GAME NOTES AND FOLK-LORE. 237 



for there is a prevalent dislike to opening 

 a barrow. The feeling is very strong, and 

 those who own property do not care to go 

 against it. It is believed that certain mis- 

 fortune will fall on the household of any one 

 digging into a tumulus, and that generally 

 a death follows the intrusion upon the 

 ancient tomb. Possibly this idea may be 

 an unconscious memory of prehistoric times, 

 when sacrifices to ancestors and heroes were 

 made in the precincts of tumuli. They 

 were considered sacred then, and the feel- 

 ing seems to have lingered on down to the 

 present day. Places where battles have oc- 

 curred, and where human bones are known 

 to lie, must not be disturbed for the same 

 reason. 



It happened that some misfortune fell 

 upon a household without any apparent 

 cause; but one day there was found in the 

 house an ancient sword with a gold hilt. 



