December 14, 1905] 



NA TURE 



155 



But what seems quite certain is that the feast 

 which should have been held on November 8 on 

 astronomical grounds was first converted by the 

 Church into the feast of St. Martin on November n. 

 The " Encyclopaedia Britannica " tells us 



"The feast of St. Martin (Martinmas) took the 

 place of an old pagan festival, and inherited some of 

 its usages (such as the Martinsmannchen, Martins- 

 feuer, Martinshorn, and the like, in various parts of 

 Germany." 



St. Martin lived about a.d. 300. As the number 

 of saints increased, it became impossible to dedicate 

 a feast-day to each. Hence it was found expedient 

 to have an annual aggregate commemoration of such 

 as had not special days for themselves. So a church 

 festival " All Hallows," or " Hallowmass," was 

 instituted about a.d. 610 in memory of the martyrs, 

 and it was to take place on May 1. For some reason 

 or another this was changed in a.d. S34. May was 

 given up, and the date fixed on November 1. This 

 was a commemoration of all the saints, so we get 

 the new name " All Saints' Day." 



There can be little doubt that the intention of the 

 Church was to anticipate and therefore gradually to 

 obliterate the pagan festival still held at Martinmas, 

 and it has been successful in many places, in 

 Ireland, for instance; at Samhain, 1 November 1 

 " the proper time for prophecy and the unveiling of 

 mysteries ; ... it was then that fire was lighted 

 at a place called after Mog Ruith's daughter 

 Tlachtga. From Tlachtga all the hearths in Ireland 

 are said to have been annually supplied, just as the 

 Lemnians had once a year to put their fires out and 

 light them anew from that brought in the sacred 

 ship from Delos. The habit of celebrating Nos 

 Galan-galaf in Wales by lighting bonfires on 'he 

 hills is possibly not yet quite extinct." 



Here, then, we find the pagan fires transferred 

 from the 8th to the 1st of November in Ireland, but 

 in the Isle of Man this is not so. I will anticipate 

 another reference to Rhys by stating that Martinmas 

 had progressed from the nth to the 24th before the 

 change of style had brought it back, " old Martin- 

 mas," November 24, being- one of the best recognised 

 "old English holidays," "old Candlemas" being 

 another, at the other end of the May year, which 

 had slipped from February 2 to February 15 before it 

 was put back again. 



With regard to the Isle of Man Rhys writes 2 

 that the feast is there called Hollantide, and is kept 

 on November 12, a reckoning which he states " is 

 according to the old style." The question is, are we 

 not dealing here with the Martinmas festival not 

 antedated to November 1? He adds, "that is the 

 day when the tenure of land terminates, and when 

 serving men go to their places. In other words 

 it is the beginning of a new year." This is exactly 

 what happens in Scotland, and the day is still called 

 Martinmas. 



There is a custom in mid-England which strikingly 

 reminds us of the importance of Martinmas in rela- 

 tion to old tenures, if even the custom does not carry 

 us still farther back. This is the curious and in- 

 teresting ceremony of collecting the wroth silver, due 

 and payable to his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch and 

 Queensbury, on " Martinmas Eve." The payment is 

 made on an ancient mound on the summit of Knight- 

 low Hill, about five miles out of Coventry, and in the 

 parish of Rvton-on-Dunsmore. One feature about this 

 singular ceremonial is that it must be observed before 

 sun-rising. The money is now paid as a sort of high- 



NO. 1885, VOL. 73] 



way rate for the privilege of using certain roads in the 

 Hundred of Knightlow, and, according to the ancient 

 charter, the penalty is a fine of twenty shillings for 

 every penny not forthcoming, or the forfeiture of a 

 white bull with red nose and ears. There are no de- 

 faulters nowadays, and if there were it would certainly 

 be difficult, if not impossible, to find a beast answer- 

 ing the above description, as this breed of cattle has 

 become extinct. When the short ceremony is over, 

 those taking part adjourn to a wayside inn, and there 

 with glasses charged with hot rum and milk they 

 toast the Duke's health. 



Norman Lockyer. 



AN AUSTRALIAN STORY BOOK.' 



SHOULD any reader of Nature desire to give a 

 Christmas present to a boy or girl he might do 

 much worse than buy Mrs. Jeanie Gunn's little book, 

 but before parting with it he should himself look 

 through it. The author has a great sense of humour, 

 and seizes on salient features of native life and de- 

 scribes them in a few words ; these gifts, combined 

 with a real sympathy with the blackfellow, have 

 enabled her to write a little book that is full of human 

 interest. This is not an ethnographical treatise, and 

 no matters are gone into in detail, yet the reader 

 will learn somewhat of the life of Australian 

 aborigines and of their relations with the white man, 

 and if he should not acquire any deep knowledge he 

 will have nothing to unlearn, and that is something 

 to be thankful for. 



A few examples culled at random will give a good 

 idea of this most excellent little book. 



" The blacks' sign language is very perfect. They 

 have a sign for every bird, beast, fish, person, place 

 and action. They have long talks without uttering 

 a word. There are many times when a blackfellow 

 must not speak, unless by signs. For instance, if 

 he is mourning for a near relative, or has just 

 come from a very special corrobboree. Often he 

 must keep silent for weeks, and occasionally for 

 months, and it is because of this and many other 

 reasons that the sign language is so perfect. Every- 

 one can speak it, and everyone does so when hiding 

 in the bush from enemies, and then there is no fear 

 of voices being heard." 



"It is very wonderful, but then the blacks are 

 wonderful. To have any idea of how wonderful they 

 are, you must live among them, going in and out 

 of their camps, and having every one of them for a 

 friend. Just living in a house that happens to be in 

 a blackfellow's country is not living among blacks, 

 although some people think it is." 



" I had plenty of Eau de Cologne, and used it 

 freely. One day when Bett-Bett smelt it, as I was 

 sprinkling it over my dress, she screwed up her little 

 black nose, and after half-a-dozen very audible sniffs, 

 said — ' My word, Missus ! That one goodfellow 

 stink all right ! " 



" Anvone can 'sing magic,' even lubras, but of 

 course the wise old magic men do it best. It never 

 fails with them, particularly if they ' sing ' and point 

 one of the special Death-bones or Sacred stones of the 

 tribe. Generally a blackfellow goes away quite by 

 himself when he is ' singing magic,' but very 

 occasionally a few men join together, as they did in 

 tha case of Goggle Eye. ... Of course the man 

 who has been ' sung ' must be told somehow, or he 

 will not get a fright and die. There are many ways 



1 " The Little Black Princess : A True Tale of Life in the Never-never 

 Land." By Jeanie Gunn. Pp. vii + 107; illustrated. (London : The De 

 La More Press, 1905 ) Price 5*. net. 



