Folklore in the Old Testament

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA bAN UifcGO

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CALJPORNIA

SAN DIEGO

THE LIBRARYOF

JOHN

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RANDOLPH

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NoI

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3 1822 02201 3049

Social Sciences

& Humanitiesis

Library

University of California,

San Diego

Please Note: This item

subject to recall.

Date Due

DEC

1 9 1997

OEC 19

1996

'

CI 39 (2/95)

UCSDLb.

Digitized by the Internet Archivein

2007 with funding fromIVIicrosoft

Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/folkloreinoldtes03fraziala

FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

St.

MACMILLAN ANDLONDON

CO., Limited

BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE

MADRAS

THE MACMILLAN COMPANYNEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO

DALLAS SAN FRANCISCO

THE MACMILLAN

CO.

OF CANADA,

Ltd.

TORONTO

FOLK-LORE IN

THE OLD TESTAMENTSTUDIES IN COMPARATIVE RELIGION

LEGEND AND LAW

BY

SirHON.D.C.L.,

JAMES GEORGE FRAZERoxford; HON. LL.D., GLASGOW; HON. LITT.D,, DURHAM FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

IN

THREE VOLUMESVOL.Ill

MACMILLAN ANDST.

CO.,

LIMITED

MARTIN'S STREET,1919

LONDON

COPYRIGHTFirst Edition 1918

Reprinted 1919

CONTENTSPARTIII

THE TIMES OF THE JUDGES AND THE KINGS{Continued)

CHAPTER XnTHE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDPAGE

The Keepers of the Threshold in the temple at Jerusalem Modern Syrian superstition about treading on a thresholdKeepers of the Threshold

I

2.

Not

to tread

at Peking in the Middle Ages on the threshold of a Tartar prince's hut

23

Respect for thresholds of caliphs of Baghdad and kings of Persia

Respect

for thresholds of Fijian chiefsin Africa

Respect for thresholds

....

4 45 5

Respect for thresholds among aborigines of India and the KalmuksConditional prohibitions to touch the thresholdPractice of carrying a bride over the threshold Practice of carrying a bride over the threshold

6 6peoples

The

practice not a relic of marriage

Sanctity of the thresholdBelief that the thresholdis

....by capturespirits.

among Aryan

8

lOII II

haunted by

Custom

of burying the dead at the

doorway

1313

Stillborn children buried under the threshold to ensure rebirth

Abortive calves buried under the threshold in EnglandSanctity of the threshold and the theory of rebirthSacrifice of animals at thresholds

1415 t6 1617

Brides stepping over blood at the thresholdSacrifices to the

dead

at the threshold

Sacrifices to the sun at the threshold

among the Bambaras among the Gonds

17

Sacrifices at the threshold

among

the South Slavs

17 18

Sanctity of the threshold in relation to spirits

FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

CHAPTERBirds nesting on the altars at Jerusalem

XIII

THE BIRD-SANCTUARYPAGE.

19

Birds unmolested in the sanctuary of Apollo

19

Aesculapius and the sparrows

The Syrian goddess andImmunity of birds

the pigeons.

in sacred places

20 20 20

CHAPTER XIVELIJAH AND THE RAVENSElijah and the ravens at the brook Cherith

2222

The The The The

scenery of the

Wady

Kelt, the traditionary Cherith.

ravens at Jerusalemravens at the

2425 25

Dead Sea

Prophetic power ascribed to ravenssagacity of the raven

26

Popular respect for a raven in ancient

Romevoice.

2627 28 28 29

The raven's power of imitating The raven as a bird of prey

the

human

Hyenas revered as devourers of the dead in Africa Kinship of men with beasts and birds of prey

CHAPTER XVSACRED OAKS AND TEREBINTHS.

The oak and

the terebinth in Palestine

.

Three species of oaks in Palestine The oak woods of Sharon, Tasso's Enchanted Forest

30 30 3233

The The The The The The

oak woods of Zebulun and Asher oak woods of Banias at the springs of the Jordan oak woods of the Decapolis and Bashanoak woods of Gilead oak woods of Mahanaim.ruined castle of Hyrcanusfor

33

3435 36 37

Absalom and the oak

Veneration

oaks in Palestinein Palestine

.

Abundance of oaks

.

37 38

Sacred oak groves in Northern SyriaSacred oaks beside the tombs of

38saints

Mohammedan

The Wely or reputed tomb of a saint under a sacred tree These shrines (Mukdms) the real objects of worship in PalestineDescription of these shrines

....

39 4041

41

CONTENTSModeof worship at the shrines.

vii

PACK

42 43 43 43 45 46 4647 48

Sanctity of the trees at the shrines

Antiquity of the worship at these " high places "

Modern examples of

these local sanctuaries.

Sacred oak trees hung with votive rags

Daughters of Jacob associated with oaks Hebrew words for oak and terebinthTerebinths in Palestine.

.

Sacred terebinths hung with votive rags

.

The spirit or saint ( Wely) in the tree The oak predominantly the sacred tree of Palestine Worship of oaks denounced by Hebrew prophets-Bloody sacrifices to sacred oaks.

4951

52 5353

Bloody

sacrifices to sacred trees in Africa

Jehovah associated with sacred oaks or terebinths

5455 56

The oracular oak or terebinth at Sh^chem The oak associated with the king The oak or terebinth of Mamre The three angels worshipped at the tree The three gods in the holy oak at Remove.

57 57

.

Church Annual

built

by Constantine

*'

at the

oak of

Mamre"Mamre

58 5859

festival at the terebinth or

oak of Mamre

The end

of the Jewish nation at the terebinth or oak of

60

CHAPTER XVITHE HIGH PLACES OF ISRAELThe highGreenplaces formerly legitimate seats of worship.,

.

Abolition of worship at the high placestrees a

.

.

.

prominent feature of the high placesstill

.

.

.62 .63 .64.

Wooded

heights

seats of religious worship in Palestine

.

6565 67

Sacred groves, Sacred groves,

relics

of ancient forests, on high places

relics

of ancient forests,deities to the

among

the.

among Mundas.

the

Akikuyu.

.

Analogy of the groveSacred groves, Sacred groves,relics relics

Baalim

.

.6868

of ancient forests, on high places of ancient forests, on high places

among the Afghans among the Cheremiss.

69

The Baalim of Canaan probably old woodland deities The sacred pole [asherah) and its analogue in Borneo

. .

.

.70 .70

CHAPTER XVHTHE SILENT WIDOWRestrictions laid

on mourners

for fear of the ghost

71

Silence perhaps imposed on

Hebrew widows

72 72

Silence of widows in Africa and Madagascar

viii

FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENTPAGE

Silence of Silence of

Silence ofSilence of

Silence ofSilence of

widows widows widows widows widows widows

among North Americanin

Indians

7273

some

tribes of

North Australia

among among

the Arunta of Central Australiathe Unmatjera and Kaitish

aijd other

female mourners

among

the Dieri

The motive

for silence a fear of thein

Confirmation from position

younger brother

Similar customs and beliefs perhaps in ancient Israel

......ghost

....amongthe

74 767677

Warramunga

78

which widow stands to her deceased husband's79 80

CHAPTER

XVIII

JONAH AND THE WHALEJonah swallowed by a great fish and vomited up A New Guinea parallel to the tale.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.82 .83

CHAPTER XIXJEHOVAH AND THE LIONSAssyrian settlers in Israel protected against lions by Israelitish priest.

84

In Celebes strangers employ native priests of the land In Senegal the priesthood of Earth held by aborigines

.

.

.

.

.85 -8587

Ceremonies

for repression

of tigers performed by aboriginal priests in India.

Deities to be judged by the moral standard of their time

.

.90

PART

IV

THE LAWCHAPTERTHE PLACE OF THE LAWLate date of Pentateuchal legislation inits

I

IN JEWISH HISTORYpresent form.

Law

a gradual growth

Legislation and codification

Many Hebrew

..... ....Pentateuch

93 9395 95 96 98

laws older than the date of their codification

Historical reality of Moses, the founder of Israel

Three bodies of law

in the

The Book of the Covenant The Deuteronomic Code

.... .....

99 100

CONTENTSJosiah's reformation:

ix

written code substituted for oral tradition..

,

.

PAGE loi

The

religious effect of the substitution

Date of the composition of the Deuteronomic Code uncertain Ethical and religious character of Deuteronomy Theoretical inadequacy and practical inconvenience of the one sanctuary Destruction of local sanctuaries perhaps regretted by the peasants.

.....

.

.102.

103

104105

.

.

106

The reformation powerless to avert the national ruin The second reformation after the Exile, resulting in the

.

.

.107108

Priestly

Code

CHAPTERNOT TO SEETHE A KID IN" Xot to seethe a kid mandmentsin its mother's.

II

ITS

MOTHER'S MILK

...two

milk

"

one of the original Ten

ComIII

The The

original version of the

Ten Commandments

Contrast between the ritual and the moral versions of the Decalogueritual version the older of the

Suggested explanations of the

milk

Aversion of pastoral tribes in Africa to boil milk

.......commandnot to seethe a kid inits

.....

112

"5 "5116

mother';

for fear

of injuring the

cows

.

118 118wine

The

aversion based on sympathetic magic

Parallel superstitions as to oranges

and

lees of

Objection to boil milk

among

pastoral tribes of Central

Traces of similar beliefs in Europe

The Hebrew command perhaps similarly explicable The boiling of flesh in milk thought to injure the cowsMilk-vessels not to be washed with waterPastoral

.....

and East Africa

119 120123

124

124125125 126

Other rules of sympathetic magic observed by pastoral jieoples

Bahima

will not

wash themselvae with water

Cows thought to be affected by the material of milk-vessels Menstruous women not to drink milk for fear of injuring the cows Menstruous women not to approach cattle among the KafirsFear of tainting cows' milk with blood.

127 128

Wounded men

not to drink milk

WomenWomen Women WomenWidow

in childbed not to drink milkfor

Milk of special cows reserved

mothers of twins and

forbidden to milk cows inforbidden to milk cattle

many African tribes among the Todas

allowed to milk cows in some tribesto drink

Mourners not allowed

milk

given boiled milk to drinkboiling cow'sfirst

among

.... .... ....womenthe Bechuanas.

130 130131

131

with child

132 133 134 13s 136

Custom of

milk

in certain cases

Persons in a kraal struck by lightning not allowed to drink milk

139 139 140141141

Conjuring milk from cows

among

the Kabyles.

Sexual intercourse forbidden while cattle are at pasture

VOL.

Ill

a 2

X

FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENTPAGE...

Continence of sacred dairymen among the TodasFresh milk drunk only by the young or very old Rules as to drinking cow'sfirst

.

.

.142 .142.

milk

after calving

Chastity of king's herdsmen and herdboy

among

the Banyoro

Sympathetic relation of king's herdboy to king

The The

use of sour curds

use of butter

among pastoral tribes among pastoral tribes.

......

143147

.

.144.148 .149 .150

of Africa.

.

.

.

.

Objection of pastoral tribes to

let

milk touch

flesh

.

.

Flesh and milk not to be eaten together in pastoral tribes

.

^S'

Jewish rule not to eat

flesh

and milk together

.

.

.

Vegetables and milk not to be eaten together in pastoral tribes

.

-153 .154.

Pastoral tribes discourage agriculture for fear of hurting their cattle

157

Some

pastoral tribes eschew the flesh of certain wild animals for fear of

hurting their cattle

...

.

.

.

.

.157

Aversion of pastoral tribes to game perhaps due to fear of hurting theircattle.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

-158.

Pastoral tribes eat such wild animals as they think resemble cattle

159

Hebrew law

of clean and unclean animals perhaps based on their supposed. . ..

likeness or unlikeness to cattle

.160.161cattle,.

Hebrew customs

as to milk.

and

flesh diet. .

probably derived from pastoral..

stage of society

.

Rules of pastoral peoples as to drinking milk intended to benefit thenot the people.

.

.

.

.

.

162163

Rites of pastoral peoples in regard to cattle originally magical, not religious

CHAPTERBoring the ear of a slave who refused of the custom uncertainears

III

BORING A servant's EARto.

go.

free

.

.

.

165

The meaning

Custom of piercing

and wearing ear-rings

Ear-boring from superstitious motives

Woman's

ears pierced after the birth of her

Ears of child whose elder brothers orAfrican tribes

Children whose elder brothers or sisters have died are thought to be ex

posed to special danger from

Precautions taken to guard such children by disguises, mutilations, bad

names,

etc.

Precautions to guard such children in

Precautions to guard such children in Celebes and Borneo

New-born childrendeceive

Laos Pretence of exposing children and buying them back from strangersoffered toin

demons

Children, whose elder brothers or sisters have died, given to strangers to

...... ...... ......first

....in antiquity

166166167

child

167in

sisters

have died are pierced

some168169

evil spirits

170

Annam and China

.

170172

demons

173

174174

bring up

.

CONTENTSAfrican devices to save the lives of such childrenSiberian devices to save the lives of such children

XI

PAGE

175 176

Indian devices to save the lives of such children by giving them bad names, boring their^noses, etc.

177181

Mock111

sales of such children in

Assam

names given

to such children in India

182183.

Exorcism employed to protect such childrenGoatssacrificed as substitutes for such children

184sisters

Boring the noses of boys to disguise them as

girls

Begging gold or rags

for children

whose elder brothers or.

have died

184 186187 188

Pretence of bur)ing such children

Leaving unshorn the hair of such childrenInterpretation of Afirican treatment of such children

190191191sisters

African custom of boring the ears of such children

Other African devices to save the111

names givendied

in Africa to children

Such children buried in ashes or dung Heads of such children shaved in peculiar waysEars of such children bitten or cutBracelets and rings

.....lives.

of such children

whose elder brothers or

hav191

193.

worn as amulets by such children

194 195 196197 197 198 198 201

Special doorways cut for such children

Faces of such children scarifiedHottentot

.

custom of amputating a

finger-joint of a child

brothers or sisters have died

Conflicting accounts of mutilation of fingers

Amputation of

finger-joints of children

Amputation of finger-joints of children Amputation of finger-joints of girls in Australia The amputated finger-joints thrown into the sea

among Hottentots among the Bushmen in the Gaboon and Madagascar.

.....

whose elder

women

Navel-strings of children thrown into the sea for the same purpose Navel-strings of children

.......to

203 203 206 206207 208

make

girls

good

fisher

hung on

trees to

make them good

climbers

Australian amputation of finger-joints a magical rite

African amputation of finger-joints for other purposes

Amputation Amputation Amputation Amputation

of finger-joints in Africa as a cure for sickness

of finger-joints for the benefit of others of finger-joints for sick relatives in

208 209 210211

TongaMysore.

of finger-joints for sick relatives in Fiji and Futunafinger-joints as a religious rite in

Amputation of

Various accounts of the custom

The The

occasion of the amputation

scene of the amputation

Finger-joints of mothers amputated, ears of children bored

Substitutes for the amputation of finger-joints

Legend

told to explain the origin of the

The amputationher child

.... ... .... ... ....custom.

212213 215 217 218

219 220 221

of the mother's finger -joints perhaps a sacrifice to save

xii

FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENTPAGEfinger-joints of sick people in

Amputation of

TongaIndians

222/

Sacrifice of finger-joints Sacrifice of finger-joints Sacrifice of finger-joints

Amputation ofIndians

Amputation ofIndians

....*..finger-joints in

.....finger-jointsin

among among among

thethe

Mandan

Crows and other Indians

the Blackfoot Indians

mourning among the North American

mourning among the South Americanin Africain the

Amputation of Amputation of

finger-joints in finger-joints iniiffitead

mourning

mourning

Nicobar Islands

Notching house-pillar

of destroying house in mourning

House destroyed

or deserted after a death for fear of the ghost.

Camp

shifted after a death for fear of the ghost

Nicobarese mourners disguise themselves from the ghost

Amputation of finger-joints in mourning in New Guinea Amputation of finger-joints in mourning in Polynesia Amputation of finger-joints in mourning in Fiji Sacrifice of foreskins in mourning in Fiji Amputation of finger-joints in mourning perhaps a sacrifice.

to the ghost

Orestes and the Furies of his murdered mother

.

Mutilating dead children whose elder brothers or sisters have died

Custom

in

Bengal of cutting

similar births

....off

nose or ear of stillborn child after several

West African custom

of mutilating or destroying dead children

whose elder

brothers or sisters have died

Idea of reincarnation associated with such mutilations

Bambara custom of mutilating dead children whosehave diedincarnation

These mutilations intended to induce the soul to remain.

Mutilation of dead children to prevent their reincarnation in

North America

Mutilation of living children, whose elder brothers or sisters have died

..... ..... ......its

elder brothers or sisters

in life at its next

Annam and

perhaps intended to prevent them from dying

Piece of child's ear swallowed by mother, perhaps to secure

her

womb

European treatment of children whose elder brothers or sisters have died Pretended exposure and sale of such children in MacedoniaDevices to save the lives of such children in Albania, Bulgaria, andRussia

Expedient to save the

....... ......lives of

rebirth in

such children in Scotland

.

Esthonian mode of burying such children

Saxon and German treatment of such children at baptism Blood drawn from ears as offering to the dead Pieces of ears cut off by mourners Blood drawn from ears as an offering to the gods in Mexico Ears and noses bored to secure happiness in the other world Noses bored from superstitious motives in Australia

All customs of mutilating thestition

Ears of animals cut

Ewe

custom to prevent a slave from running awayof cutting the ear of a

........ .....human body probablyoff in sacrifice. . .

CONTENTS

xiii

PAGE

originated in super-

261

Magical intention of boring a servant's ear

Wolof custom

new master

.... ..... .

262263 264 265 266 266267

Intention of the custom perhaps to form a blood-bond

.

Toradja custom of burning the hair of a new master's child Magical use of blood or hair in these customs Toradja custom of cuttingfrom straying.

.

.

.

.

.

.

off a piece of a buffalo's ear to. .

keep the buffalo. .

.

.

268

Hebrew custom

of boring a servant's ear perhaps a magical

rite

.

.

269

CHAPTERHebrew customs

IV

CUTTINGS FOR THE DEADof cutting the body and shearing the hair in mourning

Similar Philistine and Moabite customs

The customs forbidden The customs forbidden

....

270271

in the

Deuteronomic codecode

271

in the Levitical

272273 273

Both customs common in mourning throughout the world Arab custom of scratching the face and shearing the hair in mourning Similar mourning customs in ancient Greece Assyrian, Armenian, and Roman custom of scratching faces in mourning Faces gashed and hair shorn by mourners among Scythians, Huns, Slavs and Caucasian peoplesBodies scratched and hair shorn by mourners in Africa

Bodies lacerated and hair shorn by mourners in Indian tribes of North

America

Bodies lacerated and hair shorn by mourners in Indian tribes of South

........ .. .

.....the

274 274275 276

277 282

America

Bodies lacerated by mourners

among

Turks and

Guinea, and the

New

Hebrides

Hair shorn and offered to the dead by mournersBodies lacerated by mourners in Hawaii Bodies lacerated by mourners in Tonga

Bodies lacerated and hair shorn by mourners in Tahiti

Bodies lacerated in mourning in Samoa, Mangaia, and the MarquesasIslands

Bodies lacerated and hair shorn by mourners

Bodies

lacerated

aborigines

Blood of mourners applied

....... .......amongthe Maoristo the corpse or the

.... .... ....tribes in in

Sumatra,

New283 284 28s 287 288

Halmahera

289

.

290291

and hair shorn by mourners among the Australiangrave

296297 297 297

Severed hair of mourners applied to the corpseBodies lacerated and hair shorn by mourners

among

the

Tasmanians.

Body

lacerated and hair shorn perhaps as di.sguise against ghost

xiv

FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENTPAGEin Australian

mourning customs Desire to propitiate ghost shown in Australian mourning customs Offerings of blood and hair to the dead.

Fear of ghost shown

298 298 299 300302 303

How How

the blood the hair

may be thought to benefit the dead may be thought to benefit the dead

Customs of cutting the body and shearing thea worship of the dead

..,.,.hair in

mourning evidence of

CHAPTER VTHE BITTER WATERI.

The Ordeal of the Bitter Water in Israel

Hebrew ordeal for the trial of an adulteress The mode of procedure in the ordealProbable antiquity of the ordeal

.....

304305 306

2.

"The Poison Ordeal in Africa

The

ordeal by drinking poison in Africa

307307 308

Bark of Erythrophleum guineense usedDiffusion of the poison ordeal in Africa

in the poison ordeal.

Different species of Erythrophleum in Africa Diffusion of Erythrophleum

compared with

diffusion of the poison ordeal

309 310 312 316 316 318 319 319321321

The poison ordeal among the Balantes of Senegal The ordeal among the Bagnouns of the Casamance River The ordeal among the Sereres of Senegambia The ordeal among the Landamas and Naloos of Senegal The ordeal among the Mossi of Upper Senegal The water of the ordeal tinctured with sacred earth Ordeal of poisoned arrows among the Kassounas-Fras Use of a sacred bough to detect a culprit Ordeal of poisoned arrows among the Bouras Use of a sacred bough and hair to detect a culprit.

322

Corpse questioned as to the cause of

its

death

322 322 323 325 326 328329 329

The poison The The The

ordeal in Sierra

Clothes and nails of the corpse used in interrogatoryred water

Comparison with thepoison ordeal

.....bitter

Leone

water of the Hebrews

poison ordeal in Liberia

among among

the

Kru negroesNeyaux of.

Hair and

nails of the

corpse used in ititerrogatorythe the Ivory Coast

The The The The The

poison ordeal

330 330331

poison ordeal on the Gold Coast poison ordeal in Togoland

333

poison ordeal on the Slave Coastpoison ordeal at Benin

334335

Calabar bean in the poison ordeal in Southern Nigeria

335

CONTENTSThe poisonordeal at Calabar

XVPAGE..

Devastating effects of the ordeal

Action of the poison on the

human body

The

poison ordeal

among

General account of the

Kagoro of Northern Nigeria poison ordeal in Upper Guineathe..

...... ...... .

.

-336336337 338

.

.

.

.

338

Intelligence ascribed to the red water

.

.

.

,

The poison ordeal on the Cross River in Cameroons The ordeal among the Bayas of French Congo The ordeal among the Fans of the Gaboon Power of divination thought to be conferred by the poison.

.

.

340 340342343

.

.

.

.341...

Personification of the poison

The ordeal among the Otandos of the Gaboon The test of dropping poison in the eye The poison ordeal in the Congo valley The poison ordeal in Loango The universal belief in witchcraft.

Drinking the poison by proxy

Merolla on the poison ordeal in Congo

Proyart on the poison ^rdeal in Loango and Congo The poison ordeal in the Congo State The two poisons employed in the ordeal in LoangoSuperstitions about the poison-tree

The The The The The The The The The

poison ordealordeal ordeal ordealordeal

among

ordeal ordeal

among the among the among the among the among the among theamong

Bangala Ababua, Nyam-nyam, and Mambuttus Bambala Ba-yaka, Ba-huana, and BangongoBashilange and Baluba

Balunda

ordeal in Angola ordeal

the Songos of

General absence of the poison ordeal in South Africa

...... ..... ...... ..... ..... ..... ...... ...... .... ...... ....... .......

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

345 345 348 348

.

.

.

.

.

348 350

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

35* '351.

.

.

352 353

.

.

.

356356 358 359362

the

Bakongo

.

.361363 364365 366

.

.

Angola

369

.

.

.

370Zl^

The poison ordeal among the Zulus The ordeal among the Bawenda of the Transvaal The ordeal among the Thonga The ordeal in Sofala and Manica The ofdeal on the Zambesi The ordeal in British Central Africa The ordeal among the Tumbuka. . .

.

.

.

-370

.

.

.

.

.

.

Sorcery, poisoning, and cannibalism associated

The ordeal among the Awemba of Rhodesia Ceremony at obtaining the bark from the poison-treeof British Central Africa

Sorcery, poisoning, and cannibalism associated in Nyanja-speaking tribes

The poison

ordeal in these tribes

Native Nyanja account of the poison ordeal

The medicine-man's song The ordeal among the Bantu

..... ..... .... .... ...... ..... ......... ..

.372 -375.

.

.

.

.

377

379 382 382383 383 385 386

.

.

.

.

*

.

.

.

tribes of

German East

Africa

.

.

387 389 393

FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENTThe The Theordeal ordeal

ordeal

among among among

the the

Wanpa

Wanyamwesi, Wagogo, and Wahehe

....the Masai and

PAGE

394395 396397

the tribes of British East Africa

Ordeal by drinking blood

among

Suk

The The The The The The

poison ordeal

poison ordealpoison ordeal

poison ordeal poison ordeal poison ordeal

among among among among among among 3.

the Bantu tribes of Kavirondo

397

the Basoga the

Baganda the Banyorothe

Wawira

399 399 400 400401

the Gallas

The Poison Ordeal in Madagascar

The poison extracted from the tagena The procedure in the ordealAnimals as proxiesin the ordeal

Prayers addressed to the god in the poison

4.

Judicial ordeals in ancient Indian law

Various kinds of ordeal

.... .... ....tree_

401

402 402

404

The Poison Ordeal in hidia

The laws

of Vishnu on the poison ordeal

4^3 405 406 407 407 408

Prayer addressed to the poison

Other ancient Indian accounts of the poison ordealPrayer addressed to the poison. ..

Aconite the poison employed in the ordeal

409

5.

The Geographical Diffusion of the Poison Ordeal.

The poison

ordeal seemingly confined to Africa, Madagascar, and India

410

The

poison ordeal apparently assumes the personality and intelligence ofthe poison

Written curses washed off into the bitter water

Practice of drinking water into which writing has been

The The

practice in Africa

practice in Madagascar, Tibet, China,

........ .... ....... 7.

6.

The Meaning of the Poison Ordeal

411

The Drinking of the Written Curse

412 413 413 414

washed

Annam, and Japan

CHAPTER

VI

THE OX THAT GOREDto death

Homicidal ox

to

be stoned

Blood revenge extended by Kukis to animals and trees

415 415

CONTENTSTrees that have caused a death felled by Ainos

xvii

PAGE

416417 418 418

Homicidal weapons destroyed or rendered uselessRiver that has drowned a

man

stabbed by the Kachins

Homicidal buffaloes put to death in Malacca and Celebes Arab treatment of homicidal animals Punishment of worrying dog in the Zend-Avesta.

Trial of animals and things in ancient Athens Trial of animals Trial

419 419 420421 422

and things recommended by Plato

and punishment of things in Thasos Statues punished at Olympia and Rome

.

Animals punished in ancient Rome Trial and punishment of animals in modern EuropeEcclesiastical jurisdiction over wild animals

and vermin

Mode

of proceeding against animals in ecclesiastical courtsin

Examples of the prosecution of animalsLawsuit brought byLawsuit againstrats at

Europe

St. Julien against coleopterous insects

423 423 424 424 425 427 428 429 430 431 432433 434 435 437 438 438

Autun

Proceedings taken by the Stelvio against field-mice

Proceedings taken by Berne against vermin called z'uger

Proceedings against Spanish

flies at

Coire and leeches at Lausanne

Proceedings against caterpillars at Villenose and StrambinoProceedings against caterpillars in Savoy Proceedings against ants in Brazil Proceedings against rats and mice in BourantonTrial.

.

and punishment of domestic animals by the civil power Trial and execution of a homicidal sow at SavignyExecution of sows at various places,

Execution of other animals in FranceExecution of a cockat

439 440441

Bale for laying an egg

Execution of dogs in

New

EnglandSavoyfor

Animals

cited as witnesses in

442 442heresy

The bell of La Rochelle punished The English law of deodand

AdamThe

Smith on the punishment of

lifeless

objects

primitive personification of things reflected in primitive law

443 443 444 445

CHAPTERJewishpriest's

VII

THE GOLDEN BELLSrobe hung with golden bells

Sound of the

bells

perhaps intended to drive

off"

demons.

446 446447 448

Clash of bronze to drive away

spirits in antiquity

Use of church

bells to drive

Longfellow on church bells in T/ie Golden Legend

The Passing The Passing

Bell

....demons.

away

evil spirits

Bell rung to banish

449 450 451

FOLK-LORE IN THE OLD TESTAMENTDante on the Vesper BellBret Harte on the Angelus

Renan onChurch

the bells of

Rome and

.... ....Venice.

Importance of the emotional side of folk-lorebells

rung to drive away witcheshis benediction.

.

The bellman andChurchbells

.

.

Milton, Herrick, and Addison on the bellman

rung

to drive:

away thunderstormsonbells

Consecration of bells

inscriptions

Delrio on the consecration and ringing of church bells

Bacon on the ringing of

Famous bells The bells of CalotoBells used

......bells in

thunderstojms

in

South America

by the Bateso to exorcize thunder and lightning Gongs beaten by the Chinese in thunder-storms Church bells thought by New Guinea people to ban ghosts.

Bells used

by the Pueblo Indians in exorcism Gongs beaten by the Chinese to exorcize demons Bells used by the Annamese.in exorcism.

Religious use of bells inBells

Burma

and metal instruments soundedprimitive folkbells used in

.... .....

at funerals

and

in

mourning among

Gongs andBells

Borneo to drive

off

Bells attached to an honoured visitor

among

demons the Dyaks

worn by priests in India and children in China worn by children in Africa to keep off demons Bells rung to keep demons from women after childbirth The infant Zeus and the Curetes Evil spirits kept off at childbirth by armed men among the Tagalog;s ofBells

Philippines

Evil spirits kept off at childbirth by

Burmapeoples

Evil spirits kept off at childbirth by clash of metal, etc.,

Precautions against Silvanus at childbirth

Tinkling anklets worn byBellsBells

among the Romans among the Sunars used by girls at circumcision among the Nandi used to ward off demons on the Congo and the Victoria Nyagirls

..... ...... .......

th

armed men among

tlie

Kach ins of

among

Use of

bells

by

priests, prophets,

and medicine-men

in Africa

Function of the Jewish

priest's

golden bells

INDEX

481

PART

III

THE TIMES OF THE JUDGES AND THEKINGS(^CONTINUED)

CHAPTERU

XII

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDat Jerusalem there

In the templeently priests,

were three?

officials,

appar- The^fThe^*^^

who

bore the

title

of Keepers of the Threshold.^

What

precisely

was

their function

They may have been

Threshold["j^p^g at

mere doorkeepers, but their title suggests that they were somefor many curious superstitions have gathered thing more round the threshold in ancient and modern times.' The prophet Zephaniah represents Jehovah himself saying, " And in that day I will punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their master's house with violence and deceit."^;

Jerusalem,

^

Jeremiah xxxv.9, xxii. 4,xxiii.

4,

lii.

24

;

2 Kings18.

In all these passages the English Version, both Authorized and Revised, wrongly substitutes "door" for "threshold."xii.

4,

xxv.

wrongly renders "over the The phrase is rightly threshold." translated in the Authorized Version.Version

The English revisers and E. Kautsch in his German translation of the Bible(Freiburg i. B. and Leipsic, 1894) have done violence to the proper senseof the preposition '?};("ently for the

The number of these officials is mentioned in Jeremiah lii. 24, and 2 Kings xxv. 18. That they were priests seemsto follow-

upon

"),

appar-

from 2 Kings

xii.

9.

of such superalong with some untenable theories, by H. Clay Trumbull in his book The Threshold Covenant, Second Edition, New York, 1906. See also G. Tyrrell Leith in Panjab Notesfullest collection

The

stitions is given,

andTod

Queries,

ii.

Ernst

Samter,;

75^^., 459, 460; Geburt, Hochzeii und

(Leipsic and Berlin, 191 1), pp.^ 136-146 F. D. E. van Ossenbruggen, " Het primitieve denken," Bijdragentot

de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van A'ederlandsch- Indie, Ixxi. {19 1 5) pp. 2 1 1 sqq. As to the threshold in Ger-

man

folk-lore, see C. L. Rochholtz, Deutscher Glaube und Branch (Berlin, 1867), ii. 156 sqq. ^ Zephaniah i. The Revised 9.

purpose of harmonizing the passage with i Samuel v. 5. S. R. Driver also thought that the prophet is here denouncing a heathen practice of jumping over the threshold (note on Zephaniah i. 9 in The Century Bible), and Professor R. H. Kennett writes to me that he inclines to take the same view. Similarly W. Robertson Smith held that the men whom the prophet referred to were the Philistine bodyguards, who leaped over the threshold in conformity with Philistine custom (The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, Second Edition, London and It Edinburgh, 1892, pp. 261 sq.). plight be a nice question of casuistry to decide whether a jumper who clears a threshold has committed a more or less

VOL. HI

B

2

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDthis

part hi

Fromand

denunciation

it

would appear that to jump on asin,

threshold was viewed as adeceit,

which, equally with violence

drew down the divine wrath on the jumper. At Ashdod the Philistine god Dagon clearly took a similar view

of the sinfulness of such jumps, for

we read

that his priests

and worshippers wereModernfupwstition abouta7hresiK)id"

careful

not to tread on the thresholdpertells

sisted in the

when they entered his temple.^ The same scruple has same regions to this day. Captain Conderof a SyrianInbelief " thatall

it is unlucky to tread on a mosques a wooden bar at the door obliges those who enter to stride across the sill, and the same custom These rustic shrines are is observed in the rustic shrines." ^ the chapels of the saints which are to be found in almost every village of Syria, and form the real centre of the peasant's " The grqatest respect is shown to the chapel, religion. where the invisible presence of the saint is supposed always The peasant removes his shoes before entering, to abide. and takes care not to tread on the threshold." ^

us

threshold.

KeepersThreshold Peking

iTiodern timcs suggests that in the

at

This persistence of the superstition in Syria down to temple at Jerusalem the Keepers of the Threshold may have been warders stationedthe entrance of the sacred edifice to preventall

MiddleAges.

^.t

whois

entered

from treading on the threshold.

The

suggestion

confirmed

by the observation that elsewhere Keepers of the Threshold When have been employed to discharge a similar duty. Marco Polo visited the palace at Peking in the days of the famous Kublai Khan, he found that " at every door of the hall (or, indeed, wherever the Emperor may be) there stand a couple of big men like giants, one on each side, armed with Their business is to see that no one steps upon the staves.deadly sin than one who lights on the In either case many people top of it. will find it hard to understand the indignation of the deity on the subject. In the Babylonian I Samuel V. 5. Talmud ('Abodah Zarah *i ^) it is said that " they let alone the Dagon [the statue of the god] and worshipped the miftan [the threshold], for they said his'

revered the threshold more than the Dagon (statue). See Martin A. Meyer, History of the City of Gaza (New York, 1907), p.- 123 {Columbia University Oriental Studies, vol. v.), from which I borrow these references to the

Talmud.Q. R. Conder, Heth and Moab (London, 1883), pp. 293 sq. ^ C. R. Conder, Tent Work in /"iz/f^/m^, New Edition (London, 1885),"^

princes [genius] had

left

the

Dagon andmiftan,'']

had come to

sit

upon theit

And

in the Palestinianiii,

Talmud {^Abodahis

p.

306.

As

to these chapels see below,

Zarah,

42

^)

said that they

pp. 39 sqq.

CHAP. XII

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDif

3

threshold in entering, and

this

does happen they strip the

offender of his clothes, and he must pay a forfeit to have

them back again or in lieu of taking his clothes they give him a certain number of blows. If they are foreigners;

ignorant of the order, then there are Barons appointed to introduce them and explain it to them. They think, in fact,luck if any one touches the threshold. it brings bad Howbeit, they are not expected to stick at this in going forth again, for at that time some are like to be the worse for liquor and incapable of looking to their steps." From the account of Friar Odoric, who travelled in the East in the early part of the thirteenth century, it would appear that sometimes these Keepers of the Threshold at Peking gave offenders no choice, but laid on lustily with their staves whenever a man was unlucky enough to touch the threshold." When the monk de Rubruquis, who went as ambassador to China for Louis IX., was at the coiirt of Mangu-Khan, one of his companions happened to stumble at the threshold in going out. The warders at once seized the delinquent and caused him to be carried before " the Bulgai, who is the chancellor, or secretary of the court, who judgeth those who are arraigned of life and death." However, on learning that the offence had been committed in ignorance, the chancellor pardoned the culprit, but would never afterwards let him enter any of the houses of Mangu-Khan.^ The monk was lucky to get off with a whole skin. Even sore bones were by no means the worst that could happen to a man under these circumstances in that part of the world. Piano Carpini, who travelled in Tartary about the middle of the thirteenth century, a few years before the embassy of de Rubruquis, tells us that any rTone who touched the threshold of the hut or tent of a 1 artar prince used to be dragged out through a hole made for the purpose under the hut or tent, and then put to death without mercy.** The feeling on which these restrictions were basedthat^ 1

Capital

^l^'tfor treadingthreshold^ ^ Tanar prince's hut

or tent,

lated

The Book of Ser Marco Polo, K.X2LVi%by Colonel Henry Yule, Second

^

quis,"

"Travels of William de RubruGetteral in John Pinkerton's

-

Edition (London, 1875), ' SS^2 Colonel Henry Yule, Cathay and the H'^ay thither (Hakluyt Society,travels

Collection of Voyages (London, 1808-1814),*

andvii.

Travels

65-67.

London; 1866), i. 132. The friar's began between 12 16 and 12 18, and ended in 1230.

des Mongoles ou Tartares, ed.(Paris,1

Jean du Plan de Carpin, Relation D'Avezac838), cap.iii.

2.

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDis

part hi

tersely expressed in a;

Mongolthis

saying, " Step not on the

thresholdRespectfor the

it is

sin,"

-^

But

in

the Middle

Ages

respect for the threshold

thresholds of the caliphs of

was not limited to Tartar or Mongol peoples. The caliphs of Baghdad " obliged all those who entered their palace toprostrate themselves on the threshold of the gate, where they

Baghdadand thekings ofPersia.

had

inlaid a piece of the black stone of the

temple at Meccah,

in order to

render

it

more venerable

to the peoples

who had

The been accustomed to press their foreheads against it. threshold was of some height, and it would have been a crimeto set foot

upon

it."^

At

a later time,

when

the Italian traveller

Pietro della Valle visited the palace of the Persian kings at

Ispahan early in the seventeenth century, he observed that utmost reverence is shewn to the gate of entrance, so much so, that no one presumes to tread on a certain step of wood in it somewhat elevated, but, on the contrary, people Any kiss it occasionally as a precious and holy thing."" the

criminal

who

contrived to pass this threshold and enter the

palace was in sanctuary and might not be molested.Pietro della Valle was in Ispahan, thereliving in

Whenof rank

was

a

man

the palace

whom

the king wished to put to death.

But the offender had been quick enough to make his way into the palace, and there he was safe from every violence, though had he stepped outside of the gate he would instantly " None is refused admittance to the have been cut down. palace, but on passing the threshold, which he kisses, as I havebefore remarked, he has claim of protection.in short, is in

This threshold,is

such veneration, thatfor the court

its

name of Astane

the

denominationRespectfor the

Atouch

similar respect forit

and the royal palace itself" ^ the threshold and a reluctance toas

thresholds of Fijianchiefs.

are foundInFiji, "

among barbaroustosit

well

as

civilizedis

peoples.

on the threshold of a temple

tabu to any

but a chief of the highest rank.

All are careful

not to tread on the threshold of a place set apart for the

gods persons of rank stride over others pass over on their hands and knees. The same form is observed in crossing:;

1

The Book of Ser Marco

Polo, trans-

lated by Colonel

Henry Yule, Second

Edition (London, 1875), i- 3722 B. d'Herbelot, Biblioihlque Orientale,i.

" Bab," citing as his authority Khondemir, in the Life of Mostasem. ^ Pietro della Valle, "Travels ins.v.

Persia, "in J. Pinkerton's

Generalix.

Collec-

(The Hague, 1777)

p.

306,

tion of Voyages

and Travels,

26, 31.

CHAP,

x'li

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDIndeed, thereis

5

the threshold of a chief's house.

very

little

difference between a chief of high rank

and one of the second

order of

deities.is

The former

regards himself very

muchright

as

a god, and

often spoken of as such

by

his people, and,

onofRespect[hreshoidin Africa,

some

occasions,^

claims for himself publicly the

divinity."

way

is

often

West Africa " at the entrance to a village the barred by a temporary light fence, only a narrowInleft

arched gateway of saplings beingis, is

open.

These saplingsfence, frail

are wreathed with leaves or flowers.

That

as

it

from those arched When actual war is coming, saplings hang fetich charms. this street entrance is barricaded by logs, behind which real fight is to be made against human, not spiritual, foes. The light gateway is sometimes further guarded by a sapling pinned to the ground horizontally across the narrow threshold. An entering stranger must be careful to tread over and not In an expected great evil the gateway is sometimes on it. ^ sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificed goat or sheep." Among the Nandi of British East Africa, nobody may sit and a man at the door or on the threshold of a house may not even touch the threshold of his own house or anything in it, except his own bed, when his wife has a child In Morocco similarly nobody is that has not been weaned.^ allowed to sit down on the threshold of a house or at the entrance of a tent should any person do so, it is believed that The he would fall ill or would bring ill luck on the house.'* Korwas, a Dravidian tribe of Mirzapur, will not touch the The Respect threshold of a house either on entering or on leaving it.^ Kurmis, the principal class of cultivators in the Central Pro- ,hreshoid vinces of India, say that " no one should ever sit on the among the this is the seat of Lakshmi, the goddess ^ribes^oT threshold of a houseintended as a bar to evilspirits, for; ;;

of wealth, and to

sit

on

it

is

disrespectful to her."

The

India

and

Kalmuks think1

it

a sin to

sit

on the threshold of a

door.'

Thomas

Fijians,

Second

Williams, Fiji and the Edition (London,

W.

Crooke, Tribes and Castes of

the

North-Western Provinces and Oudh

i. 233. R. H. Nassau, Fetichism in West Africa (London, 1904), p. 93. 3 A. C. Mollis, The Nandi {OySoxA,

i860),-

(Calcutta, 1896), iii. 333. ^ R. V. Russell, Tiibes

and

Castes

of the Central (London, 1916),"'

Provinces of Indiaiv.

89.

1909), pp. 17, 66.*

Edward Westermarck, Marriage

Benjamin Bergmann, Nomadische Streifereien unterden Faltniiken{K\g3L,1804),ii.

Ceremonies in Morocco (honAon, 1914), p. 220, note '.

264.

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDConditional

part hi

prohibitions to

touch thethreshold.

Practice of carrying

a brideover the threshold at her first entrance into her

new home.

Practice of carrying a bride over the threshold inPalestine,

China,Russia, Java, andAfrica.

sit on nobody, so far as appears, is ever allowed to touch or sit on it at any time or under any circumstances. Only in one case is the prohibition temporary and conditional. Among the Nandi it seems that a man is only forbidden to touch the threshold of his own house when his wife has a child at the breast but in that case the prohibition is not confined to the threshold but extends to everyHowever, thing in the house except the man's own bed. there are other cases in which the prohibition expressly refers only to certain particular circumstances, though it might be unsafe to infer that its scope is really so limited, and that under all other circumstances people are free to use the For example, at Tangier, threshold at their discretion. when a man has returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca, it is customary for his friends to carry him over the threshold and deposit him on his bed.' But from this usage it would be to infer that in Morocco, wrong at all other times and under all other circumstances, a man or a woman may be freely deposited, or may seat himself or herself, on the threshold of a house for we have seen that in Morocco nobody is ever allowed under any circumstances to sit down on the threshold of a house or at the entrance of a tent. Again, in Morocco a bride at marriage is carried across the threshold of her husband's house, her relatives taking care that she shall not This practice of carrying a bride across the touch it.^ threshold on her first entrance into her new home has been observed in many parts of the world, and the custom has been discussed and variously interpreted both in ancient and modern times. It may be well to give some instances of it before we inquire into its meaning. In Palestine at the present time " a bride is often carried over the threshold that her feet may not touch it, to do so being considered unlucky." ^ The Chinese precautions to prevent a bride's feet from touching the threshold are more Among the Hakkas, for example, when the bride elaborate.

In most of these cases the prohibition to touch oris

a threshold

general and absolute

;

;

;

^

Edward Westermarck, The Moorof Holiness [YieXsingiors,

ish Conception

pp. 219 sq., 324; id.. The Moorish Conception of Holiness, p. 134.^

1916), p. 134.2 Edward Westermarck, Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco (London, 1914),

Holy Land {London, 1906),

C. T. Wilson, Peasant Life in the p. 114.

CHAP.

XII

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDis

7

arrives at the door of her husband's house, she "

assisted

from her chair by an old

woman

acting in the man's interests,is

and

is

handed by her over the threshold, where^

placed a

red-hot coulter steeped in vinegar."varies

The usage perhapsAccording to

somewhat

in different

parts of China.

another account, which probably applies to Canton and the neighbourhood, when the bride alights from her sedan-chairat the door of the bridegroom's house, " sheis placed on the back of a female servant, and carried over a slow charcoal fire, on each side of which are arranged the shoes which were borne in the procession as a gift to her future husband. Above her head, as she is conveyed over the charcoal fire,

another female servant raises a tray containing several pairs ofchop-sticks,

some

rice,

and

betel-nuts."is,

^

Among

the

Mord-

vins of Russia the bride

or used to be, carried into the

bridegroom'sparty .^

house

in

the arms of

In Java and othercarries his

groom himself

some of the wedding of the Sunda Islands the bridebride in his arms into the house.*

when the bridal party approaches the bridegroom's town, the bride is taken on the back of an old woman and covered with a fine cloth, " for from this time she is not allowed to be seen by any male person, till after consummation. Mats are spread on the ground, that the feet of the person who carries her may not touch the earth in this manner she is carried to the house of her intended husband." ^ Among the Atonga, a tribe of British Central Africa, to the west of Lake Nyasa, a bride is conducted by young girls to the bridegroom's house, where he awaits her. At the threshold she stops, and will not cross it until the bridegroomIn Sierra Leone,;

* " Hakka Marriage Customs," China Review, viii. (Hongkong, 1879-

mentioned by

J.

N. Smirnov

in his ac-

1880)2

p.

320.

-

H. Gray, China (London, 1878), i. Compare J. F. Davis, The 205. Chinese, New Edition (London, 1845J.

1851), i. 267, "The bride is carried the house in the arms of the matrons who act as her friends, and lifted over a pan of charcoal at the door."into

count of the marriage customs of the Mordvins, thoughhenoticeswhathesupposes to be traces of marriage by capture among the people {Les Populations Pinnoises des bassins de la Volga et de / Aawa, Premiere Partie, Paris, 1898, pp. 341 sqq.). * G. A. Wilken, " Plechtigheden en Gebruiken bij Verlovingen en Huwelijken,"

De

verspreide

Geschriften

Hon. John Abercromby, "Marriage Customs of the Mordvins," Polk^

lore,

i.

seems now

The custom (1890) p. 442. to be obsolete, for it is not

(The Hague, 1912), i. 498. ^ John Matthews, A Voyage to the River Sierra-Leone (London, 1791),p.

118.

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLD

part in

has given her a hoe. She then puts one foot over the threshold of the doorway, and her husband gives her two yards of cloth. After that, the bride puts both feet within the house and stands near the doorway, whereupon she receives apresent of beads orPractice of carrying a bride over the threshold

some

equivalent.^

In these latter accounts the avoidance of the threshold at

the bride's entrance into her

new home

is

implied rather than

amongAryanpeoples

fromIndia to Scotland.

But among Aryan peoples from India to Scotland it has been customary for the bride on such occasions carefully to shun contact with the threshold, either by stepping over it or by being carried over it. Thus, for example, in ancient India it was the rule that the bride should cross theexpressed.

threshold of her husband's house with her right foot foremost,

Exactly the same by the southern Slavs at Mostar in Herzegovina and the Bocca di Cattaro.^ Among the Albanians, when the bridal party arrives at the bridegroom's house, the members of it take care to cross the thresholds of the rooms, especially that of the room in which the bridalbut should not stand on the threshold.^ruleis

said to be

still

followed

crowns are deposited, with the right footSlavonia the bridethe best man.^is

foremost.'*

In

carried into the bridegroom's house

by

modern Greece, the bride may So in ancient not touch the threshold, but is lifted over it.*^ Rome, when the bride entered her new home, she was forSimilarly, in.

bidden to touch the threshold with her feet, and in order to In recording the avoid doing so she was lifted over it. custom, Plutarch, like some modern writers, interpreted it asarelic^

of a practice of forcibly capturing wives.'^Harry H. Johnston, British (London, 1897), p.

A

Cala-

Sir

Central Africa 4132

* G. von Hahn, Albanesische J. Studien (Jena, 1854), i. 146. ^

Ida von

The Grihya-Stitras, translated bypartii.

Freiherr

Otto Diiringsfeld und von Reinsberg - Diiringsfeld,alte Griechenp. 97.

H. Oldenberg,

(Oxford, 1892)

I/ochzeitshtch {Leipsic, 1871), p. 84.^

pp. 193, 263 {The Sacred Books of the East, vol. XXX.) ; M. Winternitz, Das altindische Hochzeitsrituell nach detn

C.

Wachsmuth, Das

land im neuem (Bonn, 1864),''

Apastambiya

(Vienna, 1892), pp. 23, 72 {Denkschriften der Kaiser. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, Philosoph.-HistorischeClasse,-

Grihyasiitra

Plutarch,;

29

Quaestiones Rovianae, Catullus Ixi. 166 sq., with Robin;

Plautus, son Ellis's commentary Casina, iv. 4. i ; Varro, cited by Servius

xL). F. S. Krauss, Sitte tnid Branch der Siidslaven (Vienna, 1885), pp. 430,3

on

Virgil, Eclog.ii.

viii.

29

;

Lucan,

Pha7-salia,

quardt,

Das

Compare J. Mar359. Privatleben der Rumer"^

431-

(Leipsic, 1886), p. 55.

CHAP.

XII

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLD

9

day is careful not to stumble on the when she enters her husband's house, for such a mishap would be deemed of evil omen.^ In some parts of Silesia the bride is carried over the threshold of her new home.^ Similarly, in country districts of the Altmark it is, or used tobrian bride at the present

threshold

be,

customary

for the bride to drive in;

a carriage or cart to her

husband's house

on her

arrival the

bridegroom took her

in

his arms, carried her into the

house without allowing her

feet

In and set her down by the hearth.^ French Switzerland the bride used to be met at the door of her husband's house by an old woman, who threw three handfuls of wheat over her. Then the bridegroom took her in his arms, and so assisted her to leap over the threshold, which she might not touch with her feef* The custom of carrying the bride over the threshold into the house is said to have been formerly observed in Lorraine and other parts of France.^ In Wales " it was considered very unlucky for a bride to place her feet on or near the threshold, and the lady, on her return from the marriage ceremony, was always carefully lifted over the threshold and into the house. The brides who were lifted were generally fortunate, but trouble was in store for the maiden who preferred walking into the house." The usage seems to have been similar in Lincolnshire, for we read that " on this same bride being brought by her husband to his home in Lincolnshire, at the end of the honeymoon, the custom of lifting the bride over the threshold was observed the bride and bridegroom got out of the carriage a few yards from the house, and he carried her up the steps, and into the hall." In some parts of Scotland, as late as the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the wedding party arrived at the bridegroom's house, " the young wife was lifted overto touch the ground,*" ;'

1

Vincenzo Dorsa,

La

Tradizioue

Hochzeitsbuch (Leipsic, 1871), p. 106.5 i^a von Duringsfeld und Otto preiherr von Reinsberg- Duringsfeld, Hochzeitsbuch, ^y>2S^o ^^ ^S^, '

Greco-LatinanegliUsienelkCredenzePopolari della Calabria CUeriore {Cosenza 1884), p 87 2 P. Drechsler, Side, Branch und VolksglauheinSchlesien{^\^%\c,\()oi1906) i. 264. 2 J. D. H. Temme, Die Volkssagen der Altmark (Berlin, 1839), p. 73. * Ida von Duringsfeld und Otto Freiherr von Reinsberg- Duringsfeld,

^I^rie

Trevelyan,

Folk-lore

and

Folk-stories of Wales (London, 1909),P-

273"^

collected

County Folk-lore, v. Lincolnshire, by Mrs. Gutch and Mabel Peacogk (London, 1908), pp. 233 sq.

lo

THE KEEPERS OF THE THRESHOLDfirst

part in

the threshold, orill e'e

step of the door, lest

any witchcraft or^

should be cast upon and influence her."is

improbathe theory that the

the bride

over thethreshold

isarehc of

rnamageby capture.

custom of lifting a bride ^^ threshold of her husband's house ? Plutarch suggested that at Rome the ceremony might be a reminisccncc of the rape of the Sabine women, whom the early Romans carried off" to be their wives.^ Similarly some ,. modern writers have argued that the rite is a relic or survival of an aucicnt custom of capturing ' wives from a hostile tribe and bringing them by force into the houses of their captors.^ But against this view it may be observed that the custom of lifting the bride over the threshold can hardly be separated from the custom which enjoins the bridethethis^^'',

What

meaning of

...

to steplatter

over the threshold

without

touching

it.

In this

custom there is no suggestion of violence or constraint the bride walks freely of her own accord into the bridegroom's house, only taking care that in doing so her;

feet

should

not

touch the threshold

;

and, so far as

we

know, this custom is at least as old as the other, since it is the one prescribed in the ancient Indian law-books,* which say nothing about lifting the bride over the threshold. Accordingly we may conclude that the practice of carrying a wife at marriage into her husband's house is simply a precaution to prevent her feet from coming into contact with the threshold, and that it is therefore only a particular instance of that scrupulous avoidance of the threshold which we have found to prevail among many races of mankind. If any further argument were needed against bride-capture1

stitious Beliefs in the

James Napier, Folk Lore, or SuperWest of Scotland

within'this Century (Paisley, 1879), p.51. CompareJ. G. Dalyell, Z"/^!? ZJaryl'^r Superstitions of Scotland (Edinburgh,

1834), p. 291, "The bride was lifted over the threshold of her husband's house, in imitation of the customs ofthe ancients."2 ^r)i t \. r\ . n Flutarch, Quaest. Roman. 20. ^ =* '

and L. von Schroeder (^Die Hochzeitsgebrduche der Esten, Berlin, 1888, p. On the other hand, it has been 92). rightly rejected by E. Tyrrell Leith (Panjab Notes and Queries, ii. 76, 460), M. Winternitz {Das IndischeHochzeitsrituell,p.

72),

W. Crooke

("Thexiii.

Lifting of the Bride," Folk-lore, 1902, pp. 242 sqq.), H. C. Trum-

bull (Tlie Threshold Covenant, p. 36),

p^^ioM ^-anVe:,tt

(Weimar, 1858), p. 146. ., imr" ,1 r. 7 . r rr 7l Der deutsche Volks''

2

Manuk Abeghian, Der amienische1

Volksglaube (Leipsic, 1899), P- 913 P. von Stenin, ' Ueber den ^ , f^ o 1 A It ^1 I (jeisterglauben Kussland, Globus, 1 /.o^x - Ivn. (1890) p. 269. 4 \nT o c r> 1 cr j7 * W. R. S. Ralston, Songs of the c1 T7J-.D J.1 Second Russian People, Edition 7t (LonJ o^^\ ^c don, 1872), pp. 136 sq. In Sonnenberg when a child has the cramp it is laid on the door - sill. See August Schleicher, VolkstUmliches aus Sonne-

^^-

^

r.-,

superstition enjoins you to be sure to

"""'^T^.'''

^" ^'^^^'^^

^"""yenteri

m

i.

.

TO

thought that .V otherwise you will not remain in the