The Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser. — 1866-08-04 (Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England)

APPEARANCE OF CATTLE PLAGUE NEAR GARSTANG.—We are informed that several cases of cattle plague have re-appeared in the district around Garstang, in which its ravages have already been so disastrous. It is to be feared that this may be due to a relaxation of the stringency with which the regulations were enforced when a greater fear of the extension of the plague prevailed. We would remind our agricultural readers, that whilst there has been a gradual abatement of the plague in the kingdom, the result has been achieved mainly by a strict adherence to the-system of isolation, and slaughter of diseased animals, and if this practice is departed from whilst the malady remains in the country we shall in all probability witness a further outbreak, and the good effects of the previous precautions will be destroyed. THE NORTH LONSDALE MAGAZINE,—No. 2 of this excellent serial has just come to hand, and its readers will say with us that it is a better specimen than No. 1 was, which is far from equivocal praise to the writers and editor. First we have a chapter on "a; Classical and Philosophical Novel," by the Rev. Henry NoelFearn, M.A., F.R.S. The work in question is "The Metamorphosis of Apuleuis,' .known to but a small portion of students of the present day, and hence Mr. Noel-Fearn's excuse for bringing the main features of the work before the public through the pages of the "North Lonsdale." The concluding sketch on. Kirkby Ireleth will be read with interest. We next have a well-written geological paper on the Terraces of Furness, by Miss E. Hodgson, which does that lady infinite credit. Under the heading "Folk Lore," we have some curious information respecting the use of " Arval Bread at Funerals." We give the following extract from this interesting article : —" When the guests arrived at the house of mourning on the appointed day, they found a a large table set out, covered with cheese, wheat bread and oat cake; ale also, cold or warm, according to the season of the year, was served round to each of the assembled company, a long time being allowed for refreshment before the removal of the corpse took place. It was always customary for the attendant neighbours to be invited to see the body, which each was expected to touch. This arose from an old superstition, firmly believed through all the country, that if the murderer touched the person he had murdered, the corpse would begin to bleed; hence all who attended funerals were required to pass this ordeal, to prove that they were innocent of deceased's death. A small loaf or cake—the arval bread —was given to each individual, which he or she was expected to carry home and eat with the rest of the family, in religious remembrance of their departed neighbour: a custom, it is supposed, which had for its prototype the establishment of the eucharist ; for, it is argued, the very name shows its Saxon origin, arval bread m , from arfull, awful, full of reverence, meaning the holy bread used at the communion. ' We must beg to state that the reader should avoid confusing the terms "arval "and "haler " or "haver," and think they are synonimous. The terms are distinct, and have no connection whatever, " Hafer" is a Greek word, while "haver "is from the Danish, and both signify oats; but " Arval," (properly spelt arvel) is Saxon, of the Craven dialect, and signifies a funeral, and so an arvel feast means a supper given at a funeral; or arvel bread, cakes (whatever grain they be composed of) given at funerals. The next article is a very clever essay on "another Epic Poem in four lines," which our innate modesty precludes our enlarging upon, and we shall only deny that we had in our mind the words containedin that "Greek" work, with the unpronouncable name, of that Latin writer, Martinus Suiblerus, for we actually had the first part of his latest work before us at the time when we "concluded" the epic. Jesting aside, however, the current number of the North Lonsdale ought to meet with a good reception amonot magazine readers, and especially those who reside in the locality in which it is published. We heartily wish it success, and hope that it will long continue to bring forward that class of information, sadly too much neglected by other serials, which it professes to have been established for.  ;11H11