SURVIVAL OF INSTITUTIONS 315 



as elsewhere, a belief in the influence of fetiches 

 once prevailed, and particularly in the form of 

 megalithic monuments relating to the fecundity of 

 women. 



The custom still prevalent in the African Congo, 

 of driving a nail into a fetich, with the view of 

 reminding it of a request, has not disappeared from 

 Europe. The young men of Couvin (Namur) still 

 stick pins into the wooden saints of the little 

 chapels round about in order to draw a lucky 

 number in the military lottery, and young girls in 

 Brittany do the same with a view to getting 



might come in direct contact with the stone, and then slid from 

 the top to the bottom." 



At Carnac, young girls wishing to marry undressed completely 

 upon the same night, and proceeded to rub their abdomen against 

 a special menhir. In that part of Brittany, where only French is 

 spoken, similar customs have equally prevailed. 



5 Fete de Notre-Dame de Ride-cul (Jules Lemoine, in the journal 

 Le petit bleu, of October 18, 1896). 



Similar to the above Breton custom is that of sliding down the 

 Rocher Ride-cul, which is situated near to Landelies, in the valley 

 of the Sambre. Here, as in many other places, old customs have 

 been Christianized, and a Christian chapel now stands close to the 

 ancient shrine. Young people of both sexes used to seat them- 

 selves upon the top of the stone upon little fagots of boxwood 

 gathered in the neighbourhood, and then slide down to the bottom. 



According to the old saying an upset meant waiting ; an em- 

 brace signified mutual affection ; a collision, indifference ; and an 

 embrace followed by rolling over indicated matrimonial suitability. 

 Similar customs prevailed at Trou-deux-Trous, situated near to 

 the Rocher Ride-cul. These two megalithic temples disappeared 

 about forty years ago, their materials have been used as fluxes in 

 smelting works. 



