, 1880-10-08
Oueer Customs IN Southern Eu-
rope.

EOpe'
Among ,he most Interesting of the
| AhrUlN custom, are those which relate
| to ch, d,a1 A5 q general rule, cottag-
ors Drio,n soip. 10 bed, rake together
Itla embr., on the lenrth, and cover
them zap with ciuoera But on the eve
ioE thp Day OF the Dead no: a spark is
allowed 20 rNDala, irH beng the symbol
Of life IN many places the remains OF
that nights supper are not cleared
away, but alD, lest TO be distributed as
aims next morning But at Pacentro a
meal i, served at night for the special
use Of the ,ir4l During the darkness
tie souls u The departed are supposed
10 aock On the table. In the morning
the food is given to the poor. Similar
banouets are still, it is said, offered to
the dead III Russia. But they are there
ultimately enjoyed by the living who
have provided them, AT Gioia del
Marsi the first person who enters the
church at midnight, holding a taper in
his hand, is believed to obtain the privi-
lesa Of freeing a soul from purgatory.
At Peraao the,dead are supposed to re-
veal themselves in basin of water
Aanked NV two candles. The seer is
generally I'm ocl woman, who holds q
taper in her left hand and linen cloth
in Der rigar,y and Who places her neck in
Che curve Of q. wooden pitchforl, the
handle of which rests on the ground.
pssAtgIlnodacqua the womemadlsfgure
themselves whenIt they marry .by cutting
off their hair, obeying custom more
barbarous than that whics of old
cropped a brides locks in Sparta, or still
hides away married woman's tresses in
Russia. AtNRoccapia, when the marri-
Age service is drawing to its close, man
t..::ngs two lighted candles, and gives
one TO each of the welded couple.
,Thenceforward he is their compare di
matrimonio, or wedding gossip. There
exist many kinds of gossipry beside the
usual form connected with christening,
Most Of them link girls together Thus,
at Ortucchio, on st. johns Day, two
girls will go out to spot where there is
small fountain Each one bares her
arm her companion washes it and dries
it. The two girls then become comari
Yli sciaquamento' According to another
fouu, the girls begin by turning three
times round the altar of church.
Each Of them plucks a hair from her
head and places it on the head Of her,
friend. On May lltb, the eve OF the
Feast of St, Gemma, D picturesque pro-
cession keeps alive the memory Of an
ancient friendship between two town
ships. about ten miles apart. A damsel
is escorted by the priest and some Of her
neighbors from Goriano Sicoli to San
Sebastian de Marsi. On arriving there
she is met by the clergy and the notables,
heading the deputy of the feast" who
solemnly. takes her in his arms and
kisses her, The whole party then enter
the church, where prayers are said. A
procession is afterward formed to the
hopsei in which St GemmariS believed
to have lived, and whert supper awaits
the festive party, Not so pleasing is.
the custom Of tearing the warm heart
out of{a ,sweilewE and administering it
to child as means of rapidly acquir-
ing knowledge. Strangers are apt to be
scandalized when they hear the church
service on Christmas Eve accompanied
by a most continued Yhistling or kissing.
But they are Informed that, these appar-
ient interruptions are intended asf ga
.pioiis record Of the pastoral sounds
which attended the birth Of the Lord" :"
dKA two.tailed lizard is IN bringer of
good fortune, provided its tails are
placed under the slab of an altar, left
there till mass has been said oyer them,
qpd then taken away, and worn by the
finder as an amulet In Pratola Pelig-
ma, when a thunderstorm begins, the
women weep and pray If it continues,
they snatch, from the hearth the chains
which bang above It and fling them out
of doors ln.many places the peasants
are grievously afflicted by witches, who
go about by night sucking the blood of
babies, Watch is sometimes kept, in
such cases BY night for a whole week
A light is hidden in pitcher, ready to
be produced whenever suspicious
sound is heard, in order that the blood
suckers may be revealed. If this does.
not answer, dog or a cat is killed and
placed behind the door. The strega
cannot enter until she has counted every
hair on its hide. Before she can do SO
the sun will rise, the coming of which
she dare not wait, for by its rays she
would be seen, unclothed and manitestly