- tinctively Zuni meanings and conceptions involved in the various allusions with which any one of them teems.

Without such introduction or explanations the shortest tale must prove both misleading and obscure, however freely or fully trans- lated. Without them, also, much scientific data for a philosophical analysis of these myths, singly or as a whole, is unattainable.

Yet, to avoid incumbering the present example with any but the briefest of notes, I must ask leave to refer the reader to more gen- eral yet detailed chapters I have already written in the main, and with which, there is reason to hope, I will ere long be able to present all the tales in question. Meanwhile I would refer likewise to the es- say I have recently prepared, for a forthcoming report of the Bureau of Ethnology, on the Zuni Myths of Creation and ^Migration in their Relation to Primitive Dance and other Dramaturgic Ceremonials.

Ever one of my chief story-tellers was W^ai-hu-si-wa, of the priestly kin of Zuni. He had already told me somewhat more than fifty of the folk-tales, long and short, of his people, when, one night, I asked him for " only one more story of the grandfathers." Wish- ing to evade me, he replied with more show than sincerity : —

"There is a North, and of it I have told you te-la-p-na-zuc} There is a West ; of it also I have told you te-la-p-na-we. There are the South and East ; of them likewise have I told you te-la-p-na-we. Even of the Above have I not but lately told you of the youth who made love to his eagle and dwelt apace in the Sky-world } And of the great World-embracing Waters, you have been told of the hunter who married the Serpent maiden and voyaged to the Mountain of Sunset. Now, therefore, my word-pouch is as empty as the food- pack of a lost hunter, and " —

** Feel in the bottom of it, then," interposed my "Elder brother," Pa-lo-wah-ti-wa, who was sitting near, " and tell him of the Under- world ! "

" Hi-ta ! (Listen) brother younger," said Waf-hu-si-wa, nonplussed,

"^ Te-la-^P-na-we. — From te-iia-Ia-a, time or times of, and pe-na-ive^ words or speeches (tales): "tales of time." VOL. v. — NO. 16. 4

^o Journal of American Folk-Lore.

but ever ready ; " Did you ever hear tell of the people who could not digest, having, forsooth, no proper insides wherewithal to do so ? Did you ever hear of them, brother younger ? "

" Nay, never ; not even from my own grandfathers," said I. " Sons i'So to your story ; short be it, or long ? " ^

"Sons /-so tse-7id!'' — ''Cool your 'sons esoV and wait till /

begin.'

ZUNI INTRODUCTORY.

It seems — so the words of the grandfathers say — that in the Underworld were many strange things and beings, even villages of men, long ago. But the people of those villages were iinborn-made, — more like the ghosts of the dead than ourselves, yet more like our- selves than are the ghosts of the dead, for as the dead are more finished of being than we are, they were less so, as smoke, being hazy, is less fine than mist, which is filmy ; or as green corn, though raw is soft, like cooked corn which is done (like the dead), both softer than ripe corn which, though raw, is hardened by age (as we are of meat).

And also, these people were, you see, dead in a way, in that they had not yet begun to live ; that is, as we live, in the daylight fashion.

And so, it would seem, partly like ourselves, they had bodies, and partly like the dead they had no bodies, for being unfinished they were unfixed. And whereas the dead are like the wind, and take form from within of their own wills {ydn^-te tsc-inau), these people were really like the smoke,^ taking form from without of the outward touching of things, even as growing and unripe grains and fruits do.

1 " Sons i-so to your story." — The invariable formula for beginning a folk-tale is by the raconteur, " 6"^;^ <7/^-/<:^z.''" (" Let us take up") — /^-/^-'/-«<2-«e,or"afolk- tale," being understood. To this the auditors or listeners respond '•'■E-so!''* ("Yea, verily I"). Again by the raconteur: '■'■ Sons i-no-o-tb-nd ! Tern,''"' etc.: "Let us (tell of) the times of creation! When," etc. Again, by the listeners, " So7is e-so ! Td-d-tii / " ('' Yea let us, verily ! Be it so ").

* " These people luere really like the smokeP — The Zuni classification of states of growth or being is as elaborate as that of relative space in their mythology; both, extremely detailed and systematic ; yet when understood, purely primitive and simple. The universe is supposed to have been generated from haze {shi-wai-d) produced by Light (of the All-container, Sun Father), out of Darkness. The ob- served analogy of this in nature is the appearance of haze (both heat and steam) preceding growth in Spring-time ; the appearance of the world, of growing and liv- ing things, through mist seemingly rising out of the darkness each morning. In harmony with this conception of the universe is the correlative one, that every being (as to soul at least) passes through many successive states of becoming, always beginning as a shi-u-na hd-i (haze being) and passing throuc^h the Raw or soft {k'ya'-pi-na), the Formative {k'ydi-yn-jia), Variable {thliin'-ni-na). Fixed or Done iak'-na), and Finished or Dead {a-shi-k'yd) states ; whilst the condition of the Sur-

A Zuni Folk' Tale of the Underworld. 5 1

Well, in consequence, it was passing strange what a state they were in ! Bethink ye ! Their persons were much the reverse of our own, for wherein we are hard, they were soft — pliable. Wherein we are most completed, they were most unfinished ; for not having even the organs of digestion, whereby we fare lustily, food in its solidity was to them destructive, whereas to us it is sustaining. When, therefore, they would eat, they dreaded most the food itself, taking thought not to touch it, and merely absorbing the mist thereof. As fishes fare chiefly on water and birds on air, so these people ate by gulping down the steam and savor of their cooked things whilst cooking or still hot ; then they threw the real food away, forsooth !

HOW THE TWINS OF WAR AND CHANCE, X-HAI-Yl5-TA AND mX-TSAI- LE-MA, FARED WITH THE UNBORN-MADE MEN OF THE UNDER- WORLD.

Now, the Twain Little-ones, A-hai-yu-ta and Ma-tsai-le-ma,^ were ever seeking scenes of contention ; for what was deathly and dreadful to others was lively and delightful to them ; so that cries of distress were ever their calls of invitation, as to a feast or dance is the call of a priest to us.

On a day when the world was quiet, they were sitting by the side of a deep pool. They heard curious sounds coming up through the waters, as though the bubbles were made by moans of the waters affrighted.

" Uh ! " said the elder. '' What is that .? "

The younger brother turned his ear to the ground and listened.

"■ There is trouble down there, dire trouble, for the people of the Underworld are shrieking war-cries like daft warriors and wailing like murder-mourners. What can be the matter } Let us descend and see ! "

*' Just so ! " said A-hai-yu-ta.

passing beings (gods) may be any of these at will (f-thlim-na, or thlim'-nah-na, etc. There are many analogies of this observed by the Zuni, likening as he does the generation of being to that of fire with the fire-drill and stick. The most obvious of these is the appearance, in volumes, of " smoke-steam " or haze just previously to ignition, and its immediate disappearance with ignition. Further, the succession of beings in the becoming of a complete being may be regarded as an orderly personification of growth phenomena as observed in plants and seeds, for example, in corn, which is characterized by no fewer than thirteen mystic names, according to its stages of growth. This whole subject is much more fully and conclusively set forth in the writings to which I have already referred the reader.^

1 " A-hai-yu-ta and Md-tsai-le-ma." — For the mythic origin of these two chief gods under the Sun, as his Right-hand and Left-hand being, their relation to chance, war, games, etc., I again refer the reader to further writings.

5 2 your7ial of A merican Folk- Lore,

Then they covered their heads with their cord-shields^ — turned upside down — and shut their eyes and stepped into the deep pool.

" Now we are in the dark," said they, ** like the dark down there. Well then, by means of the dark let us go down," — for they had wondrous power, had those twain ; the ma.'^ic of in-knowing-how- thought had they !

Down like light through dark places they went ; dry through the waters ; straight toward that village in the Underworld.

** Whew ! The poor wretches are already dead," said they, and rotting, — for their noses were sooner accustomed to the dark than their eyes which they now opened.

" We might as well have spared ourselves the coming, and stayed above," said A-hai-yu-ta.

" Nay, not so," said Ma-tsai-le-ma. *' Let us go on and see how they lived, even if they are dead."

*' Very well," said the elder ; and as they fared toward the village they could see quite plainly now; for they had made it dark — to themselves — by shutting their eyes in the daylight above, so now they made it light — to themselves — by opening their eyes in the darkness below, and simply looking. It was their way, you know !

"Well, well!" said Ma-tsai-le-ma as they came nearer and the stench doubled. " Look at the village ; it is full of people ; the more they smell of carrion the more they seem alive ! "

" Yes, by the chut of an arrow ! " exclaimed A-hai-yu-ta. " But look here ! It \sfood we smell ; cooked food, all thrown away, as we throw away bones and corn-cobs because they are too hard to eat and profitless withal ! What, now, can be the meaning of this?''

" What, indeed ! Who can know save by knowing," replied the younger brother. " Come, let us lie low and watch."

So they went very quietly close to the village, crouched down and peered in. Some people inside were about to eat. They took fine food steaming hot from the cooking pots and placed it low down in wide trenchers ; then they gathered around and sipped in the steam and savor with every appearance of satisfaction ; but they were as chary of touching the food or of letting the food touch them as though it were the vilest of refuse.

^ " Cord-shield.s." — Pi-a-la-we (cord or cotton shields), evidently an ancient style of shield still surviving in the form of sacrificial net-shields of the Priest- hood of the Bow. But the shields of these two gods were supposed to have been spun from the clouds which, supporting the Sky-ocean, that, in turn, supported the Sky-world as this world is believed to be supported by under waters and clouds, were hence possessed of the power of floating — upward when turned up, down- ward when reversed.

A Zuni Folk-Tale of the Underworld. 53

" Did you see that ? " queried the younger brother. " By the de- light of Death,! but" —

*' Hist !" said the elder. "If they are people of that sort, feed- ing upon the savor of food, then they will hear the suggestions of sounds better than the sounds themselves, and the very Demon Fathers would not know how to fare with such people or to fight them, either ! "

Hah ! But already the people had heard ! They set up a clamor of war, swarming out to seek the enemy ; as well they might, for who would think favorably of a sneaking stranger under the shade of a house wall watching the food of another ! Why, dog sgrovvl even at their own offspring for the like of that !

"Where ? Who ? What is it ?" cried the people, rushing hither and thither like ants in a shower. " Hah ! There they are ! There ! Quick ! " said they, pointing to the Twain who were cutting away to the nearest hillock. And immediately they fell to singing their war- cry.

Ha-a! Sus'-ki !

0-ma-ta

Ha-wi-mo-a !

O-ma-ta,

O-ma-ta Ha-wi-mo ! ^

sang they as they ran headlong toward the two, and then they began shouting : —

" Tread them both into the ground ! Smite them both ! Fan them out ! Ho-o ! ha-a I ha-wi-mo-o o-rna-ta ! "

But the Twain laughed and quickly drew their arrows and loosed them amongst the crowd. P'it ! tsok I sang the arrows through and through the people, but never a one fell !

"Why, how now is this .^" cried the elder brother.

"We'll club them, then ! " said Ma-tsai-le-ma, and he whiffed out his war-club and sprang to meet the foremost, whom he pommelled well and sorely over the head and shoulders. Yet the man was only confused (he was too soft and unstable to be hurt) ; but another, rush- ing in at one side, was hit by one of the shield-feathers and fell to the ground like smoke driven down under a hawk's wing !

"Hold, brother, I have it! Hold !" — cried A-hai-yu-ta. Then

^ " He-lu-ha-pa ! " — From he'-Iu^ or e'-lu^ " hurrah," or " how delightful ! " — and ha-pa^ a Corpse demon; Death.

^ '''Ha-a! Sus'-ki/ O-ma-ta^'' etc. — This, like so many of the folk-tale songs, can only be translated etymologically or by lengthy paraphrasing. Such songs are always jargonistic, either archaic, imitative, or adapted from other languages of tribes who possibly supplied incidents to the myths themselves ; but they are, like the latter, strictly harmonized with the native forms of expression and phases of beliel

5 4 Joiirnal of A merican Folk-Lore,

he snatched up a bunch of dry plume-grass, and leaped forward. Swish ! Two ways he swept the faces and breasts of the pursuers. Lo ! right and left they fell like bees in a rainstorm, and quickly sued for mercy, screeching and running at the mere sight of the grass straws.

'* You fools ! " cried the brothers. "Why, then, did ye set upon us t We came for to help you and were merely looking ahead as becomes strangers in strange places, when lo ! you come running out like a mess of mad flies with your ' Ha-a sics'-ki 6ina-taV Call its coyote-sneaks, do you } But there ! Rest fearless ! We hunger ; give us to eat."

So they led the Twain into the court within the town, and quickly brought steaming hot food for them.

They sat down and began to blow the food to cool it ; whereupon the people cried out in dismay : " Hold ! Hold, ye heedless strangers ; do not waste precious food like that ! For shame ! "

" Waste food } Ha ! This is the way we eat ! " said they ; and clutching up huge morsels they crammed their mouths full and bolted them almost whole. The people were so horrified and sickened at sight of this, that some of them sweated furiously, — which was their way of spewing, — whilst others, stouter of thought, cried, "Hold! Hold ! Ye will die ; ye will surely sicken and die if the stuff do but touch ye ! "

"Ho! ho!" cried the two, eating more lustily than ever. "Eat thus and harden yourselves, you poor, soft things you ! "

Just then there was a great commotion. Every one rushed to the shelter of the walls and houses, shouting to them to leave off and follow quickly.

" What is it V asked they, looking up and all around.

"Woe, woe! the gods are angry with us this day and blowing arrows at us. They will kill you both ! Hurry ! " A big puff of wind was blowing over, scattering slivers and straws before it ; that was all !

"Brother," said the elder, "this will not do. These people must be taught to eat and be hardened. But let us take a little sleep first, then we will look to this."

They propped themselves up against a wall, set their shields in front of them, and fell asleep. Not long after they awakened sud- denly. Those strange people were trying to drag them out to bury them, but v/ere afraid to touch them now, for they thought them dead stuff — more dead than alive.

The younger brother punched the elder with his elbow, and both pretended to gasp, then kept very still. The people succeeded at last in rolling them out of the court, like spoiling bodies, and were

A Zuni Folk- Tale of the Underworld, 5 5

about to mingle them with the refuse when they suddenly let go and set up a great wail, shouting, " War ! Murder ! "

" How now ? " cried the two, jumping up. Whereupon the people stared and chattered in greater fright than ever at seeing the dead seemingly come to life !

" What 's the matter, you fool people ? "

'* Akaa ! kaa! " cried a flock of jays.

" Hear that ! " said the villagers. " Hear that, and ask ' What 's the matter } ' The j'aj's are coming ; whoever they light on dies ! — run you two Aii ! Murder!" And they left off their standing as though chased by demons. On one or two of the hindmost some jays alighted. They fell dead as though struck by lightning !

*'Why, see that!" said the elder brother — "these people die if only birds light on them ! "

" Hold on there ! " said the younger brother. " Look here ! you fear-some things." So they pulled hairs from some scalp-locks they had, and made snares of them, and whenever the jays flew at them, caught them with the nooses until they had caught every one. Then they pinched them dead and took them into the town and roasted them.

" This is the way," said they, as they ate the jays by morsels. And the people crowded around and shouted " Look ! look ! why they eat the very enemy — say nothing of refuse ! " And although they dreaded the couple they became very conciliatory and gave them a fit place to bide in.

The very next day there was another alarm. The two ran out to learn what was the matter. For a long time they could see nothing, but at last they met some people fleeing into the town. Chasing after them was a cooking pot with earrings of onions.^ It was boil- ing furiously and belching forth hot wind and steam and spluttering mush in every direction. If ever so little of the mush hit the people they fell over and died.

" He ! " cried the Twain. —

Te-k'ya-thla-k'ya I'-ta-wa-k'ya Ash-she-shu-kwa I

— " As if food-stuff were made to make people afraid ! " Where- upon they twitched the earrings off the pot and ate them with all the mush that was in the pot, which they forthwith kicked to pieces vigorously.

1 " Earrings of onions." — The onion here referred to is the dried, southwestern leek-clove which is so strong and indigestible that, when eaten raw and in quan- tity it gives rise to great distress, or actually proves fatal to any but mature and vigorous persons. This, of course, explains why it was chosen for its value as a symbol of the vigor (or " daylight perfection " and invincibility) of the twin gods.

5 6 yourna I of A nierica n Folk-L ore.

Then the people crowded still closer around them, wondering to one another that they could vanquish all enemies by eating them with such impunity, and they begged the Twain to teach them how to do it. So they gathered a great council of the villagers, and when they found that these poor people were only half finished, . . . , they cut vents in them (such as were not afraid to let them), . . . , and made them eat solid food, by means of which they were hardened and became men of meat then and there, instead of having to get killed after the manner of the fearful, and others of their kind beforetime, in order to ascend to the daylight and take their places in men born of men !

And for this reason, behold ! a new-born child may eat only of wind-stuff until his cord of viewless sustenance has been severed, and then only by sucking milk, or soft food first and with much distress.

Behold ! And we may now see why like new-born children are the very aged ; childish withal — d-ya-'^wi ^ — not only toothless too, but also sure to die of diarrhoea if they eat ever so little save the soft parts and broths of cooked food. For are not the babes new-come from the Shi-ii-na (hazy, steam-growing) world ; and are not the aged about to enter the Shi-po-lo-a (mist-enshrouded) world, where cooked food unconsumed is never needed by the fully dead ?

There are others of these mythic '* reasons " which throw still more light on primitive observations and conceptions thereof, but which are better discussed more freely and at length in the general chapters to which I have before referred.

Fr'ank Hamiltofi Cushmg.

1 Dangerously susceptible ; tender ; delicate."

^' Chief- Making'' among the Passamaquoddy Indians. 57

"CHIEF-MAKING" AMONG THE PASSAMAQUODDY

INDIANS.

It has been said that it is difficult to induce individuals to aban- don old customs and habits, and nearly impossible to prevent them from relapsing into these from time to time. Naturally, however, constant intercourse with white neighbors has had its influence over the Wab-an-aki, and has changed nearly all of their customs, as it has their costumes. The ceremony which has undergone the least change as observed among the Passamaquoddies is the Rite of Chief- making, as the election and inauguration of governor is called. The government is a tribal assembly, composed of chief, subordinate chief, Po-too-iis-zviii, captains, and councillors. The latter are appointed by the chief from among the old men of the tribe. They do not make the laws, for the law is usage transmitted by tradition. They settle all matter of dispute by the decision of the majority, receiving the chief's sanction. A new captain is chosen on the resignation of an- other, and is installed in office at the inauguration of the chief.

The name or duty of Po-too-iis-zviji is not easily defined. He is the "keeper of the wampum," he is the installing officer, he is the envoy extraordinary, sent with presents or wampum, on visits of im- portance to other tribes ; the Po-too-iis-win is really the mouthpiece through which the chief speaks.

Five days are usually devoted to the ceremony of chief-making, though the festivities often last for one or even two weeks.

The office of chief is never hereditary, and until recently it was only on the death of a chief that a new one was chosen. If there were two candidates, the matter was decided by the candidates join- ing hands over a mark drawm between them, their adherents forming tw^o lines by each clasping his arms around the waist of the one in front of him. The party which succeeded in pulling the opposition candidate across the mark had the right to elect the chief. This method seems to have been unsatisfactory, for in later years they tried the expedient of each one placing his hat at the feet of the preferred candidate. This was brought into disrepute by the hats often numbering more than the heads. At the present time they vote by ballot and the election is held every four years. Of the five^ days devoted to chief-making the first is entirely given to electioneer- ing and voting. On the second day a council is held by the newly elected officers and their friends. Funds are contributed to defray contingent expenses, and minor preparations made for the feast. The inauguration is held on the third day. Formerly it was custom- ary to use the flesh of a moose or caribou, but on the occasion, a

5S y ournal of A77ierican Folk-Lore.

description of which I subjoin, a young ox was killed, and the meat boiled in some large kettles over an open fire.

This meat is a very important factor in the rites and is called Ges- d-td-ga-bai. The heart and some of the entrails, along with savory herbs, were put in another kettle, and a soup made ; no condiments were used in either case.

While the meat was cooking, the old men, the officers, and visiting officers went into a wigwam — which is built for the purpose — and proceeded with the rites which no women or young men are allowed to witness.

A stand held the tribal wampum, the silver gorgets, and the chief's hat. The new chief was told where to sit, and, after a silence last- ing several minutes, the Po-too-iis-win arose, and advancing to the chief, gave the following salutation : " You are now a great man ; you have been chosen to lead us. You must have the dignity be- coming to a chief. You must look after the welfare of your people. You must not let one do another an injury. You are now a great man. Chief, I salute you ; " at the same time placing the hat on the chief's head.

Each of the captains then saluted him in much the same words. The Po'too-ns-wiii hung a silver gorget on the chief's neck, while outside of the wigwam the report of a gun announced to the tribe that the new chief was installed in office.

After this the subordinate officers were installed and advised. Then the meat was brought in large wooden bowls, and placed near the centre of the wigwam ; the Indians, sitting or kneeling about the bowls, ate the meat with their hands, and drank the soup from rudely shaped dishes made of birch-bark.

[The meat and soup left from this repast was apportioned out to each head of a family, who took the food to his own wugwam, where, with much reverence, it was eaten in silence by the women and children.]

The Po-too-us-wtJt sang : —

Chiefs, I greet you with a song — I greet you, captains — I greet you all.

at the same time shaking hands with each one in turn. He impro- vised a song in praise of the meat. This song is called Sdcheju-sca- wint-wagen}

The captains also improvised songs to the meat. After this part of the ceremony — which is called Weck-we-bal-ten, meaning "the people's supper to the officers " — they again arranged themselves in a circle around the room. A drum was beat with short, sharp taps, very slowly at first ; each beat of the drum was accompanied by a " honk ^ Really the chief's song by proxy.

" Chief' Making'' among the Passamaqicoddy Indians. 59

— honk — honk " from those in the circle. Then the door was burst open, and six women, chosen from among the visitors, entered dan- cing.^ As they passed before the chief, he threw a shawl over the head of the first one, the captains throwing shawls over the others. They danced three times around the room, still covered ; then all present joined in the dance, the women leading. This is called Moce- mayic-hapijic^ or " women thanking for the chief." The shawls be- come the property of the women who dance, and are treasured as trophies. The old custom was to place masks over their faces. There are none of these masks in preservation, so they use shawls instead.

Until after the women's dance, the rite was conducted with all the solemnity of mysticism. At that point, however, the doors were opened, the chief sang a long *' salutation," in which all were invited to join the dancing. These dances defy description, and they seem interminable, it is so difficult to see where one ends and the next begins. There are the tribal dances, the Micmac, the Mohawk, and the Snake dance.^ The Mohawk is more properly a war-dance ; it is executed with much energy and is very fatiguing.

On the fourth day a secret council was " called " by the new officers : they held one long session, eating nothing until it was over. That day the supper was provided by the subordinate chief, and was nearly a repetition of the day before, including the same dances.

The fifth was a general holiday. Complimentary speeches were made, flattering adieus, were spoken by the guests, though some of them remained through the succeeding week. That night the women gave the eszue-nids-zooc-JiapijiCy consisting of nuts, candy, fruit, to- bacco, and pipes. Nearly all, men, women, and children, smoked during the dance, which was continued to a late hour. This ended the inauguration proper ; but there are many customs pertaining to etiquette, relevant to the ceremony. After the adieus are spoken, it is customary for the tribe to get together in council, and there de- cide how much longer a time the guests must remain, and though the visitors are about to embark on their canoes, the captains are expected to forcibly detain them.

This is the occasion for more feasting, and usually the Wa-bap (wampum) is " read." Wampum " reading " is the reciting of records or of traditions which the Wa-bap commemorates.

^ It is customary to invite friends from neighboring tribes to attend the festiv- ities. The candidates for office provide for their entertainment, and it v^^ould be very " bad form " not to accept of the civility thus tendered. Though I had pro- vided for myself quite liberally, I felt constrained to eat at the table prepared by my host for his Indian friends.

2 Dr. Fewkes, in his " Contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-Lore " in this Journal, vol. iii. No. 11, describes the Snake dance in detail.

Mrs. W. Wallace Brown.

6o Journal of A^fierican Folk- Lore.

PROVERBS AND PHRASES.

In the second volume of this Journal (1889, p. 153) attention was called to the opportunity existing for the collection of quaint and archaic phrases, and a number of such locutions were given. The following are additional instances for the most part collected in Massachusetts.

To feel like a stewed witch. Said in the early morning, when one rises unrefreshed by the night's sleep. (Western U. S.)

To feel like a stewed owl, or like a stewed monkey. More idiomatically, like a biled owl.

There 's no more peace here than for a cat in hell without claws. (Ohio.)

As Irish as Biddy Murphy's pig.

Be a man, or a mouse, or a long-tailed rat.

Strong enough to hold up an iron wedge.

Strong enough to bear up an ^gg. Said of tea or vinegar, soup, or any- thing of the sort.

God Almighty's overcoat wouldn't make him a vest. Said of a man who overestimates himself.

Let them skin their own skunks. Said of any one who wishes to make a cat's paw of a person for his own disagreeable ends.

As handy as a pocket in a shirt.

Her tongue runs as if it were hung in the middle and waggled at both ends.

I '11 do it in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

It fits to a T.

He 's crazy, jacket over coat.

You look as nice as a cotton hat.

Sitting on an angle twinge. Equivalent to the following. What is the explanation ?

Sitting on the anxious seat. This phrase no doubt came into common use from the seat reserved at a camp-meeting for those " under convic- tion."

Don't try to come your damt Isaacs over me. That is, to pull the wool over my eyes.

He 's got a gait like a pair of bars.

Sitting on the little edge of nothing.

A beauty, without paint or whitewash.

As pat as a dough boy. (An old expression.)

As pat as a match.

That beats my wife's relations. That is, that beats all creation.

To sit and suck your claws. That is, to do nothing.

He does n't know enough to be assistant janitor to a corn crib.

Of no more use than a spare pump in a corn crib.

He does n't need it any more than a cow needs two tails.

Waste-Basket of Words, 6i

WASTE-BASKET OF WORDS.

In 1656 there was published, in London, a book of culinary and medi- cal receipts which had been collected for Queen Henrietta Maria. The book was called "The Queen's Closet Opened." It contained many words which have now become obsolete, and many which were used in an entirely different sense from their modern one. I give a few such with the clauses or sentences in which they are found.

Coffin. — " Put your strak in a deep coffin." " A coffin of paste." " Make your cof^n what fashion you please."

Coast. — " Take the thinnest end of a coast of beef."

Froize. — " Fry them like a froize."

Simper. — " Let it stand and simper over the fire."

Strike. — " Take one strike of malt and one of rye."

Whelm. — " Loosen it with a knife and whelm it into a dish."

Wame. — " Give them a little wame or two." " Set it on the fire & let it seethe two or three wames." " Hold your Salmon by the tayl & let him have a wame."

Jag. — " Cut them with a jag asunder."

Scotch. — " Scotch them grossly with your knife."

Broach. — " Broach it on a broach not too big, and be careful you broach it not thorow the best of the meat."

KiLLAR. — " Put your cheese in a killar that hath a waste in the bottome." (this is probably keeler.)

Thrume. — " Put it into the Fat and thrume it night and day."

Sleet. — " In the morning sleet off the Cream in a bottle and put the sleet milk into a tub."

Sucket. — " To Candy Suckets of Oranges & Lemmons."

PiLS. — " Orange pils. Take away that spongious white under the yel- low pils." " Put in lemmon pil." " Pillings of goose horn."

Searce. — " Take searced sugar." " Rice flour finely searced."

Contagition. — " Persons infected with the contagition."

Mot. — " Put it in a cheese-mot."

Leer. — " Put in a leer of butter." " A leer of butter & lemmons."

Slake. — " Two or three slakes of mace."

Uncomb. — A sore finger.

Tents. — " Roll up small like tents." " Make it in tents." — Alice Morse Earle^ Brooklyn, JV. Y.

I am indebted to my cook for the following words, which are novel to me.

GoRM. — An epithet implying a high degree of excellence or superiority. " Can she cook ? " " Lord, she 's a regular gorm of a critter."

Spraw^l. — Power of extended activity. In reply to a question about another cook, the reply was : " Oh, well, she *s got no sprawl to her."

Plug. — To move in a heavy or clumsy manner. " He went plugging along without looking to the right or the left." — Abby L. Alger, Boston^ Mass.

62 Journal of American Folk-Lore,

FOLK-LORE SCRAP-BOOK.

Superstitions of the " Crackers " in Georgia. — The Atlanta " Con- stitution," July 9, 1891, contributes the following superstitions as learned from these people.

" When it is ebb tide the slits in a cat's eyes are horizontal ; when it is flood tide they are vertical. Kill a frog and it will rain hard for three days. If a cock walks in at the door, turns around and crows, he announces a death in the family. Potatoes will not thrive unless they are planted in the dark of the moon, and a child born at the full of the moon will be a boy.

"If you open an umbrella in a house the only person present will die, and the same thing will happen if you hang a coat or hat on a door-knob or a door-bell. It is not wise to set a hen during a certain part of August, because the life of the world is at its lowest then. If two persons going hand in hand meet an obstacle which divides them, the one on the left will go to hell and the one on the right to heaven.

*' If you drop a pair of scissors and one point sticks in the floor, a visitor will come from the direction toward which the other leg is extended. A child that has never seen its father can cure whooping-cough by blowing down the patient's throat. To get rid of freckles, count them and put an equal number of pebbles into a paper. Whoever steps on the paper will get the freckles."

Method of Challenge among California Indians. — " Two tribes of Indians in the upper part of California had as boundary between their dis- tricts, a low ridge where the streams headed. If you should go to where one of these streams, Potter River, rises, you would see still standing a tall pile of stones beside a never-failing spring ; on one side of this cairn was the territority of the Pomo Indians, and on the other the land of the Chumaia. These tribes were enemies, and were often at war. When the Chumaia wished to challenge the others to battle, they took three sticks, cut notches round their ends and in the middle, tied them at the ends into a fagot, and laid it on this cairn. If the Pomos accepted the challenge, they tied a string around the middle of the three sticks and left them in their place. Then agents of both tribes met on neutral ground and arranged the time and place of battle, which took place accordingly." — From the Tribune^ Water- loo^ Io7iia, March 3, 1891.

The Luck of the Number Three. — " Mining Industry " remarks on miners' superstition that accidents always occur in triads : —

" We have seen miners who would * go their bottom dollar,' to use a common expression, on a prospect where the rock was so soft that three drills would make a hole. We have seen others that would leave a mine when three shots had failed. With them it was 'three times and out,' and have seen others who would take a ' lay off ' when an accident occurred to wait until the fatal third had happened. Once we asked a Cornish miner

Folk- Lore Scrap-Book. 63

why he considered three an unlucky number, and he answered that it had been cursed ( the Saviour."

been cursed ever since a cock crowed thrice as a signal for the denial of

DivixATiON WITH THE SiFTER. — " Lippincott's Monthly Magazine," December, 1891, contains an interesting article on " Negro Superstitions," by Sara M. Handy, in which is given an account of this method of divina- tion.

" Two chairs are placed back to back in such wise that the sifter rests between, edge on edge, so lightly that a breath will serve to disturb its equi- librium. The diviner, who is no Hoodoo, but preferably a man of standing in the church, takes his place away from chairs and sifter, and, with lifted hand, chants slowly : —

By Saint Peter, by Saint Paul, By the Lord who made us all,

If John Doe did thus and so, Turn, sifter, turn and fall.

" If the person named is innocent, the sifter remains motionless ; if he is an accomplice, it shakes without falling : and if he is guilty, it turns and drops with a clang.

" The gift of sifter-turning is as rare as that of table-turning, to which it is probably akin. It must be remembered that no one is allowed to touch either chair or sifter, and that the only possible way open to cheating is to shake the chair with a quick motion of the foot. The negroes have great faith in the sifter ordeal, and have frequently been known to confess theft rather than submit to it.

" The writer remarks that this is an African survival, on the Guinea coast a shield being used instead of a sifter, and a negro chant corresponding to the Christianized song."

Crossing the Back. — The same writer records the following childish superstition : —

" It is a common thing when a party of pickaninnies are playing together to see one of them give another a light cut across the back with a switch and exclaim triumphantly, ' Dar, now, you gwine git a whuppin' 'fore night,' while the recipient of the blow will beg as earnestly that the ' cross ' may be taken off by a second stroke from the same hand in the same spot, as though he already felt the lash."

Other superstitions cited in the same article are by no means peculiar to the negroes.

" To lock the hands over the head is to pile up trouble. To throw salt on the fire provokes a quarrel with your nearest and dearest. In turning back in a path your superstitious negro makes a cross, thus, X? '^vith his foot, and spits in it ; otherwise, he believes, misfortune will surely overtake him the next time he passes that way. Rocking an empty cradle brings mis- fortune to the baby ; and if a teething child is allowed to look at itself in

64 JoMrnal of A merican Folk-Lore.

the glass it will cut teeth hard. To step over an infant as it lies on the floor will render it puny and delicate, and if beaten with a broom it will be good for nothing all its life."

Tabasheer. — In " Science," November 20, 1891, Mr. George Frederick Kunz of New York (a member of the American Folk-Lore Society) makes observations on the snake stone of the travellers of the seventeenth century, which he identifies with tabasheer. In regard to this stone Jean Baptiste Tavernier says (Translation of V. Ball, London, 1889) : " I will finally make mention of the snake stone, which is nearly of the size of a double doubloon (a Spanish gold coin), some of them tending to an oval shape, being thick in the middle and becoming thin toward the edges. The In- dians say that it grows on the heads of certain snakes, but I should rather believe that it is the priests of the idolaters who make them think so, and that this stone is a composition which is made of certain drugs. Whatever it may be, it has an excellent virtue in extracting all the poison when one has been bitten by a poisonous animal. If the part bitten is not punctured, it is necessary to make an incision so that the blood may flow ; and when the stone has been applied to it, it does not fall off until it has extracted all the venom, which is drawn to it. In order to clean it it is steeped in woman's milk, or, in default of it, in that of a cow ; and after having been steeped for ten or twelve hours, the milk, which has absorbed all the venom, assumes the color of madder. One day when I dined with the Archbishop of Goa, he took me into his museum, where he had many curi- osities. Among other things he showed me one of these stones, and in telling me of its properties, assured me that it was but three days since he had made a trial of it, after which he presented it to me. As he trav- ersed a marsh on the island of Salsette, upon which Goa is situated, on his way to a house in the country, one of his palanquin bearers, who was almost naked, w^as bitten by a serpent, and was at once cured by this stone. I have bought many of them, and it is that which makes me think that they make them. You employ two methods to ascertain if the snake stone is good and that there is no fraud. The first is by placing the stone in the mouth, for then, if it is good, it leaps and attaches itself immediately to the palate. The other is to place it in a glassful of water, and immediately, if it is genuine, the water begins to boil."

Catholic missionaries, who brought these stones to Italy, seem to have entire faith in their powers, so that, according to Francisco Redi, they offered to make good their faith by experiments, which would show that Galen was correct when he wrote (ch. xiv. book i) that certain medicines attract poison as the magnet does iron. For this purpose a search for vipers, etc., was recommended ; but, owing to the season being later and colder than usual, none could at that time be obtained, as they had not emerged from their winter quarters. An experiment was therefore substi- tuted, after much consultation among the learned men of the Academy of Pisa, whereby oil of tobacco was introduced into the leg of a rooster. This was regarded as one of the most fatal of such substances, and was adminis- tered by impregnating a thread with it to the width of four fingers, and

Folk- Lore Scrap- Book. 65

drawing it through the punctured wound. One of the monks forthwith applied the stone, which behaved in the regular manner described. I'he bird did not recover, but it survived eight hours, to the admiration of the monks and other spectators of the experiment.

Redi states that he himself possessed some of these stones, and also Vin- cent Sandrinus, one of the most learned herbalists of Pisa. Redi describes them as "always lenticular in form, varying somewhat in size, but in general about as large as a farthing, more or less. In color some are black, like Lydian stone, tinged at times with a reddish lustre ; others white, others black, wiih an ashy hue on one side or both," etc.

This stone had not been identified, until it occurred to the writer that it was evidently tabasheer. This is a variety of opal that is found in the joints of certain species of bamboo in Hindostan, Burmah, and South America; it is originally a juice, which by evaporation changes into a mucilaginous state, then becomes a solid substance. It ranges from translucent to opaque in color. The word is a corruption of tabixir^ a name which was used even in the time of Avicenna, the Grand Vizier and body surgeon of the Sultan of Persia in the tenth century. It played a very important part in medicine durinsr the Middle Aires. The substance has been discussed and described by Dr. Ernst Huth (Berlin, 1887). Dr. Huth observes that it is cited as a remedy for affections of the eyes, the chest, and of the stomach, for coughs, fevers, and biliary complaints, and especially for melancholia arising from solitude, dread of the past, and fears for the future. Other writers speak of its use in bilious fevers and dysentery, internal and exter- nal heat, and a variety of injuries and maladies.

Mr. Kunz concludes : " The writer has examined a large number of so- called madstones, and they have all proved to be an aluminous shale or other absorptive substance. But tabasheer possesses absorptive properties to a greater desree than any other mineral substance that I have examined, and it is strange that it has never been mentioned as being used as an anti- dote. It may be confidentially recommended to the credence of any person who may desire to believe in a madstone."

Ghost Danxe i>f Arizona. — The " Mohave Miner " contained an account of this dance, copied in the Chicago " Inter-Ocean," June 25, 1891.

" Imagine a circular piece of ground one hundred feet in diameter, in- closed by a fence made by putting poles and bushes into the ground and surrounded by the high and rugged granite walls that reflect in demoniacal phantasms the lurid lights of half a dozen fires that blaze within the inclos- ure, while two hundred savages (Wallapais) clad in white robes with fancy trimmings — faces and hair painted white, in whatever decorative manner the savage mind suggests as best calculated to produce the most weird and startling effects — move slowly around in a circle, keeping time with a wild chant that swells and falls in barbaric cadence ; while two hundred more stand or crouch around the fires, awaiting their turn to participate. I can never forget the sensation produced upon my mind as I stood between two swarthy chiefs and gazed upon this scene. How can I describe this new

VOL. V. — NO. 16. 5

66 your7ial of American Folk-Lore.

step of the ghost dance ? It is like a military * side step to the left ' accompanied by an indescribable movement of the body. All the dancers face toward the centre, holding each other's hands, and all joined in the chant. The dust issued in clouds from beneath two hundred scraping feet, and what with the dust and exertion the dancers are soon exhausted and drop out, while others take their places.

"They dance until the circle has gone completely around, then stop for a few minutes and rest, then start up again. At each new start they sing a ditlerent chant, and so the dance goes on till midnight, when with a loud clapping of hands, they break ranks and go home. During all this time two or three chiefs or medicine men moved around outside of the circle pre- serving order and reprimanding any merriment or hilarity. Chief Ko-ar-a explained that this was a religious dance, and that due solemnity must be observed.

"The dance being over Surahm, Ko-or-a and the head medicine man, Pay-qui-ya, gave us a little insight into the object, etc., of these ceremonies. They said : ' We believe in the existence of a powerful deity who will come upon the earth some time within the next three or four years in the form of an Indian. This being is called in the Piute language Nota Winnup, and his name has been adopted by other tribes. When Nota Winnup comes all Indians who have died in the ages that are gone will be restored to life and perpetual youth. Those w^ho are now old, sick, or lame will also be restored. Simultaneously will reappear the game that has existed in past ages, while the white people and all other races except the American Indian will perish. Upon the Indian who dares to entertain or express a doubt of the truth of these things, the medicine man threatens to bring the most dire and fatal punishments. Each dance is ordered by Nota Winnup, who ap- pears to the medicine men on the fifth night of each dance and tells them when to hold the next, and other things he wishes his people to know. Each dance lasts five nights, and the last night we dance until morning. Just before daylight the medicine men go on top of the little butte and talk with Nota Winnup, and upon returning report his sayings to the people. We do not intend any violence toward the whites ; we want to live peacefully with them until the Messiah comes, and then we cannot keep them from being destroyed if we wish.

" ' The next dance will be at Wallapai Mountains and will begin on the nth of June. Then there will be another one here on the ist of July. Tell the white people that this is our religion and we believe it. They have their religion and they have a right to believe theirs.

" ' We will dance until Nota Winnup comes, but we are not angry ; we want to be friends with the whites.'

" By special request the medicine man repeated slowly the words of one of the chants so we could take it down. The chants are all in Pah Ute, and this one is as follows : —

Pah con-da-wom ban-da. Pah ka-wom-ba. Pah con-da-wom-ban-da. Pah ka-wom-ba.

Folk' Lore Scrap-Book, 67

A-no ve-yae, pah con-doy, A-no ve-yae pah con-doy ; Hong-go de-yae, hong-go doy, Hong-go de-yae, hong-go doy.

" A few of the younger and more progressive Indians refuse to believe in these prophecies, or to take any part in the dances."

" Frank Leslie's Weekly," under the head of the " Devil's Dance," de- scribes a similar dance among the White Mountain Apaches. (We are obliged to cite at second hand, not having access to a file of this peri- odical.)

" There are five principal actors or dancers, four of whom are vi^arriors, supposed to represent the head chiefs of the several tribes located north, east, south, and vilest, emblematic of his acknowledged supremacy in the four quarters of the globe. The fifth dancer is a small boy, perfectly naked except in the * gee string' and head gear; he impersonates the spirit of the departed chief and is supposed to be invisible at all times and to all people.

'' The head-gear which is a mask covering the entire head, is made of black cloth, with almost imperceptible slits for the eyes and mouth, and is drawn down under the chin and tied with a string. Surmounting all is the head- dress proper, which proclaims the rank, dignity, and special office of each chief. Their costume is made up of the most gorgeous medley of colors and material it is possible to imagine.

" In the first place they are stripped to the waist, around which is gathered a blanket of fantastic color and pattern ; then their bodies are painted an ashy hue, overlaid with grotesque designs in black ; one painted curiously like a skeleton ; another with pointed bands of black running diagonally across his back ; a third with crescents — each one apparently exercising his ingenuity to produce the most uncanny effect.

"To realize a scene so weird as the one here described, imagine yourself in the wilds of Arizona, the night a starlit one in January, with a strong breeze blowing that chills you to the bone ; a grand living circle of human beings, numbering in bucks, squaws, and children not less than four hun- dred, gathered around a huge camp-fire of blazing logs ; tom-toms beating, accompanied by a howling, rhythmical chant that would terrify the devil him- self, and in the midst of all this to see eight, ten, or a dozen bucks rush madly into the circle with some indescribable monster, which proves to be a raw-hide, but which at first sight reminds one of ' Old Nick ' himself, and which, indeed, it is intended to represent, This the bucks fall upon with sticks and clubs, as if their very lives depended upon the violence and rapidity of their blows, at the same time joining the chant, which rises and falls in weird cadence to the tom-toms.

" Then comes from the darkness a piercing sibilant call, followed by woo- hoo-hoo, which can only be likened to the cry of a screech-owl ; then the dancers appear, trotting in single file, brandishing bows and arrows and long wooden swords, bowing to right and left, jumping, and making gestures

6S Journal of American Folk-Lore,

impossible to describe ; up they rush to where the devil is being beaten, back they dance to the fire, around and around they fly, leaping and yelling, the spirit of the great chief (the small boy) rivaling all in feats of agility and endurance, the whole making night one hideous dream. Then, and only then, can one appreciate the novel sight witnessed on the banks of the Gila."

NOTES AND QUERIES.

" Injun-Giving." — If an American child, M'ho has made a small gift to a playmate, is indiscreet enough to ask that the gift be returned, he (or she) is immediately accused of being an Indian-giver, or as it is commonly pronounced Itijun-giver. The child so unwise as to regret his gift is re- garded with great disdain by his playmates, who always treat " Injun-givers " with scornful looks and sometimes with wordy derision as having com- mitted a great offence to child-etiquette.

Can any reader of the Journal of American Folk-Lore explain the origin of this expression. Are Indians (red-skins) prone to this habit t

In England, the children who feel aggrieved cry out : —

Give a thing and take a thing Is a bad man's plaything.

But SO far as I could learn, English children do not use the term " Injun- giving."

H. Carrington Bolton.

Decoration of Negro Graves. — The note by Dr. H. Carrington Bol- ton (vol. iv. p. 267, July-September, 189 1) recalls to my mind with interest my owm observation ten years ago in the Negro cemetery at Columbia, S. C, to which he refers. I made the matter then the subject of remark in a letter to the New York " Evening Post " (February 24, 188 1). The paragraphs which apply are those following, and they give more in detail what Dr. Bolton has made note of, showing that the custom is not yet obsolete : —

" I saw at Columbia, S. C, a practice in vogue among the blacks which exists nowhere else so far as I can learn, and is savage or childlike in its simplicity of idea. When a negro dies, some article or utensil, or more than one, is thrown upon his grave ; moreover it is broken. If you go through a dilapidated weed-grown graveyard which straggles in and out of the hollows on a side hill covering the high bluffs along the river, you will see some very strange examples of this mortuary custom. Nearly every grave has bordering or thrown upon it a few bleached sea-shells of a dozen different kinds, such as are found along the south Atlantic coast. Mingled with these is a most curious collection of broken crockery and glassware. On the large graves are laid broken pitchers, soap-dishes, lamp chimneys, tureens, coffee-cups, sirup jugs, all sorts of ornamental vases, cigar boxes, gun-locks, tomato cans, teapots, flower-pots, bits of stucco, plaster images,

Notes and Queries, 69

pieces of carved stone-work from one of the public buildings destroyed during the war, glass lamps and tumblers in great number, and forty other kitchen articles. Chief of all these, however, are large water pitchers ; very few graves lack them. The children's graves were really pathetic. There you could see doll's heads, little china wash-bowls and pitchers, toy images of animals, china vases, and pewter dishes, indeed everything of that sort that would interest a child.

" The negroes themselves hardly know how to account for this custom. They say it is an ' old fashion.' In the case of the children, and partly in respect to adults, the articles thrown upon the grave are those of which the deceased person was especially fond — the baby's playthings for example. As for the shells, stone-work, stucco and that sort of thing, they are purely ornamental, as perhaps is all the rest. What the significance of so many cracked pitchers and jugs may be I do not know. They are found upon graves of all ages. Surely the negro of Columbia does not regard this par- ticular form of earthenware with special admiration or affection. Can it have any allusion to the proverb that the pitcher that goes often to the well shall at last be broken ? or better, be in memory of the prophet's line, ' and the golden bowl shall be broken ' ? "

Ernest Ingersoll.

Quilt Patterns. — In view of the large amount of time that was spent in colonial days, even down through much of the first half of the present century, in the manufacture of patchwork quilts, it seems to me worth while to preserve some particulars of this most elementary form of art needlework. The task is still possible, in view of the fact that many of the masterpieces of this class still survive, and that in some of the more provincial parts of the central States at least their manufacture is still carried on. Hoping to be able to describe, with adequate illustrations, some of the more characteris- tic kinds of patchwork, I am engaged in collecting the names and descrip- tions (with examples if possible) of the patterns both of patchwork and of quilting. And I trust that the local branch of our folk-lore society may be able to add somewhat to my collections. The names themselves are not without interest, and I subjoin a list : —

Diamond, straight-work, feather and shell patterns are those with which I am familiar as used for quilting. Among patchwork patterns I know or have means of learning the mode of piecing the " album-quilt," " nine- patch," "log cabin," "star," "tea-leaf," "tumbler," and "state-house steps." I hope to learn the mysteries of the ^' goose-chase," " pine-apple," " Irish chain," " double Irish chain," " brick work," " rising sun."

I may add in conclusion that the interest which attaches to these old quilts is not only due to the light that they throw on the degree of artistic advancement (or lack of it) that characterized the household industries of our grandmothers, but the needlework itself is often extraordinarily beauti- ful, fine, and intricate, approaching in these respects the finest of the old tapestries.

Fa?i7ty D. Bergen.

JO jfournal of American Folk-Lore,

Another "Witch's Ladder." — In vol. iv. p. i68, is an account, by Mrs. Eustace B. Rogers, of the manner in which the boys of Florence once a year, " nella mezza quaresima," are accustomed to cut from paper rude images of a ladder (recalling the crucifixion) which they stick or place on the backs of people, generally ladies, as they pass.

I have found by much inquiry that there is almost no superstition or popular observance in Italy which has not a background — and sometimes a very prominent middle distance — of antique heathenism or sorcery. There always lurks a witch behind the cross, and one can scent the old Etruscan dcmofiifuge in the incense which perfumes Santa Croce. So on inquiring of a living chronicle of popular folk-lore what was the true in- wardness of the putting ladders on passers-by, she replied : —

" E un usanza lasciata dai vecchi antichi — it is a custom of the old an- cients " (not meant for a pleonasm, but to signify very ancient people) — that as Jesus Christ carried the ladder and cross to Calvary, so we should bear it. But no witch can endure to have one of these ladders on her, so if you would find whether a woman be one, put one on her back and

say : —

Let the ladder ever stay ! And no one carry it away ! If she be a witch, 't is plain. On her the ladder won't remain, And she '11 run away in pain.

But the ladder was one of the good or healthy — that is, witch-driving fetiches, or amulets, or signs long before the Crucifixion. It was a very old Roman custom, as it is to-day in the Romagna, to tie a patient to a ladder to secure the proper action of a medical remedy. It is a rule, I think with- out exception, that where we find a formula for banishing the sorceress in northern Italy, associated with some object, we find an old heathen rite.

Charles Godfrey Leland,

Florence, Italy, February i, 1892.

Primitive Marriage Customs as preserved in the Games of Chil- dren. — A very common childish game, in which marriage is represented, is that of the " Knights of Spnin," and its numerous varieties. This game, in many forms, has been widely diffused through all the countries of cen- tral and western Europe.

Here come three lords out of Spain, A-courting of your daughter Jane.

My daughter Jane is yet too young, To be ruled by your flattering tongue.

Be she young, or be she old,

*T is for the price she may be sold.

I have pointed out, in " Games and Songs of American Children," that the game involves the idea of marriage by purchase (Nos. i, 2, 3). But there is another element of the song which I did not understand at ihe time when my notes on the game were written. This is the choice made bv the

Notes and Queries, 7 1

suitors, or rather the ambassadors of the suitor, among the girls present. After the Spanish knight has been turned away, tlie mother relents and

addresses him : —

Turn back, turn back, you Spanish knight, And choose the fairest in your sight.

He takes a girl, but (in one of the versions) brings her back to the party from which she has been taken. So in an Italian form, where he advances and takes the girl by the hand ; then, as if changing his mind, rejects her, saying : " And now I don't want her," assigning as a reason that she is too ugly. Now this selection among the players appears to be not merely a usage of the game, but a part of the original practice, which included search among a number while the true bride is disguised, and the wooer is thus liable to make a false choice.

The successive advancing and retiring of the marriage party, indicated in the game, also appears to be a reminiscence of early custom, in which the wooers are turned away at first, and only accepted after repeated appli- cations, and a long negotiation. The whole game, if this view is correct, thus more or less literally represents the actual marriage usages which ob- tained in Europe up to a comparatively late period, and which included such a procession on the part of the friends of the bridegroom, reiterated appeals and rejection, and final selection of the proper bride, who is in disguise among her friends, and probably also a chase at the end, a remi- niscence of marriage by capture. This conclusion may appear somewhat speculative, but appears to me to be made fairly probable by the consider- ation that in Wales, at least, a marriage ceremony containing all these fea- tures was actually in vogue until within a short time. This interesting fact is made clear by a statement of Professor Rhys, made at the recent Inter- national Folk-Lore Congress in London, in reference to an experience of his own youth. Dr. ^L Winternitz, in a paper on '* Indo-European Customs, with Special Reference to Marriage Customs," had concluded that the primitive Indo-European community had already arrived at a stage where marriage by capture was only surviving in a number of customs as sham capture. On this Professor Rhys remarked as follows : —

As to the marriage by capture, he himself remembered witnessing, when a boy, one of these ^/^^j-/-capture weddings in Wales. He went early to the bride's house, and at a certain hour the door was barred. The bridegroom's party approached to get the bride, but entrance was denied. They then parleyed with the bride's father, the whole conversation being conducted in verse. While this was going on the bride was disguised, and when all the poetry had been finished the bridegroom's party were allowed to come in. Then they had to search for the bride, whom, in this case, they failed to discover, her disguise being so effective. After a time they all set out for the church, and at a point where two roads forked the bride and her father endeavored to get away along the wrong road. They were, however, imme- diately brought back by the bridegroom's party.

If such customs survived in Wales in the nineteenth century, they proba- bly lingered elsewhere in Europe during the Middle Age, and the game which I am considering may very well depend upon them.

W. W. Newell.

72 jfournal of American Folk-Lore.

Creation Myth of the Assinaboines. — Mr. Chamberlain's various versions of the Creation Myth as it occurs among different Indian tribes, printed in the Journal for July — September, 1891, does not contain the fol- lowing curious variant, from one of the prophets of the Assinaboines, obtained above fifty years ago. In a Philadelphia newspaper, the "Na- tional Atlas and Tuesday Morning's Mail" for December 6, 1836, p. 299, is one of several interesting letters, dated Rocky Mountains, July 12, 1836, by a young man to his brother, evidently not intended for publication, and having an air of truth about them. These letters treat of his experiences in the far West. I give almost entirely the one under the above date. It will be seen that this variant is compounded of the biblical narratives of the Creation and Deluge, told in Indian style, with a little pure Indian tradition mixed in. It is well worth preserving, as I do not doubt it is faithfully recorded.

William yohn Potts.

Camden, N. J.

The Assinaboines, who occupy the northern portion of Sioux Territory, call themselves E-ao-ka, or Narkota. When the white man first visited this countr}% they were called by their neighbors, the Cree Indians, Assin- poinee (or the Stone Roasters), which, for sake of easier pronunciation, we have slightly changed. They are the poorest of the Sioux bands, having no horses, — an important item of Indian wealth.

Nearly all their baggage is transported by dogs, and I have known 60, 80, or even 100 lbs. to be hauled by these poor animals a day's march, with no great apparent fatigue. The Assinaboines are not^ however, insensible to the value of horses, for it is no uncommon occurrence to see one of them offer a horse, in the fall season, for half a gallon of whiskey, which he will buy in the following spring, at the rate of thirty buffalo robes ; and all this difference in consequence of the difficulty of wintering horses in their cold and inhospitable climate. Their principal trading points are with the British on North Red River, and at the American Fur Company's post at the mouth of the Yellowstone. The former is visited in the summer, where they dispose of light peltries ; and the latter in the fall and winter, where their robes, and other articles of a heavy description, find a better market. I was forcibly struck with the remarkable similarity which some of their traditions respecting creation bear to divine revelation. One of their prophets gave me a long history of the formation of things " animate and in- animate," the substance of which I now record for your amusement ; and I may as well premise that as yet these people have never had either mission- ary or other instructor amongst them.

The Assinaboines believe that at a very remote period the Great Spirit formed the earth cut of a confused mass. He then made a fox out of clay, which he sent forth to see if the world was large enough. The fox returned from the survey and reported it too small. By a sudden convulsion, the Great Spirit then made it larger; and again the fox went forth, but did not return to report the dimensions, from which it was known that the earth was sufficiently capacious. Trees were then made, and when they grew large

Notes and Queries. 73

enough a man and a woman were made of the timber. Every other living thing was made of clay, male and female of its kind ; all were sent forth with a command to multiply. It seems the work of creation was done on the borders of a lake ; and amongst the most absurd portion of the creed is a belief that a fish swam to the shore, offered itself as a sacrifice, and told the newly created pair to boil and eat it all, except the scales and bones, which they were directed to bury in the earth. From this sprang up powder, balls, fusees, knives, and other implements of warfare.

In the course of time men had become very numerous. Amongst them were two brothers — great chiefs — who were formed [query famed .''] for skill and bravery. One of them was slain by an enormous animal (for which they have no name), and the other, to revenge his brother's death, afterwards attacked and killed it. This animal was a great favorite with the Great Spirit, and in order to show his disapprobation of the act he determined to drown all mankind. The surviving brother heard this, and built himself a large raft, on which he placed a male and female of every animal. The rain poured down, and the earth was covered over the top of the highest mountain, but the raft floated in security. The chief at length, becoming tired of sailing, determined to make land for himself ; for he was " strong medicine," and knew everything. All he wanted was a little earth or mud. A beaver went out, but soon returned, reporting (as sailors say) no bottom. Another was next sent, with no better success. Last of all, a muskrat was employed, and after some time returned with a mouthful of mud. From this our earth as we have it was formed, which accounts for its being no better than it is.

Creation Myth of the California Indians. — Since my communica- tion on the Creation Myth of the Assinaboines, I have found among my papers a newspaper cutting from "The Evening Wisconsin," August 27, 1890, published in Milwaukee, which gives an account with illustrations, of inscribed rocks in California and Nevada. The writer describes at least one of these rock inscriptions from personal observation and from the whole tone and character of the article, which it states was "written for the Wisconsin," the following details, apparently of the " Creation Myth " (mentioned in brief as of the Yocut Indians by Mr. Franz Boas in the January — March number of the Journal, vol. iv. p. 15), seem to have been received in personal contact with the California Indians, though the tribe or particular locality is not mentioned.

And while speaking of these Indians the fact is brought to mind that they have a folk-lore and many traditions which are of the greatest interest. It is seldom that any of this is learned by a white man, as the Indians are very chary of repeating it, being fearful perhaps of ridicule. But occa- sionally some one gets into the confidence of one of them, and picks up piecemeal some of their legends. It is a remarkable fact that, like so many other savage tribes, these, too, have a tradition of the Deluge. According to one account, the whole earth was once covered with water, and there were no living creatures, save an eagle and a crow. There was a stump

74 7 oil rnal of A merica n Folk-L ore,

of a tree that projected above the surface of the watery expanse, and upon this the two birds were wont to stand and hold converse. Finally they became weary of the solitude, and between them managed to create a duck, which swam about the stump. One day the duck dove to the bottom and brought up some earth on his bill. This struck the eagle and the crow as worth looking into, since they had never seen anything like it. They were very tired of having nothing but the stump to roost on, and as the mud brought up seemed promising, they entered into an agreement to keep the duck constantly employed diving for it. They could not agree, however, as to where the mud should be deposited. So they divided the world into two portions, the eagle taking one and the crow the other, and agreed that the mud should be put half on one side and half on the other. The eagle had business that called him away, and he therefore arranged with the crow to reverse the work. Finally the eagle returned, and the crow showed him an immense heap of earth, which he said was his share. But the eagle found that the crow had not divided fairly, having kept much the larger portion himself. The eagle's heap was, so the Indians say, what is now known as the coast range of mountains, while the crow's was the Sierra Nevada range. But they occupied reverse positions from their present location. The quarrel between the birds over the division waxed warm, and finally the eagle, in his anger, flew over to the crow's heap, took one end in his beak and dragged it over to his own side, at the same time swinging the smaller heap around to the crow's side of the stump. And so the mountains remain even to this day, while all the children of men honor the eagle and despise the crow for his dishonest disposition.

The Indian tradition of the origin of man in one instance is that he was the progeny of the eagle and wolf. In another tradition the bear is cred- ited with the creation of man, and that animal is also endowed by them with the possession of marvelous powers. Nearly ail the Indians of California venerate the bear, and never express enmity toward him in any way, even when living in the valley, lest Bruin shall overhear them and wreak ven- geance when they go into the mountains in the fall for their supply of pine- nuts.

The Indian tribes of the desert also have a tradition of the flood, in which all that remained of the world was the summit of San Bernardino Mountain, a peak over two miles in height. These Indians are so loath to talk about their traditions, however, that I have never been able to learn any of the particulars of this flood.

Here ends this interesting account, and the last passage certainly indi- cates that this tradition at least was gained by the author in personal con- tact with the Indians themselves, which leads to the inference that the eagle and crow legend was obtained in like manner.

William JoJm Potts.

Peter Piper's Proper Pronunciation of Perfect English versus Peter Pipernus. — In a recent number of this Journal (April — June, 189 1, p. 170) Mr. Charles G. Leland has attempted to show a pos-

Notes and Qzceries. 75

sible origin of the widely known couplet of "Peter Piper" from one Peter Pipernus, a priest of Benevento in the latter half of the seventeenth century, author of a bok of incantations, etc., 1647.

Mr. Leland, or many of the readers to whom this couplet is most familiir, I feel convinced never heard the other alliterative verses for the whole alphabet of which " Peter Piper " is only a part for the letter " P." After very careful inquiry among friends here in this vicinity, Philadelphia as well as Camden, also in Boston, I find that almost every one has heard the Piper verse, but never heard of the others which 1 give below. These investigations lead me to one of two conclusions in regard to this particular verse being so widely known. Either it is very old, or else it was introduced to the English-speaking public within the last sixty or seventy years by some popular play, the clown at the circus, or a popular book now forgotten ; or the alphabetical verses were perhaps written to supply what our advertise- ments call " a long-felt want," and were made to fit the Peter Piper lines. The title, something like "Peter Piper's Proper Pronunciation of Perfect English," favors this theory.

As a child, forty years ago, I heard some of them from my mother, grand- mother, and great-grandmother, the two last born in the last century. My mother heard them sixty years since, and remembers seeing the book ; and a kinsman aged sixty-three has very fortunately remembered nearly all of them, as well as the child's book in which they were printed with appropriate pictures. In his mind's eye he still sees " Tiptoe Tommy turning a Turk for twopence."

Possibly some of your readers remember a similar book, and can supply those wanting the missing letter U and X, Y, Z,

Andrew Airpump asked his aunt her ailment. If Andrew Airpump asked his aunt her ailment, Where 's the ailment Andrew Airpump asked ? Billy Button bought a butter biscuit.

Repeat as above. Captain Crackscomb cracked his cousin's cockscomb. David Doldrum dreamed he drove a dragon. Enoch Eldridge eat an empty eggshell. Francis Fribble found a Frenchman's filly. GafEer Gilpin got a goose and gander. Humphrey Hunchback had a hundred hedgehogs. Indigo Impey inspected an Indian image. Jumping Jacky jeered a jesting juggler. Kimber Kimball kicked his kinsman's kettle. Lanky Lawrence lost his lass and lobster. Matthew Menlegs had a mangled monkey. Neddy Noodles nipped his neighbor's nutmeg. Oliver Oglethorpe ogled an owl and oyster. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

76 yournal of American Folk-Lore,

Quixote Ouedom quizzed a queerish quidbox. Rory Rumpus rode a ravvboned racer. Sammy Smellie smelt a smell of small coal. Tiptoe Tommy turned a Turk for twopence. Vincent Veedom viewed his vacant vehicle. U (forgotten). Walter Waddle won a walking wager.

All my informant remembers of X, Y, Z, is that they were included in one verse different from the others.

William jfohn Potts, Camden, N. J.

RECORD OF AMERICAN FOLK-LORE.

FOR NATIVE RACES.

Algonkian. — A legend of the wars of the Sauks, Pottawatamies, and Chippewas is related by H. J. Smith in his article " Legendary Invasion of the Saginaw Valley" ("American Antiquarian," vol. xiii. 1891, pp.

339. 340).

Apache. — A somewhat extended and very valuable addition to our knowledge of Apache mythology is made by Capt. J. G. Bourke in his paper on the " Religion of the Apaches " (" Folk-Lore," London, December, 189 1, pp. 419-455). Much useful information is given regarding maleficent devils, spiritualism, omens, idols, prayers, witchcraft, amulets and talismans, animal-worship, nature-worship, sun-worship, plants and trees, medicine- songs, etc.

Beothuk. — In the " Transactions of the Canadian Institute " (Toronto, vol. ii. Part I., October, 1891), Mr. Alan Macdougall gives an abstract of our information regarding the aborigines of Newfoundland. Reference is made to the discovery of remains of the Beothuks in 1886, and again in 1888. Rev. Philip Tocque read a paper before the same society on Jan- uary 9, 1891, "The Aborigines, or Beothics of Baccalaos," which was of similar character.

BiLQULA. — A considerable portion of Dr. Boas' " Third Report on the Indians of British Columbia," to the British Association for the Advance- ment of Science (Cardiff meeting, 189 1) is taken up by a consideration of the Bilqula under the following heads : social organization, secret societies and potlatch, customs regarding birth, puberty, marriage, and death, reli- gion and shamanism, wars, medicine. Figures of crests and masks accom- pany the descriptions.

Record of A merica n Folk-L ore, 7 7

British Columbia. — In the fifth number of the " Zeitschrift fiir Eth- nologie," Dr. F. Boas begins an extensive collection of the tales of various British Columbian tribes. The first section (S. 537-576) deals with the following : —

T. Shushwap (S. 532-548), embracing stories of Tleesa, the coyote, the muskrat, etc.

II. Ntlakyapamuq (S. 546-549). Tales of the sun, coyote, etc.

III. Gens mythology and tales of the Lower Fraser River (S. 555-576). Stories of the sun and moon, woodpecker, eagle. Origin of salmon, of fire, etc.

The second section (S. 628-645), contains : —

I. Kauetcin (Cowitchin) (S. 628-636). Tales of the flood, the thunder- bird, whale, etc.

II. Snanaimuq (S. 636-638). Tales of the origin of fire, of daylight.

III. Sk. qomic (S. 639-643). Tales of the raven, the woman and the fish, etc.

IV. LkiingEn (S. 643-645). Tale of the daughter of the stars, etc. This will be the most complete collection of tales of any of the peoples

of Northwest America.

Haidah. — In " The Moon Symbol on the Totem Posts on the North- west Coast," Mr. James Deans continues his studies of Haidah folk-lore. An interesting fact is noted by him, viz., that these carved wooden posts are having their places taken nowadays by marble and