The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-05-30

freed the swine from their watery inn
prisonment: When the foreleg of
pig is carefully shaved a small hole
and six small rings are seen in the leg.
Tradition says the rings were made by
Satan's s claws when he entered the
herd of swine, and the hole was the
means of his exit from their bodies.
The well-known sacrifice of the boar
at the Christmas feast is but the sur
vival of the ancient Scandinavian sac
rifice to Freyr at Yule tide. In Sweden
one of the dancers in the Christmas
mummeries puts a wisp of straw in his
mouth to represent the porker thus
killed of yore.
Pigs were also sacrificed in Germany.
An ordinance of 1889 required every
farmer to bring hog to the count of
the manor as a sacrifice, white one
being preferred. There is an old tradi-
tion in Grimsby, Eng, that each citi-
zen who claimed his free rights must
present to the Mayor each year boars
head, and the lord of the adjacent
manor kept number of these animals
for the Mayor and citizens. In some
parts of Germany a pig is buried in
the churchyard as an offering to death.
The phantom coach, seen in many
places in England, is sometimes drawn
by six black boars.
In Denmark the specter of a SOW,
called the grave sow," is frequently
seen, and always some disaster fol-
lows. In Thuringia it is said that any
one who abstains from food on Christ
mas Eve until supper time will see
young golden pig-an omen of good
| fortune.
In the middle ages, the boar hunter
was esteemed as rare sport of chivaI-
ry, and the destruction of a wild boar
was accounted brave deed. There are
many traditions concerning such
knightly achievements. One of the
Lords of Cheturde in Buckinghamshire
Eng, killed wild boar which devast-
ated the country, and was granted
therefor a yearly tax on all cattle found
within his manor from October 80 to
November z. The Poland boar tradi-
tionally haunted the north of England.
1t slew several knights but was finally
killed by Polander. The Gordons
had the boar as cognizance on their
coat of arms, one of their ancestors
having slain celebrated one in 1898.
Guillame Compte de la Mardrey was
nicknamed "The Boar of Ardennes, -
because he was as furious as the ami
NAL he delighted to hunt. Richard LII.
of England was called the boar, be-
cause his arms were illuminated with
that animal as a cognizance. Gray
\ sings of him:
The bristIed boar
In infant gore
Wallows beneath the thorny shade.
The same monarch was popularly
called the Hog, and couplet ran thus
The Cat, the Rat, and Lowell the Dog,
Rule all England under the Hog.
Catesby was the cat, and Ratcliffe
the rat.
There are other curious stories about
the pig and sundry superstitions con.
nected with it. There is a popular
superstition current in parts of Ger
many, Great Britian, and in our owr
country, that pigs should be killed al
full moon. When this is done the meat
swells in the pot; otherwise, if killed
during the waning moon, it will shrink,
and is, therefore. unsound.
Omens are frequently drawn from
this most unimpressionable animal. Il
was long ago considered an unfortunate
thing if a SOW should cross in front oI
any one setting forth on a journey
Grose, an old English writer, says some
accident is sure to befall unless yor
kept the animal from crossing unit
J you had passed. A sow and litter O
pigs was, however, a good omen. 4
is in Scotland thought unlucky to meet
a sow the first thing in the morning
In Germany, if you meet pig wher
setting out, you will be unwelcome
wherever you are going, and it is alsc
a bad omen to meet herd of swine
Hollanders also dislike to meet pie
while out walking. Fishermen in many
parts of England, Scotland and ireland
abhor the pig. To meet one is so un
: lucky that they will frequently return
for the day. A pig was secretly home
introduced into fishing boat, but wa.
Immediately thrown overheard wher
discovered. 1t must not even bc
named when out fishing.
In Brandenburg, if, when a pig il
killed, the spleen is found to be turned
over, it is said to foretell death il
the family that year. It is said il
North Germany that if a single maj
viii, on Walpurgis night, ride on
broomstick to the stable, knock thre,
times, and then go the pigsty ant
listen until a pig grunts, he may know
whether he will marry young or OLE
wife, according to the age of the frs
grunter.
Hogs are also weather-wise. fwt
English sayings are recorded as sign
: of coming storm:
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