524 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Gulf of St. Lawrence. The sight of this weird spectacle invari- 

 ably presages disaster for mariners. A very terrible shipwreck, 

 which took place at Isle aux OEufs many years ago, was believed 

 to have been caused by this ghostly appearance. Before it appears 

 the sea is smooth as glass ; suddenly the waters are agitated, the 

 waves rise mountains high, rolling wildly one against another ; 

 then a vessel appears, striving against the force of the raging bil- 

 lows. The deck is crowded by soldiers and mariners whose ancient 

 uniforms date from another century. On the main deck stands 

 the commanding officer, who is pointing out the somber heights 

 of Cape Despair to the pilot, while a beautiful woman in white 

 draperies clings to his arm. The ship is driving straight on to 

 Cape Despair. Then, as the shattered vessel is ingulfed, piercing 

 cries are heard mingling with the growling of thunder and the 

 hoarse roar of the tempest ; then, abruptly as it appeared, the 

 vision has vanished ; the sunshine dimples on a sea like a mirror, 

 and the waves ripple softly to the foot of Cape Despair. 



The word ignolee designates both a song and a custom im- 

 ported from France by our ancestors. Both flourished for many 

 years in Canada ; though now, even in the most remote country 

 districts, they have fallen completely into disuse. M. Ampere, 

 chairman of le Comite de la langue, de Vhistoire et des arts de la 

 France, calls this song " a chorus which is perhaps the only actual 

 fragment left of the Druidical epoch." The custom is believed to 

 have come down from the time of the Gauls, and is said to have 

 originated in the habit practiced by the Druids of going out on 

 New Year's eve to gather the mistletoe which clung to the oaks 

 of their sacred forests, and the rejoicing cry uttered by the pagan 

 priests as the hallowed plant fell beneath their golden sickles, 

 "Au gui, Van neuf ! " {" Mistletoe for the New Year ! "). 



Christianity accepted the pagan rite, and sanctified it by 

 charity. In Canada, a party of men, called les ignoleux, went, on 

 New Year's eve from house to house, collecting for the poor of 

 the parish, or in some localities begging wax to make tapers for 

 the altar. They sang a chorus, in which the term ignolee fre- 

 quently occurred, the term assuming slightly differing forms 

 according to the dialects of the various provinces of France from 

 which the colonists had originally come, as ignolee, guillonee, la 

 guillone, aguilaiden. Troops of children, shouting "ia ignolee 

 qui vient ! " preceded the procession. A table was immediately pre- 

 pared for those who cared to partake of refreshments, as well as 

 gifts for the poor. When the ignoleux reached the house, they 

 beat time upon the door with long sticks as they shouted the 

 chorus ; but they never entered until the master and mistress, or 

 their representatives, pressed hospitality upon them. The invita- 

 tion was accepted with great state and ceremony, compliments of 



