20 WOMAN AS WITCH 



pole or tree put up for the purpose. There was pro- 

 longed feasting with a special Kirmes soup, Kirmes goose, 

 and flat cakes ; there was drinking of a beer especially 

 brewed doubly strong for the occasion. While Kirmes- 

 freier and Kirmesliebe denote a lover and love which 

 last only three days. Noteworthy is the custom in the 

 Saxon Obererzgebirge of solemnly slaughtering a swine 

 at Kirmes. In the same district musicians, accom- 

 panied by a man in gay woman's clothing, called the 

 Kirmesweib, go about collecting food for a common 

 feast. In Bavaria, as in Saxony, the main features of 

 Kirmes are the same, only perhaps the ceremonies 

 approach still more closely those of May Day. There 

 is dancing round the linden tree or a pole, the choice 

 of two maidens as queens of the fete, the wreaths of 

 flowers, the burial of a sacrifice, in some cases the 

 mock burial of a human being, and the free feast to 

 which all are expected to freely give, and of which all 

 may freely partake. Before leaving the subject of 

 Kirmes, it should be noted that a swine or sow as 

 emblem of fertility is frequently offered to the goddess 

 of fertility. As examples may be cited the boar's head of 

 Freya, the goddess of love, and the sow sacrificed to 

 Ceres, representing the productivity of the earth. 



One word more before we leave the subject of the 

 relation of the old religious rites to the churches. In 

 the Dunninger Kapelle in Kottweil, and in various other 

 chapels of the same district, offerings are made of 

 brooms, with in some cases the special hope of curing 

 boils. This offering of the broom is noteworthy, as we 

 shall see that it is especially the symbol of the female 



