42 PRIMITIVE PATERNITY 



found under the cabbages (under the parson's cabbages, 

 at Stavelot), or they are dug out of the garden by the 

 midwife ; l at Siena, the midwife is said to have found 

 them under a tree or a cabbage ; 2 in the Abruzzi, 

 the child is said to come from a tree or to be found 

 under a tree or in a hedge, in a bunch of grapes, in a 

 pumpkin, or the like ; 3 in various parts of Germany 

 children are said to come out of a hollow lime-tree, 

 beech, or oak, or out of the vegetable-garden. 4 It 

 may be thought that this is merely a convenient way 

 of parrying awkward questions. It would seem, how- 

 ever, to be more than this. In England, in France, 

 and in the Walloon Country a quasi-sacred character 

 is attached to parsley. A parsley-bed must not be 

 dug up nor the parsley transplanted, lest some one in 

 the family die or other ill-luck ensue. Even to plant 

 it is to dig the grave of the head of the family or one 

 of the kindred ; on the other hand, to neglect to weed 

 it is to incur misfortune, so closely is it associated 

 with the life of the family. 5 In various parts of 

 France cabbages are given to the newly-wedded pair 

 as a ritual article of food on the marriage night. They 

 are served either in broth in the course of the evening 

 or cooked together with a fowl and partaken of after 

 the pair have retired to the nuptial couch. The 

 plantation or transplantation of a cabbage by the bride- 

 groom is sometimes part of the wedding ceremonies. 6 



At Bruneck, in the Tirol, a great hollow ash is 

 shown from which children are brought. At Aargau 



1 Bull. F. L. ii. 112, 148 ; Sebillot, F. L. France, iii. 474. 



2 Archivio, xiii. 475. 3 Finamore, Trad. Pop. Abr. 56. 

 Am Urquell y iv. 224; v. 162, 287. 



8 S&rillot, F. L. France, iii. 463, 464, 473. * Ibid. 515. 



