64 LIST OP DOLMENS, MENHIRS, ETC. 



drawings as disguised with masks representing stag's horns, 

 goats, bulls and other animals. Also it was on All Soul's 

 Eve the Lord of Misrule began his reign, which lasted until 

 Candlemas. " Accompanied by many retainers, who all had 

 bells tied to their costumes, together with the hobby-horse 

 and some dragons, this boisterous party would enter the 

 church regardless of interrupting the preacher. After this 

 they felt free to erect their booths and banqueting houses in 

 the churchyard. " (1) 



In Sark, as late as the beginning of the nineteenth 

 century, it was still the practice on the "veilles," or eves, 

 cf certain festivals, particularly on Christmas Eve, for the 

 young folk to disguise themselves with the skulls and skins 

 of beasts and to parade the island in procession, and each 

 household kept a stock of horse skulls in hand for the 

 occasion. (2) 



The same customs existed formerly in Jersey and were 

 forbidden by a resolution of the States, 16th October, 

 i6oo. (3) In Guernsey about the same period if not earlier, 

 " les masques et jeux illictes "^ were also forbidden, but in 

 spite of prohibition some lingered on, such as the burning of 

 " Le Bout de ran," the effigy of the dying year, which, as 

 late as the beginning of the last century was burnt each New 

 Year's Eve on the beach, or in some unfrequented spot. 



May not these survivals of old pagan rites suggest to us 

 a possible explanation of the Guernsey " Varous " ? Is it not 

 possible that they were men dressed in the skins of beasts 

 who, as their name in Breton suggests, represented the dead 

 at the winter festivals of the death of the year, festivals cele- 

 brated with gluttonous feastings and obscene bacchanal 

 orgies; and may be even with human sacrifices, of which the 

 effigy of " Le Bout de l'an " burnt each New Year's Eve 

 was the substitute. Festivals which, may be, took place near 

 our dolmens and menhirs, and the memory of them have been 

 perpetuated in the many Courtils, Clos and Champs des 

 Varous which we find in the neighbourhood of our Guernsey 

 megaliths. 



(1) Vicountess Wolseley. The Countrymen's Log Book, p. 277, 311. 



(2) Folk Lore, p. 500. 



Cf. Metiviers Christianity in Gaul's Franco-Normand Isles. 



(3) Actes des Etats, 13e Publication. Societe Jersiaise, p. 24. 



(4) Le Marchant, Animadversions. Vol. I, p. 124. 



(5) Folk Lore, pp, 36-37, 



