238 POPULAR BELIEFS. 



times, also, they were of a futile and uncertain character, or became a heresy 

 against the' Church. In fact, everything in the physical world was made 

 the pretext for superstition. 



The Middle Ages teemed with recollections of ancient mythology, and 

 those who may be surprised that such should have been the case, considering 

 the horror in which the religion of the Gospel held everything relating to 

 the errors of paganism, may be reminded that the pagan religions, when 

 they disappeared from off the face of the globe, left behind them a mass of 

 popular prejudices profoundly rooted in men's minds. "We may cite, for 

 instance, the address of St. Eloi, minister of King Dagobert, and Bishop of 

 Noyon, to his clergy: "Above all, I beseech of you, do not observe any 

 of the sacrilegious customs of the pagans ; do not consult the engravers of 

 talismans, or the diviners, or the sorcerers, or the enchanters, for any cause, 

 even for illness ; pay no heed to omens or to sneezing ; do not be influenced 



by the singing of birds when you hear them in your journeys Let 



no Christian pay heed ' to the day he leaves a house, or that upon which 



he returns to it Let not any one at the Feast of St. John celebrate 



the solstices by dances or diabolic incantations. Let no one seek to invoke 

 the demons, such as Neptune, Pluto, Diana, Minerva, or the Evil Genius. 

 .... Let no one observe the day of Jupiter (Thursday) as a day of rest. 

 Let no Christian make vows in the temples, or by the side of fountains, or 



gardens, or stones, or trees Let no one perform lustrations, or 



enchantments upon herbs, or drive his flock through the hollow in a tree, or 



through a hole dug in the 1 ground Let no one utter loud cries when 



the moon wanes Let no man call the sun or moon his master." 



Thus spoke, in the seventh century, a pious prelate, who boldly attacked the 

 superstitions of his time; and this episcopal exhortation readily explains, 

 and even excuses, a number of strange or monstrous facts which, though of 

 much more recent date, seem to form part of the annals of the grossest 

 idolatry. 



The Feasts of the Ass, of the Deacons, of the Kings, of the Buffoons, and 

 of the Innocents, characteristic as they were of the Middle Ages, and very 

 popular with the people at large, especially with the lower clergy, the 

 students, the lawyers' clerks, and the youth of the period, deserve notice, 

 not only because the recollection of them still survives in the local history 

 of certain districts, but because they were the origin of French dramatic art. 



