Folk-Lore/Volume 26/Myths of Origin and the Home of the Dead in Indonesia
BY W. J. PERRY.
Those engaged in the endeavour to trace out the early history of human culture are well aware of the variety in the modes of disposing of the dead and in the beliefs concerning the origin and destiny of man to be found among primitive peoples. It is suspected that the beliefs and practices concerning death are based upon ideas and beliefs which are deep-seated in the mental life of such peoples, yet it is curious that few, if any, systematic attempts have been made to seek these psychological bases of belief and action, or to elaborate a method which will lead to their discovery.
The aim of this paper is to put forward some evidence which shows that it is possible to group together certain of these beliefs and practices, and it is hoped that thereby a step forward will have been made in the study of that branch of Ethnology which concerns itself with such matters.[1]
An examination of the beliefs of the peoples inhabiting Indonesia regarding death, reveals the fact that the ghosts of the dead are sometimes supposed to go to a land of the dead situated somewhere on this earth. For example, Myths of Origin. 139
the Badoej of Bantam place their land of the dead in the south of the island of Java, at a place called Lemah Bados, " the white spot "-: the inhabitants of the Babar archipelago place their land of the dead west of the group^: the Pangin of the Ella district of Borneo believe that the land of the dead is situated to the east of their present habitat*: and, in Savoe, an island to the south-west of Timor, the dead are supposed to go to the west.^ If the traditions of these peoples be examined, it will be found that the direction of the land of the dead in each case is the same as the direction of the land whence they believe themselves to have come. The Badoej came from the south ^ : the people of the Babar archipelago from the west : the Pangin from the east^: and the people of Savoe say that their ancestor settled on an island, Randjoewa, situated west of the group.^
Orientation. — I have elsewhere shown that in many cases where the dead are supposed to return to the land of the forefathers, the body is placed in a position that is in a direct relation to the direction in which the ghost has to travel.^'* The following cases will serve as typical examples
'A. C. Kruijt, Het Animisme in den Indischen Arihipel, 1906, p. 373; L. V. Ende, "Die Baduwi auf Java," yl/eo'. Geogr. Ges. Wien, xix., 1S89, p. II.
^J. C. F. Riedel, De sliiik- en kroeshaarigc rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, 1886, p. 338.
- E. L. M. Kuhr, " Schetsen uit Borneo's Westerafdeeling," Tijd. iaal land.
en volk., Ser. 6, iii., 1897, p. 74.
^W. M. Donselaar, " Aanteekeningen over het eiland Savoe," vT/^^/. Ned. Zend. Gen., xvi., 1872, p. 309.
"Kruijt, op. lit., p. 373 ; V. Ende, op. cit., p. 11.
'Riedel, op. cit., p. 334. ^Kuhr, op. cit., p. 74.
M. Teffer, " Naamlijsten van al hetgeen den Savoenees tot onderhoud en verangenaaming der levens wordt geschonken," Tijd. iaal land- en volk., xxiii., 1876, p. 351.
'*"The Orientation of the dead in Indonesia," y<?«;-. Roy. Anth. Insi., xliv., 1914, pp. 281 tt seq. 140 Myths of Origin and
of the orientation of the dead. The Badoej inter their dead in an east- west position, with the head at the west end ; the body lies on the right side, so that it is thus facing to the south, the direction of the land of the dead.^^ In the Babar archipelago the dead are placed in canoes, the head being at the east end and facing to the west.^^ The Pangin cremate their dead in a sitting position facing the east,^- and the Savoe folk inter their dead in a sitting position facing the west.^^ The dead are thus not only supposed to go in a certain direction, but they are so placed that their attitude is in a definite relation to this direction. Not only is orientation towards the land of the dead found in these cases where this land is situated in some given direction, but cases occur in which houses and images are also placed in a position related to this direction. For example, among the Badoej, the chief's house stands at the south end of the village ; next to it and north of it stands the village-house, and north of that again is the common rice-stamping house.^* The Tobada of Central Celebes offer another example. Their village-house is built in a north-south direction, with the door at the south end. The sacred part of this house is the north chief pile, to which is hung a bunch of palm leaves in which the ghosts of the dead come occasionally to live. The land of the dead is situated in the north. These people also have two stone images, one at Boelili and the other at Gintoe, which also face to the north.^^
It will be evident from these examples that the relation- ship between the dead and the living influences the social
1° J. Jacobs, De Badoejs, 1S91, p. 92; Kruijt, op. cit., p. 373; V. Ende, op. cit., p. II ; S. A. Buddingh, Neerland's Oost-Indie, 1859, vol. ii., p. 61.
iiRiedel, op. cit., p. 360.
^■•^Kuhr, op. cit., p. 77. It may be mentioned that the Pangin also sleep with their faces turned to the east.
iSRiedel, Rev. Col. Int., 1885, p. 309. ^U'. Ende, op. cit., p. 9.
"A. C, Kruijt, Het landscltap Bada, pp. 358, 359, 361, 366. the H 07)16 of the Dead in Indonesia. 141
arrangements of those peoples who believe that the land of the dead is situated on this earth. Evidence will be brought to show that the disposal of the dead is, in these cases, sometimes influenced in another manner.
Canoe-coffi7is mid transportation. — It will have been noticed that the Babar people place their dead in canoes. They place their land of the dead across the sea, and thus it becomes possible that the canoe is associated with this fact. A study of the distributions of the disposal of the dead in canoes and a belief in a land of the dead or a land of origin reached by water shows that this surmise is well founded, and that the two are in correspondence. For example, canoe-coffins are used by the Galela people of Halmahera,^*" and they have a tradition that their ancestors came over the sea from the north-west. ^^ Again, the people of Timorlao place their land of the dead over the sea whence they have come,^^ and they place their dead in canoes which shall serve for the journey back to the land of origin.^^
The next case is important, for it shows that the use of a canoe-coffin may in some cases have been more than symbolical. It also shows in yet another way how close may be the relationship between the living and the dead. The Olo Ngadjoe of south-east Borneo believe that the land of the dead is situated up the river on which they live. The disposal of the dead has two stages. First, the body is placed in a canoe-coffin, rating, which is placed in a direction parallel to that of the river, and is left for some time, generally two years, when the second part of the disposal is
^"C. F. H. Campen, " De alfoeren van Halmahera,"' Tijd. Ned. Ind., 1883, i., p. 294.
'7 J. G. F. Riedel, "Galela undTobeloresen,"ZfiV./. Ethn., xvii., 1885, p. 58.
'* Riedel, Sluik- en kroeshaarige rassen, pp. 276, 305-6.
'* H. O. Forbes, A Naturalist^ s Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago, 1885, p. 322 ; (.". V. lloevell, " De Leti eilanden," Tijd. taal land- en volk., xxxiii. , 1890, p. 169. 142 Myths of Origin and
performed. This complex ceremony is called thvah, and is prolonged over six days, but there is no need to mention more than one part here. On the night before the bones are placed in the mausoleum, sa7idong, which is to serve as their final resting-place, a litany is chanted by a priest. The theme is a description of the journey of the ghost, guided by the priest, to the land of the dead. It has been thought by many that these descriptive chants are the purely fictitious products of imagination, but information is given by Kruijt which puts quite a different complexion on the matter. Herr F. E. Braches of Banjermassin has discovered that the Olo Ngadjoe came from Mambaroeh, a district between the upper Kahajan and the Melawi, so that they must have descended the Kahajan on their way to their present home in the south. It is probable that formerly, just after the migration, they actually took the dead back to the land of their fathers. When the memory of the land of origin became fainter, and the return became more difficult, the journey was done in pantomime and the ghost- guide simply named the places which the body would have passed. For example, a place mentioned in the chant as made wholly of gold is a spot actually situated between two bends of the river, called sating inalenak bulan, " the sating- flower glistening like gold." Further up the river is a spot described in the chant as darns hidan busong hitan, " the sand is of gold and the , banks of precious stones": this is the place where gold was formerly washed ; and so on. Further, the boats used in the last part of the journey are much smaller than those used farther down. They are called in the song banania rohong, and Kruijt tells us that " this word rohoug is identical with rauug, the ordinary word for coffin. The coffin is thus a canoe." -"^ The case of Olo Ngadjoe probably shows that the use of the canoe-coffin at one time was not ceremonial, but that it actually was used for the purpose of transportation.
-'^Kruijt, Atiii/n'sfHe, p. 344 el set/. the Home of the Dead in Indonesia. 143
It is not possible to say at the present moment whether the custom of taking the bones of the dead back to the home of the race has ever been wide-spread. It is evident that such a custom is of great importance in the study of such ceremonials as that just described, and there is a possibility that it has had a considerable influence upon the nature of funeral ceremonies. The case of the Chin is therefore of great importance and interest. They believe themselves to have come from Chin-nwe in Upper Burma, a village near the Chindwin.-^ At certain intervals they endeavour to transfer the bones of the dead to the tribal burial-place, which is situated in Upper Burma at the source of the race.^^ In view of the fact that it is always of great importance that the dead should be interred in or near to the ancestral village, the custom of transportation gives some idea of the strength of the sentiment which must underlie such a practice.-^
The land of the dead when situated upon the earth is thus seen to be more than the expression of an empty belief in the minds of these peoples. It is the place whence the race has come, and whither the dead are supposed to return. The orientation of the dead in these cases is determined by this direction, and it has been seen that even the structure of the village and the orientation of houses and images are controlled in some cases by the same motive. When the land of the dead is reached by water, canoes are provided for the journey, and in one case at least evidence has been brought forward that their use may be a survival of actual transportation. Finally, it has been seen that the dead are sometimes taken back to the land of origin, a fact which strengthens the supposition with regard to the use of canoe-coffins.
-'J. G. Scott, Gazetteer of Upper Burma, 1900, vol. i., pt. i., p. 456; Forbes, British Burma, p. 252.
"Forbes, Ibid., p. 252 : B. S. Carey and II. r5. Tuck, Cliin Gazetteer, 1896, p. 191.
- ' Scott, op. cit., p. 470 ; Carey and Tuck, op. cit., p. 191. 144 Myths of Origin and
Mountains. — Sometimes it will be found that the land of the dead is situated on a mountain.
The Napoe Toradja of central Celebes place their land of the dead upon Tineba, a range of mountains east of the place which they now inhabit : -* the people of Beloe in Timor also place their land of the dead on mountains,'-^ and the same is recorded of the Dusun of British North Borneo.-^ When the land of the dead is situated on a mountain, it will generally be found that there is an acompanying myth of origin from a mountain. Kruijt says of the To-napoe : — " The conjecture that thej^ have migrated from the east to their present position is confirmed by their traditions." -^ Again, in Beloe, the land of the dead for the people of Fialarang is Mt. Lekaan, and it is out of this mountain that the first ancestress came^^: the Dusun of British North Borneo state that their ancestor went to Mt. Kinibalu to live when he saw that they were comfort- ably settled.^^ These examples again show the relationship between the land of the dead and the place of origin. It will be noticed that the origin myths differ in character. The To-napoe tradition is similar to the class already con- sidered ; that of the folk of Beloe is an origin myth pure and simple, and it will be referred to again later; while the ancestor of the Dusun lives in the place which is the land of the dead. The belief that the dead go to a mountain after death is not without a corresponding practice. The Karen believe themselves to have originated from a mountain called Thaw-thi-kwo.^" They usually cremate
^* Kruijt, AniDiisme, p. 373.
^^Gryzen, " Mededeelingen omtrent Eeloe of ^Midden-Timor," Verh. Bat. Gen. , liv. , p. 26 et seq.
- Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, 1896,
p. 220.
- ' Kruijt, op. (it., p. 373. -*Gryzen, op. cit., p. 46.
'■^^Ling Roth, op. cit., p. 220.
'"Rev. David Gilmour, "Karen Folk-lore: The legend of Ta\v-me-pa," jfournal of Burma Research Society, No. I., pt. i., 1911, p. 79. the Home of the Dead in Indonesia. 145
their dead now, by the banks of a stream, but " after crema- tion the remains of the bones are carefully preserved by the nearest relatives and every year a grand festival is held, during which the bones of all of the clan or family who have died during the year are solemnly carried to the tribal common burial-place, which is most religiously kept secret from all of a different race, and is generally situated on some most distant and inaccessible mountain, the where- abouts of which is unknown to all save themselves, and is called avo-tOHUg, or hill of bones. There, although it is very difficult to learn the facts from the Karen, it is believed that they are finally deposited, with the best of the clothes, arms and valuables of the deceased. "'^^
So far then it is seen that there is a definite corre- spondence between the land of the dead and the place of origin of the race. Moreover, it has been seen that the disposal of the dead is distinctly influenced by the fact. It is now proposed to examine other modes of disposing of the dead in Indonesia, with a view to determining whether such a correspondence exists in these cases also.
Tree-disposal. — One of the most remarkable modes of disposing of the dead is that in which the body is placed either in the trunk of a living tree, or in its branches. The Olo Ot, Punan and Manketan of Borneo make a hole in the trunk of an iron-wood tree and place the body in it, the liole being afterwards so carefully closed up that it is not possible to tell that the tree has been interfered with.^-
The Bahau of Koetei practise tree-disposal, and they would seem to have definite ideas concerning the relation- ship of men and trees. They hold that " men came from trees and to trees they shall return. . . . When a Bahau woman bears a child before the appointed time, it is
^' Forbes, Bi'itish Burma, pp. 277-8.
•"-G. A. Wilken, Handleiding voor de vergelijkende volkenktinde van Nederlandsch- Indie, 1893, p. 302 ; J. VV. Tromp, Tijd, taal land- en voik., Ser. V. 3, 1885, p. 93.
K 146 Myths of Origin and
placed in a tree : it is, as it were, returned to the place which it has lately left." If a pregnant woman be troubled by bad dreams, and if the Behabei state that they are caused by the child, " then at its birth the child is rejected by returning it to the tree. This act of rejection consists of making a hole in the trunk of a large tree of a certain kind, and in it the child, even if alive, is placed in a stand- ing position, the hole being afterwards closed up."^^
There is evidence to show a correspondence between the myth of origin and the disposal of the dead when they are placed in trees or on tree-platforms, but until we know more about the nature of platform-burial it will not be possible to establish this correspondence fully. I have unfortunately only been able to collect two more cases where there is a correspondence between the myth of origin and the mode of disposal, and in these two cases the correspondence is not definite. The Mentawi islanders have one mode of dis- posal in which the dead are placed on a platform in the branches of a tree.^* They also have an origin myth which relates that two evil spirits were fighting one day and one of them started to break off a bamboo to use as a cudgel, v/hen out of the root crept the first men.^^ In Timorlao the dead are put in canoes which may be placed in the branches of a tree.^ Corresponding to this is a myth that the first men came out of a bamboo.^"
It will be noticed that, in these last two cases, the first men came out of a bamboo, and that the place of disposal is a tree. There is thus not a direct correspondence of place
2" J. W. Tromp, " Uit de Salasali van Koelei-," Tijd. taal land- en volk., Ser. V. 3, 1888, pp. 92-3.
^*H. A. Mess, " De Mentawei-ellanden," Tijd. taal land- en volk., xxvi., 1880, p. 93.
35 Mess, Ibid., p. 76: C. M. Pleyte, "Die Mentawei Inseln und ihre Bewohner," Globus, Ixxix., 1901, p. 3.
36 C. V. Hoevell, op. cit., p. 207.
- ^ Riedel, Slnik- en hroeshaarige rassen, p. 275. the Home of the Dead m Indonesia. 147
of origin and place of disposal, and this fact is of importance. In many cases the myth of origin states that men first came out of a bamboo, and the fact that two of the three definite cases that we possess are of this kind is of peculiar interest.
The position with regard to tree-disposal may be put in this way — that, wherever a myth of origin exists which states that the first men came from trees or bamboos, then it will generally be found that the dead are placed in trees, or disposed of in a way derived from tree disposal. It is the fact that the last part of this proposition must first be established which makes it impossible to state the case here with all its force.
There is an interesting matter connected with the dis- posal in Timorlao. Canoes have been claimed as the accompaniment of a belief in a land of the dead reached by means of a journey over water, and it would seem at first sight an extraordinary thing to place the canoe in a tree, as is done in these islands. The matter is simple, for a people who have a belief in an origin from trees, and have migrated over water, will continue to practise tree-disposal after their migration, and if they wish to send their dead back home in a canoe, then it seems quite natural that the canoe should be placed in a tree.
Intenneiit. — Having thus established a correspondence between the myth of origin and the mode of disposing of the dead, it will be interesting to pass to the practice of interment. Here again it will be seen that a similar correspondence exists. Some of the clans of the Old Kuki of Manipur believe that their ancestors came out of the ground. The Purum clan claim descent from Ton- ring and Tonshu, who issued out of the ground, and the ancestors of the Kohlen sprang out of Khurpui.^® These peoples inter their dead as do the inhabitants of Keisar, whose first ancestor sprouted out of Mt. Wahkuleren.^ In
•^ J. Shakespeai, The Lu she i A'nki Clans, 1912, pp. 151, 16^ e( seq. ^ Riedel, Shiik- en kroeshaarige rassen, pp. 401, 420. 148 Myths of Origin and
Beloe it has already been stated that the first ancestress of the people of Fialarang came out of Mt. Lekaan, and they also practise interment.'**' Thus an origin from the ground is accompanied by a return to the ground.
When the dead are interred it is believed that the ghost goes into the underground land of the dead. The Batak of Similoengoen inter their dead, and the land of the dead is situated in the bowels of the earth : it is a land exactly like this and is situated directly underneath the place which the Batak inhabit. The dead go there to join their ancestors, and in turn are joined by their descendants."*^ In south-west Timor, where the dead are interred, earth- quakes are supposed to be due to the efforts of the dead imprisoned beneath to break out from their underground land.^- The practice of cremation is a late importation among the Karen. Formerly all the dead were interred and the ghost was supposed to go to the underground land of the dead.*^ Before interment "four bamboo splints are taken, and one is thrown towards the west, saying,
- That is the east.' Another is thrown towards the east,
saying, ' That is the west' A third is thrown towards the top of the tree, saying, ' That is the foot of the tree,' and a fourth is thrown downwards, saying, 'That is the top of the tree.' The source of the stream is then pointed to, saying, ' That is the mouth of the stream,' and the mouth of the stream is then pointed to, saying, ' That is the head of the stream.' This is done because in Hades everything is upside down in relation to the things of this world." ^*
■'^'Gryzen, op. til., pp. 26, 65 et seq.
- ^J. A. Kroesen, " Nola omtrent de Bataklandern," Tijd. taal land- envolk.,
xli., 1899, pp. 274, 284.
■•- Salomon Muller, Reizen en onderzoekingen in den Indischen archipel, 1857, ii., p. 261 ; J. S. G. Graamberg, " Eene maand in de binnenland van Timor," Verh. Bat. Gen., xxxvi., 1872, p. 213; Bastian, Indonesien, ii., p. 36.
^"^ Burma Gazetteer, 1879, ii., p. 231.
^Rev. F. Mason, "The Karens, "yi7//r. Roy. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 1866, ii., pp. 27-8. the Home of the Dead in Indonesia. 149
Caves. — Associated with interment are certain origin myths which state that the first men came out of the earth by means of a cave. Some of the Old Kuki clans of Manipur claim that their ancestors came out of the underground world by means of a cave, while, as has been seen, other of these clans claim origin from the ground. The Lamgang say that on the Kangmang hill far away to the south, there is a cave, and their ancestors, a man and a woman, came out of it. The Chawte told Colonel Shakespear the tale of the peopling of the world out of a hole in the ground, adding the graphic touch that an inquisitive monkey lifted up a stone which lay on the opening, and thus allowed their ancestors to escape.*'^^ The Patalima of Seran also have a tradition that their ancestors came out of a cave.*^ Several peoples in Indo- nesia practise cave disposal, and the possibility arises that this method of disposal and interment may be related, both being means whereby the dead are introduced into the underground world. The Kabui Naga believe that the dead go into the underground world ^"^ : one mode of disposing of the dead among them is that in which an excavation in the side of a hill is made in which the body is placed.^^ In this case it is not easy to say whether the place of disposal is a grave or is intended to represent a cave. It may well be a case of transition from one to the other. The case of the Bunjogee and Pankho suggests a relation between cave origin and the underground land of the dead, and therefore, possibly, also with interment. They claim that their ancestors came out of a cave, and say that " The cave whence man first emerged is in the Lhoosai country close to Vanhuilen : it can be seen to
••^J. Shakespear, o/>. ciL, p. 151. ^^Riedel, op. cit., pp. 89, 90.
- ^R. Brown, "Annual Report of the Munnipore Political Agency, 1868-9,"
Sel. Kec. Govt. India, Foreign Dept., 1870, p. 107.
■•^M'Culloch, "Account of the Valley of Munnipore," Ibid., xxvii., 1859, p. 52. 150 Myths of Origin and
this day, but no one can enter. If one listens outside the deep notes of the gong and the sounds of men's voices can still be heard. They inter their dead. About their future home they are most explicit. After death they believe that the deceased go into the large hill whence man first emerged ; this they say is the land of the dead."*^
These two cases suggest the possibility of a genetic relationship between cave disposal and interment, but the scarcity of evidence and the possibility of the existence of other correspondences connected with cave-disposal make it quite impossible to decide one way or the other at the present. Probably the question will have to be decided in regions other than Indonesia.
Stone disposal. — In some parts of Indonesia there is the custom of using stone in the construction of graves ; in one case indeed the dead are put in stone urns. The Kabui Naga have already been mentioned as placing their dead in a cave hollowed out of the side of a hill. They also have the practice of interring their dead, and in this case a flat stone is placed on the grave, or else an upright stone is placed standing on it.^^ In the case in which the dead are placed in a cave, the opening is filled up with stones.^^ The Tangkhul Naga inter their dead, the grave having a top dressing of stones.^^ Again, the Paiwan of Formosa inter their dead under the house and fill the grave with stones.^^ The people of Minahassa place their dead in stone urns which are put, partly in the ground, behind the house.^*
49 T. H. Lewin, The Hill Tracts of Chittagong, Calcutta, 1869, pp. 95, 97.
^^loc. cit., and Brown, op. cit., p. 106. ' ^^ M'Culloch, op. cit., p. 52.
- ^Rev. W. Pettigrew, "Kathi Kasham. The soul-departure feast as practised
by the Tangkhul Nagas," Jour. Roy. Asiatic Soc. Straits Branch. New Sen, iv., 1909, p. 37 et seq.
^•^A. Fischer, Streifzuge durch Formosa, 1909, pp. 244-5; Davidson, Formosa,
P- 575-
- Riedel, " Ueber die Tiwukas oder steineren Graben in der (Minahassa,"
Zeit. f. Ethn., vii., 1875, p. 259; S. A. Buddingh, op. cit., p. 51 ; L. Mang- indaan, "Oud Tondano," Tijd. taal land- en volk., xx., 1864, p. 364. the Home of the Dead in Indonesia. 1 5 1
In all these cases myths are present which connect the first ancestors with stones. The Kabul came out of a stone at Aqui'^^; the Tangkhul also originate from a stone,'^^ and the first ancestors of the Paivvan came out of a stone which burst.^^ The myth which connects the first ancestors of the race with stones occurs in different forms in Minahassa. Lumimuut, the oldest goddess, created Kareima, the first woman, who was also a priestess, out of a rock.^^ Among the Toumpakewa branch there is a myth that the first man was made by the union of the foam and the sand on the shore. One day while walking he heard voices in a heap of stones, and on approaching he found a girl : — " she had sprouted out of the stones." ^^ Again, on the hill Tonde- rukan are two stone figures, male and female, carved out of the rock. They are said to be Lumimuut and Toar, the first human pair in Minahassa.^^
Here, again, then is a similar correspondence between the myth of origin and the disposal of the dead.
To sum up — the land of the dead when situated on the earth is generally supposed to be in the same direction as the land whence the people in question believe themselves to have come. In these cases orientation of the dead in relation to the land of the dead is often found, and, if the journey be over water, a canoe is generally supplied. More- over, the body may actually be taken back to the homeland. When the land of the dead is on a mountain, it is believed that the race originated from a mountain. In this case too is found the practice of taking the dead back to some far distant mountain. It has also been found that tree-disposal
"T. C. Hodson, The Naga Tribes of Manipiir, 191 1, p. 14. ^^ Ibid., p. 14. ^'Fischer, op. cit., p. 241.
* Ilickson, A Natitralist in Celebes, pp. 240- 1.
- 'J. Bodde, " Een Minahassisch scheppingsverhaal," i^/£</. Ned. Zend. Gen.,
-xlvii., 1903, pp. 222-3.
- • Riedel, " De watu lerumeran de empung of de steenen zetel der empung 's
in der Minahassa," Tijd. taal land- en vol/;., xi., 1897, pp. 189-90. 152 Myths of Origin.
is accompanied by a myth of origin from tree or bamboos ; interment corresponds to an origin from the ground and to an underground land of the dead, and, finally, the disposal of the dead in " stone graves " is accompanied by a myth of origin from stones.
Whether such correspondences occur in the case of other modes of disposing of the dead and in ethnographic pro- vinces other than Indonesia, investigation only can tell. Until such correspondences have been verified or proved not to exist, it will not be possible to make any wide generalisations. It is not always possible to apply the results of investigation in one region to other regions, for at present too little is known of the mentality of the various groups of mankind to make such a proceeding safe and wise.
A word of explanation is needed before closing. The aim of this paper is to enunciate the existence of certain corre- spondences : there is no intention to endeavour to formulate a psychological basis for any of the modes of disposal or beliefs here discussed. In the case of tree disposal, inter- ment and " stone graves," the dead are certainly being " put back whence they came," and in some cases, as has been seen, this is recognised by those who carry out the practices, but it does not follow that this was the aim which first prompted the disposal in any case. It may have been only the result of reasoning about the mode of disposal. Once such an idea be present, however, it may quite possibly play an important part in the formation of new myths of origin and modes of disposal. Cases such as those of the Chin,. Karen and Olo Ngadjoe reveal the possibility of the exis- tence of deep-seated causes underlying the phenomena here treated, but their discussion is not part of the purpose of this paper.
W. J. Perry. COLLECTANEA.
Scraps of Folklore collected by John Philipps Emslie.
[The late Mr. J. P. Emslie was a Londoner by birth, and an engraver by profession. He was accustomed throughout his h'fe — 1839-1913 — to make sketching excursions on foot in different parts of England, and to enquire into the local folklore by the way. What he heard he recorded in two small i2mo notebooks, one dealing with London and its environs, the other with the country at large, which have now been presented by his executors to the Folklore Society. They will be placed in the Society's library, and the similar books containing topographical drawings, which accompanied them, in the London County Council's Museum. The following Notes represent the contents of the general commonplace book, arranged under counties by Miss Frances Henley of Charlton Kings. It will be seen that they consist chiefly of scraps of local legend, though here and there occurs the description of some celebration of which Mr. Emslie was an eyewitness. That of Bonfire Night at Lewes in 1899, where he tells us he saw men running through the flames, is especially worthy of note. The first-hand character of the evidence, and the early date of some of the records, give a value of its own to the little collection, begun before any Society existed to encourage the work, and patiently gathered together through so many years.
Mr. Emslie was an original member of the Folk-Lore Society and for some years had a seat on the Council. He contributed several notes to the earlier volumes of Folk-Lore, and gave the device which with the motto Alter et idem has figured on the 1 54 Collectanea.
Society's title-page from the first. Among other things, a whole- page plate of weathercock designs in the volume of Folk-Lore for 1901 is from his pencil, and he also drew the illustrations for the Report of the Folklore Congress of 1891.
C. S. BURNE.]
Bedfordshire, see below, Oxfordshire, the Icknield Way.
Berkshire. — On the edge of the Ridge Way, near West Ilsley, is Scutchamfly Barrow. The hill here is called Scotchman's Nob (see account of Grim's Bank, in Oxfordshire), also Scratch my Nob. I was told (June, 1901) that a battle was fought there with the Scotch, and that the barrow was the grave of those slain in the battle. An elderly woman told me that her father used to say that the battle was called the Battle of Anna. About four miles to the north-east, near Upton, is a place called Scotland's Ash.
A great hollow in the downs above Letcome Basset, called the Punch Bowl on the Ordnance Map, is called the Devil's Punch Bowl by the people of the neighbourhood.
In a farm-yard at Letcombe Basset I saw three horseshoes nailed over one door, and a single horseshoe nailed over every other door in the yard. I asked a boy what it meant, and he said he believed it was to bring luck. (June, 1901.)
Buckinghamshire. — At Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, are some banks of earth on which it is said that a castle formerly stood. Many attempts have been made to level these banks, but always without success ; the men engaged on the work have died soon after commencing it, or have been called away to other work, or have been taken ill, or, in some way or other, been prevented from levelling the banks. (August, 1901.)
A solitary barn in a hollow of the hills near Ivinghoe, Bucking- hamshire, is called Waterloo Barn, and is believed by some of the people of the neighbourhood to be the site of the Battle of Waterloo. (February, 191 2.)
[Cf. Oxfordshire, Icknield Way.]
Derbyshire. — In the churchyard at Hatnersage is Little John's grave ; a little stone marks the place of the head, and another little stone marks the place of the feet. A thigh-bone 32 inches long was dug up in the church, "so that proved that he must Collectanea.
155
have been a very big man ; some gentleman took possession of this bone, but he had nothing but bad luck as long as it was his ; he re-interred it. It is now in the British Museum." (1875.)
Devonshire. — When, in 1869, I asked the people at Clovelly about the singular-looking people at the neighbouring village of Bucksmill, they always got rid of the subject, and appeared to have some undefined fear of it. I was told in 1872 that Jemmy Braund, a Bucksmill man, had been frightening people by threaten- ing to bewitch them. (1869, 1872.)
A woman at Bovey told me that when anyone in a house dies the bees are "lifted," that is, when the corpse is taken out of the house some one lifts the hive, comb and all, and puts it down again. This is done to prevent the bees going away. (1874.)
Lydia Milton, a native of Devonshire, told me in April, 1893, that in her native place it is said to be lucky for a woman if, in putting on her dress, the end of it turns up ; she should not smooth it out, but let it fall of its own accord, as it is a sign that she is going to receive a present. The same applies to a man in putting on his coat.^ (1893.)
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I am a little workhouse girl,
My mother she is dead, My father is a drunkard,
He will not buy me bread.
I travelled through the country,
I had a mansion fair. God bless my poor old mother,
She's dead and in her grave.
I heard the above sung by a little girl at Sunderland (August 9th, 1895) while another little girl and a little boy joined hands and
' [I have heard the same thing from a maidservant born at Kingsbridge, Devon. It was described as " it is lucky if the hem of your dress turns up to make a pocket ; it is a sign of money coming." — C. S. B.] walked backwards and forwards, or sometimes joined hands in such a manner that the face of one looked away from the face of the other, and they then went round in a circle, of which their hands were the centre.
Essex. — On Friday Hill, between Chingford and Woodford, old men have often seen a spirit of a woman dressed in white; others have seen spirits in long white dresses flying about in the air. The latter have also been seen in Chingford old churchyard.
Gloucestershire. —
I can laugh, I can sing, I can drive away care,
I've enough for myself, and a little to spare;
If a friend by chance should come by this way,
We'll make him as welcome as the flowers in May.
I heard the above sung by a boy at English Bicknor, Gloucestershire, in 1880.
Hertfordshire. — At Weston, two stones in the churchyard, 14 ft. 7 inches apart, are said to be the head and foot stones of the giant Jack o' Legs, who is there buried with his body doubled up. He lived at Baldock, — where, as he walked along the street, he would look in at the first-floor windows, — and thence he shot an arrow, saying that where it fell he wished to be buried. It fell in Weston Churchyard, and, in its flight, knocked away a corner of the church tower.[2]Near Stevenage are six barrows by the roadside. My father, John Emslie, was told, in 1835, by Mr. Williams, baker, of Stevenage, that in an adjoining wood are seven pits and one barrow. The devil, having dug out six spadefuls of earth, emptied them beside the road, thus making the six barrows. He then returned to the wood, dug another spadeful of earth (thus making the seven pits) and, walking along with this spadeful, dropped it and thus made the solitary barrow, which, I was told in 1883, had long since been cleared away. (1875, 1883.)
Isle of Wight. — At Centurion's Copse, near Brading, there was formerly a tree, at the root of which a large treasure was said to be buried. This treasure could only be got at by rooting up the tree with twelve white oxen; in no other way was it possible to Collectanea, 157
root it up. A man made the attempt with twelve oxen, but could not move the tree ; afterwards, in looking over the oxen, he found that one of them had one black hair upon it, and this had spoiled the charm. Ultimately the tree was cut down, the spell was broken, and the treasure became irrecoverable. (1880.)
Kent. — In 1 86 1 I was told that in the woods near Sevenoaks there was often found a venomous snake called the deaf adder. It could never hear the sound of approaching footsteps, but, if it caught sight of anyone, it would follow him, no matter where or to what distance, until it had given him a bite, which always proved fatal. Along its back was written :
If I could hear as well as I can see
Nobody should escape from me. (1861.)
I was told in 1875 that the portcullis was down at Quay Gate, Sandwich, at the time when the French were invading England. King John came to the gate, he was in a private dress, and he asked to be admitted. "No," said the sentinel. The king repeated his demand. "Not if you were the king of England," said the sentinel, " and if you don't go away I'll give you a whack on the head." Next day the king came in state, and said : " We must have a fight ; you said you'd give me a whack on the head."
(i875.)_ London. — Passing through Duke Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in May, 1894, some children asked me to give some money for the
grave of Tommy on the Tubs. The grave was a design worked in grass upon the pavement. I asked the meaning of it, the children only smiled ; I asked who was Tommy on the Tubs, and they said he was a man who used to work in the Covent Garden Market, and was drowned on the Embankment.^ (1894.)
July 19th, 1895. ^ s^w ^ ^^^ stones piled up to a height of about six inches, on the top some leaves, grass and flowers ; in
^Cf. Folk-Lore, vol. v. (1894), p. 290 sqq. 158 Collectanea.
front a little patch of gravel, in which was an inscription " Please remember us," the letters being formed of white pebbles placed close to each other. I saw this in Camberwell Grove. (1895.)
Northampto7ishire. — In August, 1904, I made a tour through part of Northamptonshire. I saw a great many horseslioes placed over doors, often there were several on one house. At the Sondes Anns, Rockingham, eight horseshoes were fastened up in the inn-yard ; the landlady said that some of them were " favourites," which she explained to mean shoes of favourite horses, kept as memorials of those horses. (1904.)
At Watford (Northamptonshire) the Roman Watling Street is called the Old Street Road. (1904.)
Stowe Nine Churches was so named because attempts were made on nine successive days to build a church, but all the work that was done in the day was destroyed in the night, until, on the ninth day, the work was no more hindered. Who broke down the work they can't tell, " perhaps the devil," said my informant.
(1904.)
[See W. Johnson, Byways in British Archaeology (19 12), p. 1 6 sqq:\
At Weedon I was told that a wicked old gamekeeper died, and his ghost used to appear, exactly at twelve every night, within an old oak tree opposite to the park lodge gate. Many people used to go there at night and wait until twelve o'clock to see him. One night a parson went there and, the ghost not appearing, the parson called to him. Thereupon the ghost appeared, and said : " If you dig beneath this tree you'll find a lot of money." The next day a search was made in accordance with the ghost's directions, and a leather bag filled with sovereigns was dug out of the ground. After this the ghost never again appeared. (1904.)
Oxfordshire: The Ick?neld Way. That part of the Upper Icknield Way which, on the Ordnance Map, is called Ickleton Way, leads, "they say," to the world's end. A gentleman once travelled along this road till he came to the fiery mountains. He turned back long before he reached them, for the smoke and smell nearly suffocated him. He lived near Watlington, but the woman who told me this had forgotton his name, though she had heard many speak of him. He died before she came into this part. Collectanea. 1 59
The road is also called Akney Way and the Drove Road, on account of the number of sheep driven along it at fair time. It is said to go all round the world, so that if you keep along it and travel on you will come back to the place you started from. It is also said to go from sea to sea. A drover who had been " every- where," Bucks., Oxfordshire, Herts., all over Wales, had always found the Akney Way wherever he had been. (Heard in 1891.)
In April, 1892, I walked along the Icknield Way from Crow- marsh, in Oxfordshire, to Dunstable, in Bedfordshire (a distance of 35 miles). I was unable to gain any further information about the legend previously mentioned, but, all along my route, heard that the road went all round the world, or that it went all through the island, that it went from sea to sea, that it went "from sea- port to sea-port."
A little way off the road, near to Eddlesborough (Bucks.) is a place called Bloodcot or Bloodcut Hill, where blood has worn the turf off and left the chalk bare.
On Dunstable Downs (Bedfordshire) is a place called Pigs' or Ligs' Hill, distinguished by a large patch of bare chalk, showing conspicuously among the turf. Here, on Good Friday, young people meet together and throw oranges down the hill-side, and then run after them. (April, 1892.)
Grim's Bank, near Mongewell, "goes, ditch and bank, all round the world," and was thrown up in the time of Cromwell ; so I was told by some shepherds in April, 1892. They further told me that it was a bank on the low ground and a ditch on the hills, and pointed out two clumps of trees on the Berkshire Downs, some miles away, where the ditch (or bank) touched the hills ; the place by the clumps of trees is called Scotchman's Nob. One man told me that Grim's Bank was made by the Romans, and never used, and that it goes all the way into Wales. (1892.)
There is a tree in Nettlebed Wood called the Nidget Tree. It is different from all the trees around. Lovers used to go into the wood, and the youth would give the maiden a leaf from this tree.
(1888.)
Of the group of stones known as "The Five Whispering Knights," near RoUright, it is said that if you place your head in the midst of them you can hear the sound of their whispering. (1882.) 1 60 Collectanea.
[On the legends connected with the RoUright Stones, see the article by Sir A. J. Evans in Fo/k-Lore, vol. vi. (1895), p. 6 sgq^^
Shropshire. — On Titterstone Clee Hill "a wall thrown down" was put up at the time of the Revolution, when cannon would fire balls from there to Ludlow Castle. " Old women in their red cloaks " would go up into the enclosure. The hill was an island in the time of St. Paul. (1881.)
An archway on the north side of Clun Church is said to be the tomb of a man who, coming from Holy Communion, was slain by his brother, and, on account of his peculiar death, was not allowed to be buried in the church. (1882.)
Somersetshire. — The "Giant's Chair" is a cavity on the south side of the top of Grabbist Hill, near Dunster. In this a giant used to sit, bathe his feet in the river below, and reach out to Dunster Castle (when clothes were hanging to dry) for a towel wherewith to wipe them. (1876.)
Tarr Steps, near Hawkridge, were built by the devil, who brought the stones in his apron from a small distance. In the wood above the Steps is a heap of stones which he dropped when his apron-string broke.
A king used to live at Bratton Court, near Dunster. There is still a gaol there. The King of Dunster used to fight the King of Porlock. (Heard in 1876.)
At Water Row, near Wiveliscombe, in July, 1897, I have often heard little girls singing the following to the tune of the original poiKa . -^jy young man is fond of me,
My young man has gone to sea. And, if he should marry me, Oh ! how happy I shall be.
At the same place and time I heard the following verse :
Mother, mother, Kelly, Nelly,
Make a cake to fill my belly.
Mother made a seedy cake
Which gave me the belly ache. (J"ly> 1S97.)
Suffolk. — A Suffolk girl, Mary Plant, who was a servant of my mother's, about 1845, told me that when there was a thunderstorm her father would beat any of his children that spoke, as he said that the thunder was the voice of God. (1845.) Collectanea, 1 6 1
The same servant, in reply to a remark of mine that I had seen some fairies in a pantomime who were dressed in pink, said, and very positively too, "Fairies are always dressed in white." (1845.)
Whenever I or my brother annoyed this servant, she would threaten us with " I'll send old Jack Bone to you." (1845.)
Surrey. — King John, whilst riding, said to his horse ("just as they might say it at Astley's ") " Horse, lie down." The horse did lie down, and the place was called Horslydown.
(Heard in 1873.)
Above Aldershot is a hill called Caesar's Hill. On May 2nd, 1889, I was told that Julius Caesar, from that hill, witnessed a review of his army.
Near Farnham are three detached hills called " The Devil's Three Jumps.'"' The devil borrowed a kettle of Mother Ludlam (a witch whose cave is in the neighbourhood) and would not return it. She ran after him, and he made three great jumps, and caused a hill to spring up out of the ground each time that he jumped, so as to hide him. Ultimately, being closely pressed, he flung the kettle over the hills and into the Devil's Punch Bowl. Mother Ludlam recovered it, and, by the advice of a clergyman, hung it up in Frensham Church, so as to be out of reach of the devil. (1872.)
Under the tower on Leith Hill a man was buried with his head downwards, so that he should come on to his feet when the world shall be turned upside down ; " but perhaps that is only a say," said my informant. (1874.)
The same informant also told me that there is a serpent about the chalk hills called the red adder; it is about the colour of a coal fire, and anyone bitten by it cannot possibly escape death.
(1874.)
My grandmother, Clarissa Emslie (born Hill), a native of Mitcham, used to tell of a very wicked man who went into the woods one Sunday to gather nuts. He was terrified to find that as he pulled them off the trees they came again in greater numbers than before.
Miss Howell (a friend of my grandmother aforesaid) used to relate that at a house at Stockwell, as soon as it was dark, there was a strange feeling and a sound as of the rustling of a dress. A
L 1 62 Collectanea.
servant sat up one night, and saw a figure of a lady. It ran away. The servant followed, till, in the garden, the figure suddenly stopped, said " Dig," and disappeared. On digging on the spot, a large sum of money was found, and the apparition was seen no more.
Mrs. WooUey told me that when she was a child and lived at Dulwich, her father always went out of the house about ten minutes to twelve on the 31st of December, and as the clock struck twelve he threw into the house a piece of bread, an apple, and some rice ; the bread was to bring plenty, the rice luck, and Mrs. W. had forgotten what the apple was meant for. (1S93.)
Sussex. — An almost unapproachable cave in the face of the cliff at Seaford Head is called (says M. A. Lower) Puck Church Parlour, and is the scene of an ancient superstition. A shepherd on the cliff top told me (1875) that it was called Buck Church; his boy had been in it, but he couldn't get down the face of the cliff. (1875.)
In the crypt under the Folly at Seaford the ghost of a nun opens the door, walks round, looks about, and then goes away.
I was told in 1875 that the Long Man at Wilmington (called Wilmington Giant by the people of the neighbourhood) was cut on the hills before the Flood. There are remains of a castle above Wilmington Priory ; pilgrimages were made from the castle to the priory, and, at the time of the pilgrimage the giant (Long Man) was slain by the pilgrims.
I was also told that the giant on Firle Beacon threw his hammer at the Wilmington giant and killed him, and that the figure on the hillside maiks the place where his body fell.
I was told this again in 1890, and in 1891 was further informed that the Long Man carries spears, not staves, in his hands, and that an upright line (which I was unable to find) runs from top to bottom of the hill a little to the east, and another a little to the west, of the figure.
A man told me that the Wilmington Long Man was a giant who fell over the top of the hill and killed himself; he also said that " a boy cut it out ; they can't trace its history, it goes back so far." Another man told me that the Wilmington giant was killed by a shepherd, who threw his dinner at the monster. Collectanea. 163
The sun cast a shadow on the hill; the monks marked the place, and cut an outline ; thus the Wilmington giant was made.
(1875, 1890, 1891, 1905.)
" One of the Romans " was buried in a gold cofifin under the Wilmington giant. (1899.)
A man of 84 years of age told me that he had seen a book which told all about the rock called Great-upon-Little, but that it did not mention what he had heard people say, that the rock had formerly been an object of worship, and that to touch it was death.
(1905-)
A branch of the river Ouse at Glynde is called Glynde Reach. Skeletons and weapons have been dug out of the chalk-pit at Glynde; some are in the Lewes Castle Museum. (1890-91.)
King Arthur fought and won a battle at Flossenden (?) on the downs a little S.-W. of the Long Man (of Wilmington) ; others said that the battle was fought a little east of the Long Man, and on the hill-top, where there are entrenchments, and a cave with remains of building which I could not find.
King Arthur fought a battle on the hills near Friston House.
At Alfriston " people say " that King Arthur fought there- abouts.
A ploughman between Berwick and West Firle said " there can be no doubt that a war or two was fought hereabouts in the olden time." (1891-)
I again heard that King Arthur had fought battles in this neighbourhood, but again was unable to obtain any particulars. A shepherd told me that King Arthur had fought a great battle amongst the barrows on the hill-top east of the Long Man.
I also heard, from several people at Alfriston and in the neigh- bourhood, that King Arthur had fought battles thereabouts, but, as before, I could not obtain any particulars. (September, 1899.)
Alice Carter, waitress at the " Star," Alfriston, and others, told me that King Arthur had fought battles in this neighbourhood.
(November, 1899.)
King Arthur is "talked about" at Hassocks, near Brighton, "but not much" said my informant. (November 4, 1899.)
King Arthur lived at the Moat, a house between Mount Harry and Plumpton. (November 7, 1899.) 1 64 Collectanea.
I could not hear of King Arthur (except once, doubtfully) in Ashdown Forest, at Robertsbridge, or Sedlescombe. A battle was fought at Gill's Lap, near Crowborough. (iQoS-)
King Arthur fought at Pevensey, and again I heard of his having been in the country between Pevensey and Lewes, but, as before, could not obtain any particulars. (1905.)
I could hear nothing of King Arthur between Three Bridges and Lewes; afterwards I heard that he had fought in the neigh- bourhood of Mount Harry. (1905-)
Alice Carter, waitress at the " Star," Alfriston, told me that the iron caldron, hanging up in the kitchen at that inn, was the one in which were the cakes which King Alfred burned ; others told me the same. (November 4, 1899.)
King Alfred fought on Wolstonbury Hill, and the ten horse- shoes which are on the Bull Hotel at Ditchling are said to have been cast by his ponies. (1905.)
Near Turner's Hill, near Three Bridges, is a place called the Withy Pits ; it is said that the Danes came forward here carry- ing branches of withies, that people thought that a wood was moving, and fled ; the Danes came on to Turner's Hill, where they were turned back, and then crawled to Crawley.
(September, 1905.)
On the hill above Alfriston is said to be the figure of a man thrown from a horse : it marks the site of a victory gained by the Saxons over the Normans. (1905.)
A " hollow cave " goes underground from Robertsbridge Abbey to Battle Abbey, and from there to Winchelsea. (1905)
Near Gill's Lap (near Crowborough), at a clump of trees called King James's Standing, King James stood and saw a hunt.
(1905-) Fires were anciently lighted on the top of Firle Beacon, Mount Caburn, and other eminences of the South Downs. They were last lighted on the day of the Queen's Jubilee, June 21st, 1887. On the top of Firle Beacon is a " round " ; the woman who told me this did not seem to be certain what this " round " was, and was inclined to think that it might have been a haunt or habitation of the giant of Firle Beacon. (1891.)
I was at Lewes on the 5th of November, 1891. In the evening Collectanea. 165
there were processions of people in all kinds of fancy dresses ; a very large number of the bystanders were also in fancy dresses ; fireworks were let off, constantly and at random ; often as many as a dozen squibs were rushing about or exploding within the space of half a furlong in the street. Three bonfires were kept alight all the evening. Each procession was headed by a band : many of the processionists carried torches, there were several banners, and each procession was closed by an iron truck on which was a blazing tar-barrel, the heat from which was intolerable. About ten o'clock effigies of Guy Fawkes and of the Bishop of Rome were burned at three places in the town.
An old man, Morgan by name, who had the care of the Castle, told me that he believed the celebrations of the 5th were as old as the time of Queen Mary, in whose reign several men were burned alive at Lewes j he, however, seemed to be very uncertain, and not at all clear in his memory. A young man told me that the celebrations were not (in their present form) more than a hundred and fifty years old, and that it was within the last forty years that they had been developed ; some ten or fifteen years years back all the processionists wore blue and white striped guernseys, white trousers, and scarlet caps; the fancy costumes came later on.
One young man told me that bonfires are lit and fireworks let off ail over Sussex on the 5th of November, and that in South Africa, where there are many " Leweses " (so he called the people of Lewes) " bonfire night " is observed with great spirit. He had had a letter from New Zealand informing him that about forty settlers, some of whom were natives of Lewes, whilst others had been in that town on November 5th, had got up a bonfire and firework demonstration, to the great delight of the people of the neighbourhood, who had never before seen such a thing, and asked to have it repeated. (1891.)
September, 1899, I was told at Lewes that on the occasion of lighting up the bonfires on the fifth of November, there is a mock bishop, a mock service, and the bonfire boys have prayers of their own. The whole affair commemorates the martyrdoms at Lewes in Queen Mary's time, and it is as flourishing as ever, "particularly since these ritualistic times." 1 66 Collectanea.
Mr. Gearing, who for the last twenty-five years has been "bishop" of Lewes, informed me that the "bishop" is elected annually at a public meeting which is convened by the borough authorities. It is required of him that he should make a speech of an anti-papal character. Mr. Gearing gave me the bonfire-boys' " prayers," as follows :
Remember, remember the fifth of November, The Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I know no reason why Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent To blow up the King and the Parliament. Four score barrels of powder below, Poor old England to overthrow. By God's providence he was catched With a dark lantern and burning match. Holler, boys ! Holler, boys ! Ring, boys ring ! Holler, boys ! Holler, boys ! God save the Queen ! Hip ! hip ! hurrah !
A penny loaf to feed old Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
Pint of beer to wash it down.
Faggot stick to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him in a flaming star,
Burn his body from his head,
Then we'll say old Pope is dead. (1899.)
The Bonfire Boys of Lewes are selected by the Bonfire Societies of the town ; some of the boys are workmen, some tradesmen's sons, and some gentlemen ; all join as equals to do the work.
(Mrs. Wright, Newhaven, 1899.)
6th November [1S99] I saw the festival at Lewes. Some of the fancy dresses were exceedingly pretty, and the torchlight proces- sions with flaming tar-barrels were very effective. There was a certain lack of crowding and of noise amongst the spectators which, I was told, was probably owing to the fact that many men of the Army Reserve had been called out of Lewes. A little before 6 p.m. lighted tar-barrels were pitched in front of the County Hall, and then the crowd assembled around them chanted
the song already noted. The evening was spent similarly to the one described on the preceding pages. About ten o'clock a lighted tar-barrel was thrown into the Ouse. A few minutes before midnight a procession came up from Schoolhill, and, forming four abreast, danced round the bonfire in front of the Town Hall many times; presently one man broke from the ranks and ran through the flames; after a while others did the same. This continued until the town clock struck twelve, when fire-men with a hand-engine came up and totally extinguished the bonfire. The Gunpowder Plot song was then sung, the band then played "God save the Queen," many cheers were given, and attempts were made to prolong the revelry, but the crowd melted, though very slowly, and, as I lay in bed in an upper room of the " White Hart" Hotel, I could hear, when it was nearly one o'clock, distant cheering, with a brass band playing "God save the Queen."[3]On the same day (May ist, 1896) at Salisbury I saw little girls in parties of two, each of the two holding the end of one stick from whose centre hung a model of a crown worked in flowers.
[Compare the celebration at King's Lynn, Folk-Lore, vol. x. (1899), p. 443 sqq.]
Bulford Water Stone, near Amesbury, is a stone in the middle of the River Avon. On its north side is an iron ring, fixed in it, and which always lies upon it in a direction which is opposed to the current of the river. It has frequently been turned over so as to lie in the same direction as the current of the river, but it has always returned to its original position by going against the current of the river.I was enquiring for the Sarsen Stones or Grey Wethers, when only about a furlong from them, but an old man and his niece did not know either name; at last they suggested that what I was seeking was what they called the Thousand Stones. The man 1 68 Collectanea.
told me (what I had heard before) that the stones certainly grew ; he had seen this, for, when he was a boy, there were not nearly so many, nor were they so large, as now. (June, 1901.)
A man at work near Silbury Hill told me that somewhere there- abouts a king had been buried in a golden coffin. (June, 1901.)
A man in Devizes Market Place called my attention to the inscription commemorating the sudden death of Ruth Pierce, and then, pointing to the Corn Exchange, said : "They put her statue up on the top there when they built it." The statue was of a graceful female in classical dress with a wreath of flowers on her head and a cornucopia in her right hand. (June, 1901.)
In April and May, 1904, I made an excursion, principally in Wiltshire, and saw many places where horseshoes were nailed over doors.
I often saw horseshoes nailed over doors in and around Baydon in July, 1905.
In July, 1905, I enquired, in and around Baydon in Wiltshire, if King Arthur had ever fought a battle there. One or two said : " Yes, between there and Aldbourne," but others said King Alfred had fought there, and confounded the battle with that of Ashdown.
The following rhyme used to be sung by Hannan Pullen, a servant of my mother's, about 1848 :
Come Richmond, come Tormond,^ come Foolish, come Pretty,
Don't let me die maiden, but take me for fifty :
I'll be a good wife, never scold nor be jealous,
I'll find you plenty of money to spend at the alehouse ;
And while you're out spending, I'll be at home saving,
Ri fal the riddle lal, ri fal the riddle lido.
Wales. — Near Beddgelert, in Carnarvonshire, I saw, in 1857, the words "Llan Trwsgwl" painted on a rock by the roadside. David Roberts, our guide, said the words meant "Awkward Footstep," and that a giant, trying to jump across the river Colwyn, could not make a good jump, and only brought one foot down on to the rock on the further side of the river, which here flowed by the road's side. He pointed o\it the rock, and on it was painted a footprint about a yard long : it is said to mark the spot where the giant's foot came down. (1S57.)
^ " Come rich man, come poor man " ? Collectanea.
169
About a mile east of Berrievv, on the green by the side of a lane, is a stone about five feet high, called, on the Ordnance Map, Maen Beuno, but by the people in the neighbourhood "the Bynion Stone." A man who told me (in iSgi) that he was fifty years of age, said he had been told by old men when he was a boy that it was intended to have built a church on the spot where the Bynion Stone stands, but that every night the stones which had been placed in position were carried away and put down on the spot where Berriew Church now stands. (1891.)
September 7 th, 1891, I saw a funeral at Festiniog. The funeral procession was headed by a row of young men ; next to these was a row of young v/omen ; then a row of little girls ; then a row of boys ; these were all dressed (apparently in their Sunday clothes) in colours. They all carried books, which contained words without music. After these came the coffin, carried on a bier by six men, not professional undertakers (there was no sign of an undertaker present), but apparently friends of the deceased's family. Then came the mourners, and aside and at back of them a crowd of some two hundred, mostly females, and all, or nearly all, dressed in black or in dark colours. These had all assembled in front of the house where the corpse was, and as soon as the bier was raised on the shoulders of its bearers, the young people in front sang from the books which they carried, and, at the same time, the procession started. The air to which they sang was somewhat as follows. I write from a very hazy memory of it, but the following is a record of some resemblance to it :
- az^
i?^^^P
- ^f3Eg±gE|^
This was sung several times, until the churchyard gate was reached, when the singing immediately ceased. Here the priest, 1 70 Collectanea.
in surplice and stole, headed the procession, reading the opening sentences of the burial service. The body was then taken into the church, and the service proceeded with until the end of the verses from i Corinthians xv. Then the choristers sang some- thing to a very sad air. After this, very many of the congregation went up to a table which was in front of the altar-rails, and deposited thereon offerings of money (these, I was informed, were offerings for the clergyman). Then the corpse was taken out of the church, and the congregation followed without observing any order whatever. The body was lowered into the grave, and the remainder of the burial service (the whole of which was in the Welsh language) was read. Then the singers burst out with some beautiful singing, the air of which was very cheerful, and suggested to me that it expressed the hope of a joyful resurrection for the deceased. After this, the whole assembly broke up, and the people composing it went away in various directions.
A young peasant was looking at a drawing I was making of a view near Festiniog, and at last she remarked : " Well, you've made a drawing there that's worthy to have been done by King Arthur." (1891.)
Belgium. — In 1872 I was going with my father from Waulsort, near Dinant, to Falmignoul ; a peasant who accompanied us across the fields told us that it was said of a man who plucks a dandelion "qu'il est bien chique — c'est a dire, qu'il sait tout." He also showed us a flower something like the English sheep scabious, and said that it was called Fleur du diable.
In Brussels a narrow and very steep little street near the Rue Haute is called the Rue du Mont des Geants.
At Antwerp, on the evening of the second day (August iSth) of the Kermis, the children placed lighted candles in little hillocks of sand in the middle of the bye streets, -and danced around these lights. I could gain no further information regarding the custom than " ce n'est que le jeu des enfants."
In the rock on which the castle of Bouillon stands, and within the castle premises, is Godfrey de Bouillon's Seat and the seat of his lieutenant. They are two niches in the natural rock, and so shallow that it is difficult to sit in them, and so low that one's head, when one sits in them, touches their tops. (1872.) Collectanea. 171
Folklore of the War.
Snakes: an elephant. — Just before the outbreak of the war a Bengali saw a cluster of snakes descend from the sky, and another saw the heavens open on a stormy night, disclosing a gigantic elephant. A person at Meerut saw a two-headed serpent, which emitted fire and smoke at intervals, and whose path was marked by the scorching of the grass. It was also said to have been seen throwing up into the air with its mouths a brilliant ruby, which lit up the surrounding country. In view of these alarming rumours, coupled with the belief that a Bengali saint girl was coming from Calcutta to conquer the reptile and capture the ruby, enormous crowds assembled to witness the miracle, but after a time they returned disappointed. — The Ifidiaman, 4th September, 1914.
Comets and zvar} — The curious in Russia are noting that in the past four centuries great comets have appeared only eleven times, each time in a year of war. The only exceptions were in the Turkish Campaign of 1877 and in the war with Japan, though a faint comet was visible in January, 1904. Delavant's comet, recently discovered, keeps up the tradition. — The Morning Post, 5th September, 19 14.
^ " Like a comet burn'd That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge In the Arctic sky, and from his horrid hair Shakes pestilence and war." — Milton, Paradise Lost, ii., 708.
" There with long bloudy haire, a Blazing Star Threatens the World with Famin, Plague & War : To Princes, death : to Kingdoms, many crosses : To all Estates, inevitable Losses :
To Heard-men, Rot : to Plough-men, hap-lesse Seasons : To Saylers, Storms : to Cities, civill Treasons."
— Joshua Sylvester, translation oi Du Bartas, his Divine IVeekes and IVor/ces, folio, 1633, p. 33.
The appearance 01 comets foreboded the death of Julius Caesar :
" non alias caelo ceciderunt plura sereno . fulgura, nee diri toties arsere cometae." — Virgil, Georgics, i., 487-488 ; cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist, i., 22. 1 7 2 Collectanea.
Touching the back of a hunchback for luck? — "There is nothing new in the story of Lord Torrington and his friends, when leaving for the front, treating the little hunchback newsboy at the Paddington bookstall as a mascot, and rewarding him for allowing them to touch him. Years ago a hunchback used always to take his stand outside Waterloo Station on race-meeting days, and there must be many who remember paying twopence to rub him on the back on their way to Sandown and elsewhere." — The Observer, 6th September, 1914.
Some Nature Myths from Samoa.
Fifty years ago I was resident in Samoa, and made the acquaint- ance of one of the most intelligent Samoans I have ever known. His baptised name was Penisimani (Benjamin), and he was well known all over the group as a native poet whose songs were eagerly sought after by the people. He was a Pastor, or Native Teacher, of the London Missionary Society, and the Missionaries of that Society published a small collection of native songs on Biblical subjects, composed by Penisimani, which were sung to native tunes. These became so popular that the Missionaries were afraid that they would recall the old heathen songs, and that the regular hymns and the English tunes would be displaced by them, and so they, most unwisely in my judgment, suppressed the sale of the little book and destroyed all the copies that could be found. I know of only two copies which are in existence at the present time. One of these is in the Mitchell Library in Sydney, and the other copy, partially damaged, is in my possession. Peni (Ben), as we called him, not only helped me in any difficulties
^In South India to meet a hunchback, when setting out on a journey, is unUicky (J. E. Padfield, The Hindu at Home, 1896, p. 288). The Gobbo or hunchback charm against the Evil Eye is described by F. T. Elworthy ( 77^1? Evil Eye, 1895, P- ZZ^)-> ^^^ regards it as a survival from ancient days, tracing it back to statuettes of the Egyptian god Bes. "The Gobbo," he says, "is sold as a charm in silver at Constantinople. There are also one or two small Phoenician figures in the Ashmolean which are undoubted hunch- back amulets. Monte Carlo gamblers did not invent the lucky Gobbo."
- ↑ This paper is a summary of some of the results of an investigation into the modes of disposing of the dead in Indonesia. It is only possible to enunciate results here with illustrative examples : the full evidence upon which the demonstration is based will be published later, together with the discussion of other problems that have arisen in the course of the investigation.
- ↑ Compare Robin Hood's grave at Kirklees, and Little John's at Hathersage.
- ↑ See art. on "Guy Fawkes " in Folk-Lore, Dec. 1912.