The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-10-28
SAVAGE FASHIONS.
Their Natural Origin-Tattooing and
Its Uses-HairsIressImg.


an anthropology full of profound signiti-
canoe. He has learned to take it for
granted that the more eccentric Of such
fashions at least had their origin in a need,
state of things or Of feelings, which made
it reasonable in sense Savage men are
not more disposed to put themselves to
suffering or inconvenience just "for the
fun of the thing than are any other ami
mals-and the most of their fashions are
more or less disagreeable. The motive has
been forgotten, as rule. A male barba-
rian pulls out his teeth, scarifes his flesh,
and tortures his hair; the female runs things
through her lips or nose, and shapes the
head of her piccaninny, with no conscious
purpose They do it just because their
forefathers did the same. In the course
of ages it may well have happened that
some personal defect of an individual in
authority, or his caprice, imposed some
fashion which has endured. We read, for
example that when the kings of Abyssinia
were crippled or wounded-lost limb or
tooth, and so on-every loyal subject mu-
tilaled himself to match. But growing
experience tempts us to believe that In the
simple stages of existence man was gov
erned mostly by reason in such matters
that is, convenience, tempered by superstl-
ton. 1t is a startling theory for those who
have been taught TO belive that the ways
of the savage are dictated by pure fantasy,
when not wilfully perverse.
The truth is that we begin TO see further
in these days, with the help of ever-widen-
inc information We have learned that all
men passed through the same stages OF
savagery. Laws which were regarded as
local and eccentric are now recognized as
universal, and they give us the key to
many mysteries Take that savage fashion
which is still, probably, the most wide
spead-lattooing We understand at this
time why it was practised. In the first
place. some ready means for distinguishing
friend from foe at a glance is vitality i'm
portant when every person encountered
must needs be one or the other. Life de-
ponds on instant recognition. This obvious
explanation was perceived long ago, of
course But there is another which es~
capped notice until the obligation of marry
inc outside of certain families-called Sex
ogamv"-was seen to be so generally re-
cognized that one may believe it universal
once. over great part of the world at
least To infringe the prohibited degrees
of marriage carries the penalty of death
among many barbarous races now ; among
many Others it has only been modified by
compulsion, as in India.
But those degrees are many and compli-
Gated. For example, the Goala tribe of
Bhagulpore will not allow marriage it
the ancestors of either party have been al
lied in seven generations back The quar-
terings of the noblest German house "are
fool" to purity like this. But the most
lax of 0risso aborigines-to so call them
roughly-exact four generations of alien
blood. How was it possible to keep the
record in early ages? Astonishing as is
the memory of priests or others who have
this matter in charge, Its bounds would
soon be reached in a community, say, Of
ten dihs or stocks. Mr.. Risley is acquaint
cd with one of the people called Pandjiars
in the Bats tribe, who keeps the register
Of three huadred families, going back a
century. But he has it ia writing; his
forerunners, at best, used some sort of a
tally. which must have been highly inge-
NOUS if it answered all demands. Fur
thermore, we may be certain that the
Pandjiars chronicle the pedigree of chiefs
and leading families thus carefully, while
the common people, are-that Is, we're
equally in danger if some enemy discover
ed flaw in their records Tattooing was
the simplest means to evade this peril, and
therefore reasonable Authorities agree
that our own forefathers we're tattooed,
and no one would think Of caviling at
Green or Freeman, though it may be said
that evidence does not abound, Edith the
swan-necked identified her lover by such
marks. Hereward was tattoed; but both
of these were Danish by descent, and in
any case it may have been a personal
fancy. But if the practice were general,
it may be attributed to exogamy, long for
gotten, doubtless,
At a later date. of course, tattoOing be-
came simply an ornament, carried to such
a length that the people themselves in
vented an explanation sometimes. Thus,
the Burmese have Il legend shockingly IL
belIous upon their ancestors, which we can
prove false. II was in troubled times Of
the sixteenth century, they say, that tat
tooing became fashion. But Marco Polo
wrote of them 300 years before "As
well the men as the women use to en-
broider their faces, necks, hands, bellies,
and legs, making the images of living dra-
CONS and birds, and so firmly imprint them
that they cannot easily be put out and
the more such images any one has upon
his body, so much he is esteemed the finer
and the more gallant. And there are also
in this country professors of this foolish
art of flesh embroidery, which use no other