Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1915-12-23

ohouiu ehSy hoo NC PSeey Shou6h W
dance with they will be eaten for
supper. AS soon as the black cock
crows then all dancing must cease;
for this bird they have evidently no
manner Of partiality; in fact, he is
literally their bette noir. In the houses
they play all sorts Of wild pranks,
setting things topsy-turvey. insulting
the sleepers, and in many other ways
worrying and annoying the poor
islanders. These latter have no ink
ling for the Jews, and sometimes con-
fuse them with these enterprising
monsters. incidentally it may be
noted that the islanders firmly believe
that the Jews wander about from
Christmas to Epiphany looking for
Moses, whom they desire to throttle,
though why he should thus be singled
out for such punishment is rather
hard to imagine.
In most interesting paper COM
municated by Mr.. j. B. Andrews 10
"Folk Lore" March 1s97) is a very
complete account of Neapolitan witch
craft, and from that it appears that
Among witches by birth the women
born on Christmas Eve or at the
Feast of the Conversion Of st. Paul.
Whoever invokes the devil on Christ
mas Eve before mirror may become
a witch.
A very full description Of their
methods and powers is given, and also
an interesting reference to were
wolves.
The werewolf is known, but not as
on men to be born on Christmas Eve.
They are known by the length of their
nails. The malady aeiacs them in the
night; they run on all fo,trs trying to
bite, but they retain the human form.
If they are wounded so as to lose
blood the madness is stopped at once.
This information was quite recently
gathered first hand from witches in
| Naples.
IN Russia this time, i. c. Christ
mas Eve, is considered to he most
particularly favorable TO divination
and there is no doubt but that the
date for the birth Of our Lord has
infused vast quantity of mystical
power into old customs, investing
them with a great Importance for
good or evil, according to the manner
in which it was desired hat they
should be regarded In this country
the popular superstition is quite in
favor of the child born on the mid
night which links together Christmas
Eve and Christmas Day.
Another old custom, formerly held
in great repute by our ancestors, was
that known as the Hunting of the
Wren," and that this should bear the
closest possible relation to the old
Christmas game of blind mans buff
would seem to be almost incredible;
nevertheless their close and intimate
relationship has been ably shown by
Mr.. N. w. Thomas in his learned dis
QUESTION on "Animal Superstitions
and Totemism" ("Folklore," Vol. NJ,
19O0), wherein he clearly demon
strates them to be tribal sacrifices of
the Totem Tribe. The Hunting Of
the Wren has been often described,
and was pretty general throughout
+ Great Britain. Some parts of the
country hunted other animals for
Totem reasons at different periods of
the year, but it was reserved for
"Silly Suffolk to hunt the owl and the
squirrel at Christmas time. Accord
ing to Mr.. Thomas blind mans
buff corresponds in form to the
''Hahnenschlag" which is the sacri-
flee of a cock. Some are believed to be
"oock-shy." Mr.. Thomas points out
that the game is known nearly all
over Europe by names derived from
animals such as blind COW blind
mouse, blind he-goat, she goat, hen,
cat, fly, owl, and wolt. In ancient
Greece it was known as the Brezen-
fly, in Iceland as the .Fox-game, and
in Lithuania "Hare- catching is a
similar game. Mr.. Thomas's remarks
are SO interesting that they are well
worth quoting in extenso as a fitting
conclusion to these few notes. He
says:
"The explanation of these names is
that the players originally wore
masks; the game is known in some
cases as the 'Blinde Mumm,' or blind
mask; this is. perhaps, why in the
Hahnenschlag the person who tries
to kill the cock is frequently blind
folded; this custom points to a prac-
tice of wearing masks at the sacrifice
The payer who is it seems to be
the sacrificer; he bears the same name
as the victim, just as in agricultural
customs the reaper of the last corr
bears the same name as the last sheaf
Blind mans buff is essentially q
Christmas game; we have already
seen that the sacrifices of the winter
solstice are highly important; the
distribution and wide popularity Of
blind mans buff bear further testi
mony to this. We may infer that the
Christmas Mummers originally oflici
ated at sacrifice at this season, We
know from Strut and other authori
ties that the Mummers frequently