536 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 241. 



says De Freminville, in his Antiquites des Cotes- 

 du-Nord, p. 31., "that idolatry was still exercised 

 in the Isle of Ushant, and in many parishes of the 

 diocese of Vannes, in the seventeenth century. 

 And even at the present day," he adds, " how many 

 traces of it do we find in the superstitious beliefs 

 of our peasants ! " 



Many of these notions still so prevalent in the 

 remoter districts of that remote province, seem 

 to point to nearly obliterated indications of a 

 connexion between these " peulvans" or pillar- 

 stones, and the zodiacal forms of worship, which the 

 Druids are known to have, more or less exoteri- 

 cally, practised. Thus it is believed in many 

 localities that a " menhir " in the neighbourhood 

 turns on its axis at midnight. (Mahe, Essai sur les 

 Antiq. du Morbihan, p. 229.) In other cases the 

 peasantry make a practice of specially visiting 

 them on the eve of St. John, i. e. at the summer 

 solstice. 



Various other remnants of the ideas or practices 

 inculcated by the ancient faith may be traced in 

 usages and superstitions still prevalent, and, with- 

 out such a key to their explanation, meaningless. 

 With such difficulty did the new supplant the old 

 religion. Many curious illustrations may be found 

 in Brittany of the means adopted by the priests of 

 the new faith to steal, as it were, for their own 

 emblems the adoration which all their efforts were 

 ineffectual to turn from its ancient objects, in the 

 manner mentioned by the writer in the Archceologia, 

 cited by Sir J. E. Tennent in his Note. Thus we 

 find " menhirs" with crosses erected on their sum- 

 mits, and sculptured on their sides. See Notions 

 Historiques, etc- sur le Littoral du Departement des 

 C6tes-du-Nord, par M. Habasque : St.Brieuc, 1834, 

 vol. iii. p. 22. 



In conclusion, I may observe that this worship 

 prevailed also in Spain — as, doubtless, throughout 

 Europe — inasmuch as we find the Eleventh and 

 Twelfth Councils of Toledo warning those who 

 offered worship to stones, that they were sacrificing 

 to devils. T. A. T. 



Florence, March, 1854. 



SOMERSETSHIRE FOLK LORE. 



1. All texts heard in a church to be remem- 

 bered by the congregation, for they must be re- 

 peated at the day of judgment. 



2. If the clock strikes while the text is being 

 given, a death may be expected in the parish. 



3. A death in the parish during the Christmas 

 tyde, is a token of many deaths in the year. I 

 remember such a circumstance being spoken of in 

 a village of Somerset. Thirteen died in that year, 

 a very unusual number. Very many attributed 

 this great loss of life to the fact above stated. 



4. When a corpse is laid out, a plate of salt is 

 laid on the chest. Why, I know not. 



5. None can die comfortably under the cross- 

 beam of a house. I knew a man of whom it was 

 said at his death, that after many hours hard 

 dying, being removed from the position under the 

 cross-beam, he departed peaceably. I cannot ac- 

 count for the origin of this saying. 



6. Ticks in the oak-beams of old houses, or 

 death-watches so called, warn the inhabitants of 

 that dwelling of some misfortune. 



7. Coffin-rings, when dug out of a grave, are 

 worn to keep off the cramp. 



8. Water from the font is good for ague and 

 rheumatism. 



9. No moon, in its change, ought to be seen 

 through a window. 



10. Turn your money on heai'ing the first 

 cuckoo. 



11. The cattle low and kneel on Christmas eve. 



12. Should a corpse be ever carried through 

 any path, &c, that path cannot be done away with. 

 For cases, see Wales, Somerset, Bampton, Devon. 



13. On the highest mound of the hill above 

 Weston-super-Mare, is a heap of stones, to which 

 every fisherman in his daily walk to Sand Bay, 

 Kewstoke, contributes one towards his day's good 

 fishing. 



14. Smothering hydrophobic patients is still 

 spoken of in Somerset as so practised. 



15. Origin of the saying " I'll send you to 

 Jamaica." Did it not take its source from the 

 unjudge-like sentence of Judge Jeffries to those 

 who suffered without sufficient evidence, for their 

 friendly disposition towards the Duke of Mon- 

 mouth : " To be sent to the plantations 



of Jamaica ? " Many innocent persons were so 

 cruelly treated in Somerset. 



16. The nurse who brings the infant to be bap- 

 tized bestows upon the first person she meets on 

 her way to the church whatever bread and cheese 

 she can offer, i. e., according to the condition of 

 the parents. 



17. In Devonshire it is thought unlucky not to 

 catch the first butterfly. 



18. Mackerel not in season till the lesson of the 

 23rd and 24th of Numbers is read in church. I 

 cannot account for this saying. A better autho- 

 rity could have been laid down for the remember- 

 ing of such like incidents. You may almost form 

 a notion yourself without any help. The common 

 saying is, Mackerel is in season when Balaam's ass 

 speaks in church. M. A. Balliol. 



IRISH RECORDS. 



It not unfrequently happens that ancient deeds 

 and such like instruments executed in England, 

 and relating to English families or property, are 



