18«9.] 415 [Mooney. 



Other. Soon the night grew so dark that he could not distinguish objects 

 about him, until, at last, the stranger set him down at the end of his jour- 

 ney, and, sure, where did he find himself but at his own door at home in 

 Ireland. "It was supposed from this," added the old man who told the 

 story, "that the horseman was Saint Martin." 



Like the other festivals, Saint Martin's day is considerd to begin at 

 midnight and to last until the following midnight. The blood must be 

 drawn before the "day" begins — usually on the eve — as it is a common 

 saying that the saint wil take it before, but not after. A part of the blood 

 is soakt up with tow or cotton and preservd for use in connection with 

 certain prayers in the cure of various ailments.* In parts of Gal way the 

 blood is not preservd, but is sprinkled about the house and upon the peo- 

 ple, and a bloody cross is markt upon the forehead of each member of the 

 family. Those who ar too poor even to afford a rooster sometimes gash 

 one of their own fingers for this purpose. 



The following detaild account of the practice as it exists to day on the 

 west coast, together with the reason assignd for the usage, is given by 

 Lady Wilde, and applies equally wel to other districts where the primitiv 

 customs ar stil kept alive : 



" There is an old superstition still observed by the people, that blood 

 must be spilt on St. Martin's day ; so a goose is killed, or a black cook, 

 and the blood is sprinkled over the floor and on the threshold. And some 

 of the flesh is given to the first beggar that comes by, in the name and in 

 honor of St. Martin. 



"In the Arran isles, St. Martin's day is observed with particular solem- 

 nity, and it was held necessary, from ancient times, to spill blood on tlie 

 ground in honor of the saint. For this purpose a cock was sacrificed ; 

 but if such could not be procured, people have been known to cut their 

 finger in order to draw blood, and let it fall upon the earth. The custom 

 arose in this way : St. Martin, having given away all his goods to the 

 poor, was often in want of food, and one day he entered a widow's house 

 and begged for something to eat. The widow was poor, and having no 

 food in the house, she sacrificed her young child, boiled it, and set it be- 

 fore the saint for supper. Having eaten and taken his departure, the 

 woman went over to the cradle to weep for her lost child ; when, lo ! 

 there he was, lying whole and well, in a beautiful sleep, as if no evil had 

 ever happened to him ; and to commemorate this miracle and from grati- 

 tude to the saint, a sacrifice of some living thing is made yearly in his 

 honor. The blood is poured or sprinkled on the ground, and along the 

 door-posts, and both within and without the threshold, and at the four 

 corners of each room in the house. 



" For this symbol of purification by blood the rich farmers sacrifice a 

 sheep ; while the poorer people kill a black cock or a white hen, and 



* See the author's "Medical Mythology of Ireland," in Proc. Am. Philos. Soc, xxiv, 

 No. 125, p. 164, Philadelphia, 1887. 



