VINOUS SUPERSTITIONS. z^j 



Church, St. Stephen. At Freiburg the Johannites were accustomed to 

 hang a stone, representing one of those thrown at Stephen, to a silver 

 chain. Wine was poured upon the stone and then given to the faith- 

 ful to drink. Memorial drinks to St. Michael and St. John the Evan- 

 gelist were also very common. Departing guests and travelers were 

 accustomed to drink " John's blessing " as well as in memory of St. 

 Gertrude ; and a number of mythical stories are associated with these 

 draughts. 



St. Gertrude is said to have drunk a St. John's draught with a 

 knight who had entered into a pact with the devil, and thereby to 

 have delivered him. Since St. Gertrude was the patron of sailors, and 

 her chapel at Bonn, near the Rhine, was much visited by seafaring 

 people, it is easy to explain why the draughts to her honor were drunk 

 in a glass shaped like a ship. It is still customary in some Roman 

 Catholic churches to bless a cup of wine on St. John the Evangelist's 

 day (the 27th of December), and commend to the people the memory 

 of the beloved disciple. These customs are not observed outside of 

 Germany. In Catholic Germany it is usual to celebrate a first festival 

 at the house with the wine (generally red wine) which has been blessed 

 at the church, and to give to the whole family to drink out of the same 

 cup ; a few drops are even poured out for the baby in the cradle. Part 

 of what is left is preserved, and part is poured into the cask, to impart 

 its blessing to what is there and turn all evil spells from it. Specu- 

 lative Swabian hosts often consecrate large quantities of wine for the 

 entertainment of their guests and neighbors ; and the popular fancy 

 prevails that, if such of this wine as has been kept over the whole 

 year is drunk on the annivesary of the day of its consecration, it will 

 bring recovery to the sick, and protection and strength to those who 

 are about to start on a journey. Engaged couples taste this wine at 

 their betrothals, when it is offered to them by the priest after having 

 blessed it. If one drinks it on the day it is consecrated, he is secured 

 for the whole year against poisoning, witchery, and lightning. It is 

 an old Bavarian custom for the father to drink a " John's blessing '* 

 before departing on a journey, and then, swinging the cup backward 

 over his head, to cast a few drops on the ground. The ** John's bless- 

 ing " on St. John the Baptist's day, June 24th, which the South-Ger- 

 man Protestants observe socially, without making a church festival of 

 it, is doubtless related to the Catholic custom. 



The John's blessings have been referred to the cup drunk by the 

 disciples, or perhaps to the wedding at Cana of Galilee ; but we think 

 we have shown that they are derived from the old heathen thank- 

 offerings, and the sacramental wine has probably been also brought 

 within the scope of the usage by popular fancy. Many healing powers 

 are attached to this wine in some places, and it is sometimes called in 

 as the last and surest remedy in extreme cases. That industrious in- 

 vestigator of folk-lore, M. Toppen, says on this subject in his work on 



