The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 08 of 12)

882

W. D. Helderman, “De tijger en het bijgeloof der Bataks,” Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde, xxxiv. (1891) pp. 170-175. The account which this writer gives of the reception of a dead tiger by the Battas agrees with, and is probably the source of, Mr. Batten's account cited above (pp. 216 sq.).

883

C. Hose, “The Natives of Borneo,” Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxiii. (1894) p. 165. Compare A. W. Nieuwenhuis, In Centraal Borneo (Leyden, 1900), i. 148; id., Quer durch Borneo (Leyden, 1904-1907), i. 105. According to the latter writer the Kayans or Bahaus in general abstain from the flesh both of deer and of grey apes, because they think that the souls of the dead may be in them.

884

Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, “The Relations between Men and Animals in Sarawak,” Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxxi. (1901) p. 193.

885

E. H. Gomes, Seventeen Years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo (London, 1911), p. 143.

886

F. S. A. de Clercq, “De West en Noordkust van Nederlandsch Nieuw-Guinea,” Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, Tweede Serie, x. (1893) p. 635.

887

Max Krieger, Neu-Guinea (Berlin, n. d.), p. 404.

888

K. Vetter, Komm herüber und hilf uns! iii. (Barmen, 1898) p. 22. Compare id., in Nachrichten über Kaiser Wilhelms-Land, 1897, pp. 87 sq.; B. Hagen, Unter den Papuas (Wiesbaden, 1899), p. 225.

889

H. Zahn, “Die Jabim,” in R. Neuhauss, Deutsch Neu-Guinea, iii. (Berlin, 1911) p. 310.

890

R. Parkinson, “Die Berlinhafen Section, ein Beitrag zur Ethnographie der Neu-Guinea Küste,” Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie, xiii. (1900) p. 40.

891

Ch. Keysser, “Aus dem Leben der Kaileute,” in R. Neuhauss, Deutsch Neu-Guinea, iii. (Berlin, 1911) pp. 150 sq.

892

Mr. Sleigh of Lifu, quoted by Prof. E. B. Tylor, in Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxviii. (1898) p. 147.

893

R. H. Codrington, The Melanesians (Oxford, 1891), pp. 179 sq.

894

R. H. Codrington, op. cit. p. 177.

895

R. H. Codrington, op. cit. p. 33. East Indian evidence of the belief in transmigration into animals is collected by G. A. Wilken (“Het animisme bij de volken van den Indischen Archipel,” De Indische Gids, June 1884, pp. 988 sqq.), who argues that this belief supplies the link between ancestor-worship and totemism. Compare the same writer's article “Iets over de Papoewas van de Geelvinksbaai,” pp. 24 sqq. (separate reprint from Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van Ned. Indië, 5e Volgreeks ii.). Wilken's view on this subject is favoured by Professor E. B. Tylor (Journal of the Anthropological Institute, xxviii. (1898) pp. 146 sq.). See further, Totemism and Exogamy, iv. 45 sqq.

896

The Laws of Manu, ii. 201.

897

Id., v. 164.

898

Id., xi. 25.

899

Id., xii. 39-78.

900

Sir Monier Monier-Williams, Buddhism, Second Edition (London, 1890), pp. 111 sq. Full, if not always authentic, particulars of the Buddha's manifold transmigrations are contained in the Jatakas, a large collection of stories which has been completely translated into English by the late Professor E. B. Cowell, Dr. W. H. D. Rouse, and other scholars (6 volumes, Cambridge, 1895-1907).

901

Diodorus Siculus, x. 6. 1-3; Jamblichus, De Pythagorica vita, xiv. 63; Porphyry, Vita Pythag. 26 sq.; Ovid, Metamorph. xv. 160 sqq. According to Heraclides Ponticus, the philosopher remembered his personal identity in four different human lives before he was born into the world as Pythagoras (Diogenes Laertius, Vit. Philosoph. viii. 1. 4 sq.). See further E. Rohde, Psyche3 (Leipsic and Tübingen, 1903), ii. 417 sqq.

902

Diogenes Laertius, Vit. Philosoph. viii. 1. 4 and 36.

903

Jamblichus, De Pythagorica vita, xxiv. 107-109; Sextus Empiricus, ix. 127-130; Aulus Gellius, iv. 11.

904

Diogenes Laertius, Vit. Philosoph. viii. 2. 77; H. Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker,2 i. (Berlin, 1906) p. 208, frag. 117.

905

Sextus Empiricus, ix. 129; H. Diels, op. cit. i. pp. 213 sq., frag. 137.

906

Compare Sextus Empiricus, ix. 127-130.

907

Plutarch, Quaest. Conviv. iii. 1. 2. 7; Aulus Gellius, iv. 11. 9; H. Diels, op. cit. i. p. 214, fragments 140, 141.

908

As to Pythagoras in this respect, see E. Rohde, Psyche3 (Tübingen and Leipsic, 1903), ii. 161 sqq.

909

Plutarch, De exilio, 17; id., De esu carnium, i. 7. 4; Clement of Alexandria, Strom. iv. 4. 12, p. 569 ed. Potter; Hippolytus, Refutatio omnium Haeresium, vii. 29, p. 388 ed. L. Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin; H. Diels, op. cit. i. pp. 207 sq., fragments 115, 119.

910

Porphyry, De antro nympharum, 8.

911

H. Diels, op. cit. i. pp. 208 sq., frag. 121.

912

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. iii. 3. 14, iv. 23. 152, v. 14. 123, pp. 516 sq., 632, 722 ed. Potter; H. Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker,2 i. (Berlin, 1906) pp. 207, 209, 215 sq., fragments 115, 124, 144-147.

913

Empedocles is cited by Aristotle as an example of the melancholy which he believed to be characteristic of men of genius. See Aristotle, Problem. 30, p. 953 a 27 ed. Im. Bekker.

914

Stobaeus, Eclogae, i. 41. 60 (vol. i. p. 331 ed. A. Meineke); Plutarch, De esu carnium ii. 4. 4; H. Diels, op. cit. i. p. 210, frag. 126.

915

It seems to be fairly certain that Buddha died and Empedocles was born somewhere about the year 480 b. c. Hence it is difficult to suppose that the ideas of the former should have percolated from India to Greece, or rather to Sicily, in the lifetime of the latter. As to their respective dates see H. Oldenberg, Buddha5 (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1906), pp. 115, 227; E. Zeller, Die Philosophie der Griechen, i.4 (Leipsic, 1876) p. 678 note 1.

916

Plutarch, Adversus Coloten, 10; Aristotle, De Xenophane, 2, p. 975 a 39-b 4 ed. Im. Bekker; H. Diels, op. cit. i. pp. 175, 176, fragments 8 and 12.

917

The evidence, consisting of the testimonies of ancient authorities and the fragments of Empedocles's own writings, is fully collected by H. Diels in his excellent work Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, Zweite Auflage, i. (Berlin, 1906) pp. 158 sqq., 173 sqq. Compare Fragmenta Philosophorum Graecorum, ed. F. G. A. Mullach, i. (Paris, 1875) pp. 1 sqq.; H. Ritter et L. Preller, Historia Philosophiae Graecae et Latinae ex fontium locis contexta, Editio Quinta (Gothae, 1875), pp. 91 sqq.; E. Zeller, Die Philosophie der Griechen, i.4 (Leipsic, 1876) pp. 678 sqq.

918

Herbert Spencer, First Principles, Third Edition (London, 1875), pp. 536 sq.

919

On the discovery of the atomic disintegration of certain chemical elements, and the general question (Evolution or Dissolution?) raised by that discovery, see W. C. D. Whetham, “The Evolution of Matter,” in Darwin and Modern Science (Cambridge, 1909), pp. 565-582, particularly his concluding paragraph: “In the strict sense of the word, the process of atomic disintegration revealed to us by the new science of radio-activity can hardly be called evolution. In each case radio-active change involves the breaking up of a heavier, more complex atom into lighter and simpler fragments. Are we to regard this process as characteristic of the tendencies in accord with which the universe has reached its present state, and is passing to its unknown future? Or have we chanced upon an eddy in a backwater, opposed to the main stream of advance? In the chaos from which the present universe developed, was matter composed of large highly complex atoms, which have formed the simpler elements by radio-active or rayless disintegration? Or did the primaeval substance consist of isolated electrons, which have slowly come together to form the elements, and yet have left here and there an anomaly such as that illustrated by the unstable family of uranium and radium, or by some such course are returning to their state of primaeval simplicity?”

920

H. Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker,2 i. (Berlin, 1906) pp. 190 sqq.; Fragmenta Philosophorum Graecorum, ed. F. G. A. Mullach, i. (Paris, 1875) pp. 8 sqq.; H. Ritter und L. Preller, Historia Philosophiae Graecae et Latinae ex fontium locis contexta5 (Gothae, 1875), pp. 102 sq.; E. Zeller, Die Philosophie der Griechen, i.4 (Leipsic, 1876) pp. 718 sqq.

921

Aristotle, Physic. Auscult. ii. 8, p. 198 b 29 sqq., ed. Im. Bekker; ὅπου μὲν οὖν ἅπαντα συνέβη ὥσπερ κὰν εἰ ἔνεκά του ἐγίνετο, ταῦτα μὲν ἐσωθη ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου συστάντα ἐπιτηδείως; ὅσα δὲ μὴ οὕτως, ἀπώλετο καὶ ἀπόλλυται, καθάπερ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς λέγει τὰ βουγενῆ ἀνδρόπρῳρα. This passage is quoted by Darwin in the “Historical Sketch” prefixed to The Origin of Species with the remark, “We here see the principle of natural selection shadowed forth, but how little Aristotle fully comprehended the principle, is shown by his remarks on the formation of the teeth.” Darwin omits Aristotle's reference to Empedocles, apparently deeming it irrelevant or unimportant. Had he been fully acquainted with the philosophical speculations of Empedocles, we can scarcely doubt that Darwin would have included him among the pioneers of evolution.

922

Diogenes Laertius, Vit. Philosoph. viii. 2. 62; H. Diels, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker,2 i. (Berlin, 1906) p. 205, frag. 112. Compare The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, i. 390.

923

Plato, Phaedo, pp. 81 b-84 c; Republic, x. pp. 617 d-620 d; Timaeus, pp. 41 d-42 d; Phaedrus, p. 249 b.

924

This is the view of E. Zeller (Die Philosophie der Griechen, ii.3 Leipsic, 1875, pp. 706 sqq.), Sir W. E. Geddes (on Plato, Phaedo, p. 81 e), and J. Adam (on Plato, Republic, x. p. 618 a). We have no right, with some interpreters ancient and modern, to dissolve the theory into an allegory because it does not square with our ideas.

925

In our own time the theory of transmigration is favoured by Dr. McTaggart, who argues that human beings may have lived before birth and may live many, perhaps an infinite number of, lives after death. Like Plato he further suggests that the nature of the body into which a person transmigrates at death may be appropriate to and determined by his or her character in the preceding life. See J. McT. Ellis McTaggart, Some Dogmas of Religion (London, 1906), pp. 112-139. However, Dr. McTaggart seems only to contemplate the transmigration of human souls into human bodies; he does not discuss the possibility of their transmigration into animals.

926

This is known, for example, of the Yuchi Indians, for among them “members of each clan will not do violence to wild animals having the form and name of their totem. For instance, the Bear clan people never molest bears.” See F. G. Speck, Ethnology of the Yuchi Indians (Philadelphia, 1909), p. 70. But in spite of the attention which has been paid to American totemism, we possess very little information as to the vital point of the system, the relation between a man and his totemic animal. Compare Totemism and Exogamy, iii. 88 sq., 311.

927

See The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, i. 85 sqq. However, Collins reports that among the natives of New South Wales the women were “compelled to sit in their canoe, exposed to the fervour of the mid-day sun, hour after hour, chaunting their little song, and inviting the fish beneath them to take their bait” (D. Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, London, 1804, p. 387). This may have been a form of conciliation like that employed by the American Indians towards the fish and game. But the account is not precise enough to allow us to speak with confidence. It is sometimes reported that the Australians attempt to appease the kangaroos which they have killed, assuring the animals of their affection and begging them not to come back after death to torment them. But the writer who mentions the report disbelieves it. See Dom Théophile Bérengier, in Les Missions Catholiques, x. (1878) p. 197.

928

G. Catlin, O-Kee-pa, a Religious Ceremony, and other Customs of the Mandans (London, 1867), Folium reservatum; Lewis and Clarke, Travels to the Source of the Missouri River (London, 1815), i. 205 sq.

929

A. Bastian, in Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie, und Urgeschichte, 1870-71, p. 59. J. Reinegg (Beschreibung des Kaukasus, Gotha, St. Petersburg, and Hildesheim, 1796-97, ii. 12 sq.) describes what seems to be a sacrament of the Abghazses (Abchases). It takes place in the middle of autumn. A white ox called Ogginn appears from a holy cave, which is also called Ogginn. It is caught and led about amongst the assembled men (women are excluded) amid joyful cries. Then it is killed and eaten. Any man who did not get at least a scrap of the sacred flesh would deem himself most unfortunate. The bones are then carefully collected, burned in a great hole, and the ashes buried there.

930

A. Bastian, Die Völker des östlichen Asien, vi. (Jena, 1871) pp. 632, note. On the Kalmucks as a people of shepherds and on their diet of mutton, see J. G. Georgi, Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs (St. Petersburg, 1776), pp. 406 sq., compare p. 207; B. Bergmann, Nomadische Streifereien unter den Kalmücken (Riga, 1804-5), ii. 80 sqq., 122; P. S. Pallas, Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des russischen Reichs (St. Petersburg, 1771-1776), i. 319, 325. According to Pallas, it is only rich Kalmucks who commonly kill their sheep or cattle for eating; ordinary Kalmucks do not usually kill them except in case of necessity or at great merry-makings. It is, therefore, especially the rich who need to make expiation.

931

W. E. Marshall, Travels amongst the Todas (London, 1873), pp. 129 sq.

932

W. E. Marshall, op. cit. pp. 80 sq., 130.

933

R. W. Felkin, “Notes on the Madi or Moru Tribe of Central Africa,” Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, xii. (1882-84) pp. 336 sq.

934

Mutton appears to be now eaten by the tribe as a regular article of food (R. W. Felkin, op. cit. p. 307), but this is not inconsistent with the original sanctity of the sheep.

935

See W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites2 (London, 1894), pp. 344 sqq. As to communion by means of an external application, see above, pp. 162 sqq.

936

See above, pp. 190, 192.

937

Panjab Notes and Queries, ii. p. 91, § 555 (March 1885).

938

See Ch. Vallancey, Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis, iv. (Dublin, 1786) p. 97; J. Brand, Popular Antiquities (London, 1882-1883), iii. 195 sq. (Bohn's ed.); Rev. C. Swainson, Folk-lore of British Birds (London, 1886), p. 36; E. Rolland, Faune populaire de la France, ii. 288 sqq. The names for the bird are βασιλίσκος, regulus, rex avium (Pliny, Nat. Hist. viii. 90, x. 203), re di siepe, reyezuelo, roitelet, roi des oiseaux, Zaunkönig, etc. On the custom of hunting the wren see further N. W. Thomas, “The Scape-Goat in European Folklore,” Folk-lore, xvii. (1906) pp. 270 sqq., 280; Miss L. Eckstein, Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes (London, 1906), pp. 172 sqq. Miss Eckstein suggests that the killing of the bird called “the king” may have been a mitigation of an older custom of killing the real king.

939

J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, iii. 194.

940

R. Chambers, Popular Rhymes of Scotland, New Edition (London and Edinburgh, n. d.), p. 188.

941

Ibid. p. 186.

942

P. Sébillot, Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne (Paris, 1882), ii. 214.

943

A. Bosquet, La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 221; E. Rolland, op. cit. ii. 294 sq.; P. Sébillot, l. c.; Rev. C. Swainson, op. cit. p. 42.

944

G. Waldron, Description of the Isle of Man (reprinted for the Manx Society, Douglas, 1865), pp. 49 sqq.; J. Train, Account of the Isle of Man (Douglas, 1845), ii. 124 sqq., 141.

945

In The Morning Post of Wednesday, 27th December 1911, we read that “the observance of the ancient and curious custom known as ‘the hunt of the wren’ was general throughout the Isle of Man yesterday. Parties of boys bearing poles decked with ivy and streamers went from house to house singing to an indescribable tune a quaint ballad detailing the pursuit and death of the wren, subsequently demanding recompense, which is rarely refused. Formerly boys actually engaged in the chase, stoning the bird to death with the object of distributing the feathers ‘for luck.’ ” From this account we may gather that in the Isle of Man the hunting of the wren is now merely nominal and that the pretence of it is kept up only as an excuse for collecting gratuities. It is thus that the solemnity of ritual dwindles into the pastime of children. I have to thank Mrs. J. H. Deane, of 41 Iverna Court, Kensington, for kindly sending me the extract from The Morning Post.

946

Ch. Vallancey, Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis, iv. (Dublin, 1786) p. 97; J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, iii. 195.

947

G. H. Kinahan, “Notes on Irish Folk-lore,” Folk-lore Record, iv. (1881) p. 108; Rev. C. Swainson, Folk-lore of British Birds, pp. 36 sq.; E. Rolland, Faune populaire de la France, ii. 297; Professor W. Ridgeway, in Academy, 10th May 1884, p. 332; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs (London, 1876), p. 497; L. L. Duncan, “Further Notes from County Leitrim,” Folk-lore, v. (1894) p. 197. The custom is still, or was down to a few years ago, practised in County Meath, where the verses sung are practically the same as those in the text. Wrens are scarce in that part of the country, “but as the boys go round more for the fun of dressing up and collecting money, the fact that there is no wren in their basket is quite immaterial.” These particulars I learn from a letter of Miss A. H. Singleton, dated Appey-Leix, Ireland, 24th February 1904.

948

W. Henderson, Folk-lore of the Northern Counties (London, 1879), p. 125.

949

Rev. C. Swainson, op. cit. pp. 40 sq.

950

Madame Clément, Histoire des Fêtes civiles et religieuses, etc., de la Belgique Méridionale (Avesnes, 1846), pp. 466-468; A. De Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 77 sqq.; E. Rolland, Faune populaire de la France, ii. 295 sq.; J. W. Wolf, Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie, ii. (Göttingen, 1857) pp. 437 sq. The ceremony was abolished at the revolution of 1789, revived after the restoration, and suppressed again after 1830.

951

E. Rolland, op. cit. ii. 296 sq.

952

C. S. Sonnini, Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt, translated from the French (London, 1800), pp. 11 sq.; J. Brand, Popular Antiquities, iii. 198. The “hunting of the wren” may be compared with a Swedish custom. On the 1st of May children rob the magpies' nests of both eggs and young. These they carry in a basket from house to house in the village and shew to the housewives, while one of the children sings some doggerel lines containing a threat that, if a present is not given, the hens, chickens, and eggs will fall a prey to the magpie. They receive bacon, eggs, milk, etc., upon which they afterwards feast. See L. Lloyd, Peasant Life in Sweden (London, 1870), pp. 237 sq. The resemblance of such customs to the “swallow song” and “crow song” of the ancient Greeks (on which see Athenaeus, viii. 59 sq., pp. 359, 360) is obvious and has been remarked before now. Probably the Greek swallow-singers and crow-singers carried about dead swallows and crows or effigies of them. The “crow song” is referred to in a Greek inscription found in the south of Russia ἕξ δεκάδας λυκάβας κεκορώνικα. See Compte Rendu of the Imperial Archaeological Commission, St. Petersburg, 1877, pp. 276 sqq. In modern Greece and Macedonia it is still customary for children on 1st March to go about the streets singing spring songs and carrying a wooden swallow, which is kept turning on a cylinder. See J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 ii. 636; A. Witzschel, Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Thüringen (Vienna, 1878), p. 301; G. F. Abbott, Macedonian Folk-lore (Cambridge, 1903), p. 18; J. C. Lawson, Modern Greek Folklore and ancient Greek Religion (Cambridge, 1910), p. 35. The custom of making the image of the swallow revolve on a pivot, which is practised in Macedonia as well as Greece, may be compared with the pirouetting of the girl in the Servian rain-making ceremony. The meaning of these revolutions is obscure. See The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, i. 273, 275.

953

S. Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, pp. 128 sq. (The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., edited by the Rev. R. Lynam, London, 1825, vol. vi.).

954

John Ramsay, Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century (Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii. 438 sq. The custom is clearly referred to in the “Penitential of Theodore,” quoted by Kemble, Saxons in England, i. 525; Ch. Elton, Origins of English History (London, 1882), p. 411: “Si quis in Kal. Januar. in cervulo vel vitula vadit, id est in ferarum habitus se communicant, et vestiuntur pellibus pecudum et assumunt capita bestiarum,” etc.

955

J. G. Campbell, Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (Glasgow, 1902), pp. 230-232. Shinty is the Scotch name for hockey: the game is played with a ball and curved sticks or clubs.