to allow a funeral procession to pass along its traditional corpse- way.
The Needfire was lighted in Troutbeck as late as 1851, and arval bread is much better remembered than the Needfire.
. . . . . . . . . . .
My mother has never mentioned arval cheese, and this is the only occasion on which I have ever seen or heard any reference to it. Its use must have been discontinued quite early, I should think.
Lynwood, Rushley Road, Dore, nr. Sheffield.
Scotch Cures for Epilepsy.
The following note on Scotch cures for epilepsy has been forwarded by Sir James Frazer, who remarks that "the combination of fire with passage through a narrow opening is curious. I do not remember to have met with it before."
"You are no doubt familiar with the old superstitious cure for epilepsy by burying a live cock. There is a well-authenticated case which occurred within two miles of this town about forty years ago. While a number of boys were at play, one of them fell down in a fit. His parents regarded the case as epileptic, and at the spot where the boy fell they dug a hole and buried a cock alive. This was supposed to prevent another attack.
"In the Brahan Wood there are a number of conglomerate boulders, some of considerable size. Two of these boulders lean against each other, meeting near the top. A few years ago an old woman aged 84 died near this town. When she was a child she had a fit—perhaps a convulsion—which her parents supposed to be epileptic. They lighted a fire at the top of the leaning stones, and passed the child through the opening below. This reminds one of the Biblical account of passing through the fire to Moloch."
Dingwall.
