The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-07-08
WHOLE No. 2,O63
NIGHTMARE.

| |
''alp," i. e., elf. Among, too, It's provin-
r cial names is "mahrt," or ''mair." din
erent forms of word which has no lc-
lation whatever to the equine species,
but is identical with the SamSkrit ndrpt.
We may also compare the expression
with the Anglo-Saxon ''wudummre'
(wood-mare), which is equivalent to
"echo," Indeed as soon as We recognize
the true meaning of nightmare as mean
ing ''night-spirit' or ''night-clf," We
have the key to the right Interpretation
of many of those otherwise obscure SUI
perstitions and legends which in such
large numbers have interviewer them
selves around this curious phenomenon.
Thus the once popular theory to account
for this painful arrangement, oftentimcS
of the digestive organs, was founded on
the notion that cert lin female demons
were in the habit of coming at night
time and tormenting men and women by
crouching on their chests and stopping
their respiration. As, too, these iiends
were supposed to be gifted with super
natural qualities, being able, like Pro
teus of old, to change themselves in an
instant into various forms, they cluded
the recognition of their victims, and III
their disguised shape practiced with com
parative ease their miscellaneous tricks.
Hence, however anxious any one might
be to discover and Illustrate the influence
of such an unwelcome trespasser, it was
generally of little avail, as the unlortu-
nate sufferer was nearly always over
matched by the insidious craftiness Of
his midnight foe. 1t is, too. interesting
to note that at the present day in many
parts of Germany we find this eXplana-
ton given to account for the nightmare,
and, as we shall have occasion to show.
the peasantry still practiced sundyy
charms and nominations to ward off any
interference on the part of these mag
ionary beings.
Among these, one of the forms i'll
which the nightmare has been supposed
to make its way at night into the cham
Der of slumber is that of cat Thus
we are told of joiner in Bull who was
much plagued with the nightmare, AMI
| night after night was subjected to the
most unmerciful treatment at his hands.
At last, however, he saw his foe secretly
steal into his room, in the form of a cat,
about midnight. Having stopped up,
first of all, the hole through which it had
made it's entry, he next proceeded to
catch the animal, and to make its cap
ture complete certainty he nailed it by
one paw to the floor. On awaking, how
ever, in the morning, much to his sur
prise and alarm, he discovered. in the
place of the cat, Il beautiful young We
man with nail driven through the hand.
Attracted by her charms, he married her.
and in process Of time they had three
| children. One day, however, he uncov-
cred the hole which he had stopped up,
when, much to his dismay and conster-
nation she instantly resumed the shape
of cat and escaped through 1t, never
to return again. Stories of this KIND are
very extensive, and under various forms
are found scattered here and there in
differents parts of the Continent.
Sometimes, too, the nightmare appears
as mouse or IA weasel, yet never as
surd blunder has been perpetratcd by
ROYAL Academician in his celebrated pie
ture of the nightmare" in which he rep
resents the fiend in equine form bestrid-
ing his unhappy victim. But one, how
ever, of the most popular notions is that
it is demon or fiend who takes advant-
age of the hours of darkness, when
special license is supposed to be given t"
beings of the ghostly world to take their
walks abroad, to ride through benighted
districts, in order either to throttle some
snoring peasant, or to make itself actlt-
ally present in his Dreams and thereby
intensity their grim reality. Indeed, this
idea is found even among savage tribes.
and may be traced back to very remote
period Thus, by way of example, we
are told how the North American lndi-
cessive Hastings, are said to be visited
! by nocturnal visitors of a not very agree
able kind, who with threatening gestures
scare their sleeping victims. Again, the
Caribs, when subjected to hideous
dreams, often on awakening have de-
clared that the demon Mayboya has i'll
treated and beaten them in their
sleep, affirming that they could even still
| feel the effects of his rough treatment.
| Hence, in the early days of Christianity,
the idea found favor in many eyes that
| the demon of nightmare was one of the
means which Satan employed for modest
| ing and seducng human souls. Persons,
therefore, whose slumbers had been
broken by impure and unholy dreams
| were believed to have been unconsciously
| under the influence of Satan's sway,
and to have INDUCED in sinful desires and
| inclinations.
Among the many tales which illustrate
the theory of the nightmare as being
demon, We may briefly relate Neither
|
others Of similar kind. Two young
men were in love with the same lady.
| One of them being tormented every
night by nightmare, sought advice from
| his rival, who took advantage of his act
of confidence, and gave him the subjoin-
ed piece of treacherous advice: "llold
sharp knife with the point toward your
! breast, und You'll never see the Mara
| again. His comrade thanked him, but
on retiring to rest he thought il as we'll
| to be on the safe side, and 50 held the
! knife handle downward. Consequently,
when at midnight the Mara made her ac-
customsd visit, instead OF forcing the
knife into his breast, she cut herself
badly, and escaped from the room MAX
ing a terrible noise. The legend uniort-
unately does not tell Us the issue of this
| tragic affair. but we can only hope that
| the young man reyengcd himself "n his
| false and malicious rival Ivy promptly
marrying the young lady.
| THE AGES OF THE PATRIARCHS.
On full examination of the question
| of patriarchal longevity the disparity OF
kn,, 49,, IL