90 Transactions. 



that half their produce for a fixed number of years was to be 

 returned to their former proprietor. Another says — " AVhile it was 

 considered most unlucky to sell bees for money, the lifting them 

 at night and carrying them away in a theftuous manner, leaving 

 money on the empty stand as compensation, was considered the 

 right and proper way of gaining possession of a coveted hive." 

 Other methods were adopted, such as exchanging a hive for some 

 kind of produce {e.g., corn, &c.) to the value of the price pre- 

 viously agreed upon. I confined my inquiries regarding these 

 superstitions connected with bees almost entirely to the Southern 

 Counties of Scotland, but they prevail, or did so, over the whole 

 kingdom, wherever bees were kept. They must have existed 

 before the invasion of the country by the Teutonic races ; and in 

 all probability their origin is to be found in the Eastern races, who 

 gradually took possession of Western Europe. The same super- 

 stitions are to be found in many parts of the Continent. Brand, 

 in his "Popular Antiquities," mentions several of these super- 

 stitions as current in different parts of England, particularly as to 

 informing bees of a death and putting them in mourning. He also 

 alludes to a custom which pr evailed in Devonshire, of turning the 

 bee-hives round when the deceased owner's body was carried out 

 of the house for burial ; and he gives an amusing story of the 

 result of this custom on one occasion : " At a funeral some time 

 since, at Collumpton, of a rich old fanner, a laughable circum- 

 stance occurred, for just as the corpse was placed in the hearse, 

 and the horsemen, to a large number, were drawn up in order for 

 the procession of the funeral, a person called out, ' Turn the bees,' 

 when a servant who had no knowledg-e of such a custom, instead 

 of turning the hives about, lifted them up and then laid them down 

 on their sides. The bees thus invaded instantly attacked and fas- 

 tened on the horses and their riders. It was in vain they galloped 

 off — the bees as precipitately followed, and left their stings as 

 marks of their indignation. A general confusion took place, 

 attended with loss of hats, wigs, &c., and the corpse during the 

 conflict was left unattended, nor was it till after a considerable 

 time that the funeral attendants could be rallied in order to proceed 

 to the interment of their deceased friend." The Rev. Dr Atkinson, 

 in his charming work, '• Forty Years in a Moorland Parish," gives 

 several instances of these superstitions connected with bees as 

 having been general in Yorkshire, precisely the same as has been 



