VI The Number Thirteen
In regard to the luck of odd numbers, the exception, which is commonly supposed to prove the rule, is the much maligned thirteen.
In the Scandinavian mythology Loki, the Principle of Evil and the chief author of human misfortunes, accompanied the twelve Æsir, or Demigods, and was reckoned the thirteenth among them. Moreover, the Valkyrs, or Virgins, who waited upon the heroes in Valhalla, were thirteen in number, and from these sources is believed to have sprung the very common superstition concerning the ill luck and fatality of the number thirteen, especially in connection with a party of guests at table.
The most generally received explanation of the origin of this popular belief refers it to the Last Supper of our Lord, where Judas is sometimes represented as the thirteenth guest. But why Judas rather than John, the beloved disciple? However, this is the generally accepted starting-point of this notable superstition. As with the Jews the thirteenth month, and with the Christians the thirteenth day of the year, which began with Christmas, were accounted ominous, so, with the inhabitants of India, the thirteenth year was considered to be of evil import. It is evident, therefore, that the source of this nearly world-wide belief cannot be attributed wholly either to the mythology of the north or to the Paschal Supper.543
When the year was reckoned as thirteen lunar months of twenty-eight days each, the number thirteen, according to one view, was considered auspicious; but when, under the present method of solar time, the number of months was reduced to twelve, thirteen’s reputation was changed for the worse.544
In early times the Feast of the Epiphany, which is the thirteenth day after Christmas Eve, was feared because at that time the three goddesses, Berchta, Holle, and Befana, with their ghostly companions, were especially active; and, as a guard against their machinations, the initial letters of the names of the three kings, or wise men, were written on many a door.
Of the former trio, Berchta was represented as a shaggy monster, whose name was used as a bugbear with which to frighten children. She was intrusted with the oversight of spinning, and on the eve of Epiphany she visited the homes of the countryfolk, distributing empty reels, which she required to be filled within a specified time; if her demands were not complied with, she retaliated by tangling and befouling the flax.
Holle, or Holda, was a benignant and merciful goddess, of an obliging disposition, who was usually most lenient, except when she noticed disorder in the affairs of a household. Her favorite resorts were the lakes and fountains, but she had also an oversight over domestic concerns, and shared with Berchta the supervision of spinning. Sometimes, however, she appeared as an old hag, with bristling, matted hair and long teeth.
Befana, the third goddess, was of Italian origin, and her name signifies Epiphany. On that day the women and children used to place a rag doll in the window in her honor. In personal appearance she was black and ugly, but her disposition was not unfriendly.
So universal has been the superstition regarding the number thirteen at table, that it has long been a matter of etiquette in France to avoid having exactly that number of guests at dinner-parties. The Parisian pique-assiette, a person whose title corresponds to the English “trencher friend” or “sponger,” is also known as a quatorzième, his chief mission being to occupy the fourteenth seat at a banquet.
The ancients, we learn, had ideas of their own regarding the proper size of festive gatherings, their favorite number of convives being between three and nine, the number of the Graces and Muses respectively.545
Opinions have differed as to whether misfortune were likely to befall the whole company of thirteen persons rash enough to dine together, or only the one leaving the room first after the repast. All evil, however, was supposed to be averted by the entire company rising to their feet together. It has been wittily remarked that the only occasion when thirteen plates at table should cause disquietude is when the food is only sufficient for twelve persons.
At the thirteenth annual dinner of that unique organization, the Thirteen Club, held in New York city, January 13, 1895, at 7.13 o’clock, P. M., the custodian delivered an address in which were recounted the circumstances of the club’s formation. So prevalent was the apprehension of evil likely to result from the assembling together of thirteen persons that, when at length the requisite number were seated at table, it was found desirable to lock the doors of the banquet-room, lest some faint soul should retire abruptly.
Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, in his “Forty-One Years in India” (vol. i. p. 24), mentions a circumstance occurring in his own experience, which affords evidence, were any needed, of the falsity of the superstition in question. On New Year’s Day, A. D. 1853, Lord Roberts was one of a party of thirteen who dined together at a staff-officers’ mess at Peshawer, on the Afghan frontier. Eleven years later all these officers were alive, the greater number having participated in the suppression of the great Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, during which several of them were wounded.
In Italy shrewd theatrical managers have found it expedient to change the number of Box 13 to 12A, and in many streets of Rome and Florence one may search in vain for house-numbers between 12½ and 14. A gentleman of the writer’s acquaintance, living in Washington, D. C., sent a formal petition to the authorities asking leave to change the number of his house, for the sole reason that it contained the ominous figures.
As an illustration of the popular distrust of the number thirteen among the villagers of the Department of Ille-et-Villaine, France, may be cited the following custom, which is in vogue in that district. Children are there usually taught the art of knitting by devout elderly women. The little ones are first seated in a circle, and, to facilitate the work, on the completion of the first round of knitting they are made to repeat the following words: “One, the Father;” at the close of the second round, “Two, the Son;” and so on, as follows: “Three, the Holy Spirit; the four Evangelists; the five wounds of our Lord; the six commandments of the church; seven sacraments; eight beatitudes; nine choirs of angels; ten commandments of God; eleven thousand virgins; twelve apostles;” and at the close of the thirteenth round, the children mention the name of Judas.546
This remarkable and unreasonable prejudice against an innocent number seems to pervade all classes and communities. The possession of intelligence and culture is no effective barrier against it. Arguments and reasoning are alike vain. Even at this writing, an evening journal records that at a recent meeting of a newly elected board of aldermen in an enlightened city of eastern Massachusetts, one of the members objected to casting lots for seats because he did not relish the idea of drawing number thirteen. However, his scruples having been in a measure overcome, he was much relieved to find that the number eleven, which is both uneven and lucky, had fallen to his share.547
Brand quotes as follows from Fuller’s “Mixt Contemplations” (1660) in reference to this subject:—
A covetous Courtier complained to King Edward the sixt of Christ Colledge in Cambridge, that it was a superstitious foundation, consisting of a Master and twelve Fellowes, in imitation of Christ and His twelve Apostles. He advised the King also to take away one or two Fellowships, so as to discompose that superstitious number. “Oh, no!” said the King, “I have a better way than that to mar their conceit; I will add a thirteenth Fellowship unto them;” which he did accordingly, and so it remaineth unto this day.
Persians regard the number thirteen as so unlucky that they refrain from naming it. When they wish to allude to this number, instead of mentioning the proper term, they use words meaning “much more” or “nothing.”548
The Moors, or Arabs, of northern Africa have similar prejudices, whereas the American negro, ordinarily a most credulous being, appears to be quite indifferent to the evil influences of the fateful number;549 but in Turkey, so great is the popular dislike of it that the word for thirteen is seldom used.550
In Scotland this number is known as the “Deil’s Dozen,” a phrase which has been supposed to have some connection with card-playing, there being thirteen cards in each suit of the “Deil’s Books.” John Jamieson, in his Scottish Dictionary, avows his inability to trace the superstition to its source, but believes that it includes the idea of the thirteenth being the Devil’s lot. The number thirteen is also sometimes known as a “baker’s dozen,” because it was formerly a common practice to give thirteen loaves for twelve, the extra piece being called the in-bread or to-bread. This custom is supposed to have originated at a time when heavy fines were imposed for short weights, the additional bread being given by bakers as a precautionary measure.551
In certain cases, contrary to the general rule, thirteen is accounted a fortunate numeral, or even as one possessing extraordinary virtues.
Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, in “A Primer of Mayan Hieroglyphics” (p. 25), says that in the old language of the Mayas, an aboriginal tribe of Yucatan, the numbers nine and thirteen were used to denote indefinite greatness and supreme excellence. Thus a very fortunate man was possessed of nine souls, and the phrase, “thirteen generations old,” conveyed the idea of perpetuity. The “Demon with thirteen powers” was a prominent figure in the mythology of the Tzentals, a Mayan tribe.
According to a widely prevalent popular impression, a brood is usually odd in number, and therefore it is folly to set an even number of eggs under a hen. In spite of the falsity of this idea, it is still quite customary to set thirteen eggs, an even number in this case being accounted unlucky.
Gerald Massey, in “The Natural Genesis,” remarks that “there were thirteen kinds of spices set out in the Jewish religious service, along with the zodiacal number of twelve loaves of shew-bread. There are thirteen articles to the Hebrew faith, and the Cabalists have thirteen rules by which they are enabled to penetrate the mysteries of the Hebrew Scriptures. Thirteen are the dialectical canons of the Talmudical doctors for determining the sense of the law in all civil and ecclesiastical cases.”
In England the day of twenty-four hours was formerly divided into thirteen parts, as follows:—
| 1. | After midnight. |
| 2. | Cock-crow. |
| 3. | Between the first cock-crow and daybreak. |
| 4. | The dawn. |
| 5. | Morning. |
| 6. | Noon. |
| 7. | Afternoon. |
| 8. | Sunset. |
| 9. | Twilight. |
| 10. | Evening. |
| 11. | Candle-time. |
| 12. | Bed-time. |
| 13. | Dead of night. |
Recurring now to the prevalent notions regarding the sinister and portentous character of this number, one may well inquire in all seriousness whether the harboring of this and other firmly rooted superstitious fancies is compatible with a deep and abiding Christian faith. The answer is plainly in the negative. Therefore it is doubtless true—and the truth should make us free—that the greater our indifference to the various alleged omens and auguries which so easily beset us, the more readily shall we acquire and retain a firm and enduring dependence on Divine Providence.
Footnotes
1 New Cabinet Cyclopædia.
2 Archæologia, vol. iii. 1775.
3 John Kitto, D. D., Cyclopædia of Biblical Art.
[4] John Beckman, A History of Inventions.
5 Carmen XVIII. 26.
6 Suetonius: “Soleis mularum argenteis.”
7 Pliny: “Jumentis suis soleas ex auro induere.”
8 Fosbroke, Dictionary of Antiquities.
9 Knight’s Mechanical Dictionary.
10 Alexander Adam, LL. D., Roman Antiquities.
11 Archæologia, vol. xlvii.
12 Scribner’s Magazine, November, 1894.
13 John Beckman, A History of Inventions.
14 Fosbroke, Archæologia, vol. iii.
15 Notes and Queries, series 3, vol. v. 1864.
16 Leicestershire and Rutland Notes and Queries, vol. i. 1889-91.
17 Margaret G. Finch, The History of Oakham Castle. Oakham, 1897.
18 Chambers’ Journal, March 10, 1866.
19 Cameron’s Across Africa.
20 W. Crooke, B. A., North Indian Folk-Lore.
21 Clara Erskine Clement, Naples.
22 George Borrow, The Zincali.
23 A. Certeux and E. Henry Carnoy, L’Algérie traditionnelle, tome i. p. 159.
24 Folk-Lore, June, 1896, p. 148.
25 Lieutenant-Colonel N. Prejevalsky, Mongolia, vol. ii. p. 207.
26 William M. Thomson, D. D., The Land and the Book.
27 S. S. Thorburn, Bannú.
28 Sir John Bowring, F. R. S., The Kingdom and People of Siam, vol. i. p. 145.
29 Clara Erskine Clement, Naples.
30 Elworthy, Evil Eye, p. 261.
31 Popular Science Monthly, November, 1896.
32 Goblet D’Alviella, La migration des symboles, p. 25.
33 Rennell Rodd, The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece. 1892.
34 Revue des traditions populaires, tome viii. 1892.
35 Mélusine, tome viii. No. 4. 1896.
36 M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia, art. “Head-Dress.”
37 Lucy M. J. Garnett, The Christian Women of Turkey.
38 L’Algérie traditionnelle, tome i. p. 159. 1884.
39 H. Clay Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant, p. 74.
40 Folk-Lore, March, 1898, p. 10.
41 Mélusine, tome viii. No. 3. 1896.
42 L’Algérie traditionelle, tome i. p. 159. 1884.
43 Richard Folkard, Jr., Plant-Lore.
44 Rev. Timothy Harley, Moon-Lore, p. 192.
45 Isaiah iii. 18.
46 Cornhill, March, 1877.
47 Thomas Inman, M. D., Ancient Faiths embodied in Ancient Names.
48 Barclay V. Head, Historia Numorum. Oxford, 1887.
49 A Dictionary of Roman Coins. London, 1889.
50 Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 84. 1814.
51 Popular Science Monthly, November, 1895.
52 Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 19. 1890.
53 Bernard de Montfaucon, L’antiquité expliquée.
54 Ph. Charles Berjean, The Horses of Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Renaissance. London, 1864.
55 Theodore Andrea Cook, B. A., Old Touraine.
56 Professor C. H. Rochholz, Alt-deutsches Bürgerleben.
57 Richard Folkard, Jr., Plant-Lore.
58 Laisnel de la Salle, Croyances et legendes du centre de la France. Paris, 1875.
59 Merlin, Book of Charms.
60 William A. Craigie, M. A., Scandinavian Folk-Lore, p. 396.
61 Rudolph Keyser, The Religion of the Northmen, p. 299.
62 Popular Science Monthly, vol. 44. 1894.
63 Dr. Karl Sittl, Archäologie der Kunst, p. 210. 1895.
64 Edward B. Tylor, LL. D., Primitive Culture.
65 William S. Walsh, Handy Book of Literary Curiosities.
66 Rev. Justus Doolittle, Social Life of the Chinese.
67 Rennell Rodd, p. 165.
68 William George Black, Folk-Medicine. London, 1883.
69 J. B. Friedrich, Die Symbolik und Mythologie der Natur.
70 F. Nork, Mythologie der Volkssagen und Volksmärchen. Stuttgart, 1848.
71 Paul Sébillot, Légendes et curiosités des métiers.
72 The Folk-Lore Journal, vol. vii. 1889.
73 Jacob Larwood and John C. Hotten, The History of Signboards.
74 William Mackay, Urquhart and Glenmoriston, p. 434.
75 Daniel Wilson, The Archæology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland.
76 Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, p. 352.
77 F. S. Bassett, Sea Phantoms.
78 James W. Mackinlay, Folk-Lore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, p. 6.
79 William Jones, Credulities Past and Present.
80 Giuseppe Pitré, Usi e costumi, credenze, e pregiudizi del popolo Siciliano. Palermo, 1889.
81 A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube, p. 92.
82 Cornhill, N. S. vol. xix. 1892.
83 Dr. H. Ploss, Das Kind in Brauch und Sitte der Völker, p. 122.
84 A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube, p. 336.
85 Natural History, book xxviii. ch. 81.
86 Dr. G. Lammert, Volksmedizin in Bayern, p. 120.
87 Campbell.
88 W. Crooke, B. A., Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India.
89 Letter to the writer from H. Clay Trumbull.
90 The Folk-Lore Journal, vol. vi. p. 77.
91 Jones and Kropf, Folk-Tales of the Magyars, p. 410, note.
92 Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, p. 148.
93 Moise Schuhl, Superstitions et coutumes populaires du Judaisme.
94 John Gregorson Campbell, The Fians, p. 52.
95 Fräulein Helene Raff.
96 L’Initiation, 19ᵉ volume, April, 1893.
97 J. C. Brown, LL. D., People of Finland in Archaic Times, p. 112.
98 W. A. Craigie, Scandinavian Folk-Lore.
99 T. F. Thiselton Dyer, M. A., British Popular Customs, p. 424.
100 Mélusine, tome iv. p. 367.
101 R. G. Haliburton, The Dwarfs of Mount Atlas.
102 Dr. Ludwig Beck, Die Geschichte des Eisens, p. 879.
103 A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube, p. 263.
104 For this legend, and for other information regarding the traditions and customs of the Bavarian and Tyrolese peasantry, the writer is indebted to Fräulein Helene Raff, of Munich.
105 Crooke, p. 199.
106 Gregor, Scotch Folk-Lore, p. 45.
107 E. Daumas, The Horses of the Sahara, pp. 150 et seq.
108 Rev. James Macdonald, Religion and Myth, p. 92.
109 Dr. O. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities.
110 Richard Andree, Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche, p. 155.
111 Chambers’ Encyclopædia.
112 Banier, Mythology, vol. ii. p. 570.
113 Brinton, Religions of Primitive Peoples, p. 142.
114 Henry Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither.
115 Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 281, p. 514. 1896.
116 The Comical Pilgrim’s Pilgrimage into Ireland, 1723, p. 92.
117 Dyer, British Popular Customs, p. 322.
118 W. K. Kelly, Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-Lore, p. 48.
119 Campbell, p. 24.
120 Campbell, p. 318.
121 L. Maria Child, The Progress of Religious Ideas, vol. i. p. 276.
122 Theophilus Hahn, Ph. D., Tsuni-Goam, p. 77.
123 The Werner Company, Art Treasures from the World’s Fair. Chicago, 1895.
124 All the Year Round, N. S. vol. xxxix. 1887.
125 Indian Antiquary, vol. xv. 1886.
126 Cornhill Magazine, vol. xix. 1869.
127 E. G. Squier, A. M., The Serpent Symbol.
128 Sir John Lubbock, The Origin of Civilization.
129 Marc Monnier, Les contes populaires en Italie.
130 Grosses Universal Lexicon.
131 Astley, Collection of Voyages.
132 Dr. Friedrich S. Krauss, Sréca, Glück und Schicksal im Volksglauben der Südslaven. Wien, 1886.
133 A. W. Buckland, St. Paul’s Magazine, vol. i. 1874.
134 Amer. Antiq., vol. xviii. p. 141. 1896.
135 Lucy M. J. Garnett, The Christian Women of Turkey.
136 Popular Science Monthly, vol. 35. 1889.
137 Mélusine, tome viii. No. 2. 1896.
138 The Myths of the New World, p. 132.
139 John Newton, Notes and Queries, 7th series, vol. iii. April, 1887.
140 W. Crooke, B. A., Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India.
141 Jacob Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie.
142 Friedrich Creuzer, Symbolik und Mythologie der alten Völker, vol. iv. p. 380.
143 Das Kloster, vol. ix. p. 97.
144 Friedrich, p. 454.
145 L. Austine Waddell, M. B., The Buddhism of Tibet, p. 413.
146 Campbell, p. 457.
147 Schuyler, Turkistan, p. 30.
148 Mélusine, tome viii. No. 1, p. 17. 1896.
149 Max Jähns, Ross und Reiter, i. 371.
150 Ulster Journal of Archæology, vol. vii. p. 69.
151 Cornhill Magazine, article on “Comparative Folk-Lore,” vol. lxxvi.
152 Thomas A. Wise, M. D., History of Paganism in Caledonia.
153 Mallet, Northern Antiquities, p. 154.
154 Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 278, p. 417. 1895.
155 Fräulein Helene Raff.
156 Professor Dr. Sepp, Die Religion der alten Deutschen, p. 340. 1890.
157 Jähns, i. pp. 294-296.
158 Wuttke, p. 185.
159 Wuttke, p. 423.
160 Richard Andree, Braunschweiger Volkskunde, p. 128.
161 Grimm, vol. i. p. 47.
162 S. Baring-Gould, M. A., Strange Survivals.
163 J. Scheible, Das Kloster, Band ix. p. 101; Thomas Carlyle, Early Kings of Norway, p. 8.
164 Dr. Karl Weinhold, Altnordisches Leben, p. 145. 1856.
165 Brand, vol. ii. p. 664.
166 Fräulein Helene Raff.
167 J. B. Friedrich, Die Symbolik und Mythologie der Natur.
168 E. Rolland, Faune populaire de la France, tome iv.
169 C. G. Leland, Gypsy Sorcery.
170 Gerald Massey, A Book of Beginnings.
171 Folk-Lore, vol. iv. p. 6. 1893.
172 Mélusine, tome viii. No. 1, p. 17. 1896.
173 Professor Dr. Sepp, Die Religion der alten Deutschen, p. 263. 1890.
174 Jähns, vol. i. p. 373.
175 Das Buck der ritterlichen Reutterkunst.
176 Heinrich von Wlislocki, Aus dem Volksleben der Magyaren, pp. 9, 10.
177 Heinrich von Wlislocki, Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Zigeuner.
178 M’Clintock and Strong’s Encyclopædia, art. “Shamanism;” E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. ii. p. 142.
179 Gentleman’s Magazine. 1867.
180 Rev. T. Thiselton Dyer, Domestic Folk-Lore.
181 Museum of Foreign Literature, vol. xxvi. 1835.
182 The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL. D., Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
183 Robert Ford, Thistledown.
184 Boston Transcript, May 9, 1898.
185 Turner’s Anglo-Saxons.
186 John Brooks Felton, The Horse-Shoe, a Poem. Cambridge, 1849.
187 James Napier in Folk-Lore.
188 H. Clay Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant, chap. i.
189 Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, p. 136.
190 Bonami, Nineveh and its Palaces, p. 159.
191 Popular Science Monthly, vol. 44, p. 520. February, 1894.
192 C. G. Leland, Etruscan Roman Remains, p. 282.
193 Petersen, Hufeisen, p. 7.
194 Waddell, p. 484.
195 Edmond O’Donovan, The Merv Oasis, vol. ii. p. 141.
196 A. Featherman, Social History of Mankind.
197 Rev. Charles Rogers, D. D., Social Life in Scotland, vol. iii. p. 229.
198 Robert Ford, Thistledown, p. 262.
199 Gregor, Scotch Folk-Lore.
200 A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube. Berlin, 1869.
201 Robert Thorne, M. A., A Dictionary of Rare and Curious Information.
202 The Denham Tracts.
203 Fortnightly Review.
204 Sidney Oldall Addy, M. A., Household Tales. 1895.
205 Edward W. B. Nicholson, M. A., Golspie. Edinburgh, 1897.
206 Notes and Queries, 5th series, vol. ix. p. 65. January, 1878.
207 Rev. James Macdonald, Religion and Myth, p. 92.
208 Novellenzeitung, sechster Jahrgang, No. 51, p. 812.
209 C. G. Leland, Etruscan Roman Remains.
210 Thomas A. Wise, M. D., History of Paganism in Caledonia.
211 The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopædia. London, 1824.
212 Petersen, Hufeisen, p. 8.
213 Camden’s Britannia.
214 Thorpe’s Northern Mythology.
215 Francis Parry, F. R. G. S., The Sacred Symbols and Numbers of Aboriginal America in Ancient and Modern Times.
216 The American Antiquarian, vol. xii. p. 356; vol. xiii. p. 58.
217 Leopold Wagner, Manners, Customs, and Observances.
218 S. H. Killikelly, Curious Questions.
219 Leicestershire and Rutland Notes and Queries, vol. ii. 1891-93.
220 Grimm, p. 34.
221 J. Scheible, Das Kloster, vol. ix. p. 422.
222 Arnold Frost, The Ballad of the Wind, the Devil, and Lincoln Minster. Lincoln, 1897.
223 J. W. Wolf, Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie, p. 91.
224 Ignaz V. Zingerle, Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des tiroler Volkes. Innsbruck, 1857.
225 Herman Schmid and Karl Stieler, The Bavarian Highlands and the Salzkammergut.
226 Anton Birlinger, Sagen, Legenden und Volksaberglauben, vol. i. p. 49.
227 Belgravia, vol. iv. 1887.
228 Yule-Tide Stories, edited by Benjamin Thorpe. London, 1853.
229 J. Scheible, Das Kloster.
230 Thorpe’s Northern Mythology, vol. ii. p. 190.
231 Ernst Meier, Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben. Stuttgart, 1852.
232 Friedrich Panzer, Bayerische Sagen und Bräuche, vol. i. p. 127.
233 Cyclopædia of Arts. Philadelphia.
234 F. Allègre, Étude sur la déesse grecque Tyché. Paris, 1889.
235 Plutarch’s Opinions of Philosophers.
236 Lyon, Nouveau dictionnaire historique. 1804.
237 History of Rome.
238 George Crabb, English Synonymes.
239 Andrew Tooke, A. M., The Pantheon. Dublin, 1792.
240 Anthon’s Classical Dictionary.
241 F. Noel, Dictionnaire de la fable. Paris, 1803.
242 P. Galtruchius, History of the Heathen Gods. 1671.
243 Daniel Watson, A. M., A History of the Gods and Goddesses.
244 Plutarch’s Roman Questions.
245 Roscher, Lexicon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie, p. 1523.
246 The Antiquarian Repertory, vol. iv. p. 256. London, 1784.
247 Basil H. Chamberlin, Things Japanese.
248 L. Austine Waddell, B. A., The Buddhism of Tibet, p. 512.
249 Mythology and Monuments of Ancient Athens.
250 Rodolfo Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome.
251 Thomas Wright, The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon.
252 Read at the Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, New York, December 29, 1896.
253 Banier’s Mythology. London, 1739.
254 Bancroft, Native Races, vol. ii. p. 353.
255 J. J. L. Ratton, M. D., M. C., A Hand-Book of Common Salt.
256 J. B. Friedrich, Die Symbolik und Mythologie der Natur.
257 Calmet’s Dictionary of the Holy Bible.
258 Philemon Holland, The Morals or Miscellane Works of Plutarch.
259 Horst, Dæmonomagie. Frankfurt, 1818.
260 Richalmus, Liber Revelationum de Insidiis et Versutiis Dæmonum adversus Homines.
261 Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki, Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Magyar, p. 151.
262 W. Mannhardt, Germanische Mythen. Berlin, 1858.
263 W. Crooke, B. A., p. 147.
264 Alexander Adam, LL. D., Roman Antiquities.
265 Grosses Universal Lexicon. Leipzig and Halle, 1742.
266 John Borrow, F. R. S., Travels in China.
267 Natural History, book xxxi. ch. 41.
268 Elias Artista Hermetica, Das Geheimniss vom Salz.
269 Il a répandu le sel à pleines mains dans ses écrits.
270 Baret, 1580.
271 Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
272 Edinburgh Monthly Magazine, June, 1817.
273 Chevalier d’Arvieux, Memoir. Paris, 1735.
274 J. J. Manley, M. A., Salt and Other Condiments, p. 90.
275 Karl Baedeker, The Eastern Alps, p. 124. 1895.
276 Spectator, vol. 66. 1891.
277 Gentleman’s Magazine, part i. 1833.
278 Felix Liebrecht, Die Symbolik und Mythologie der Natur.
279 Owen on Serpents.
280 The writer is indebted for this translation to John P. Hopkinson, Esq.
281 Felix Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde. 1877.
282 Shakespeare refers to this subject in several passages, and among them the following:—
How came her eyes so bright? Not with salt tears.
Midsummer Night’s Dream.
With tears as salt as sea.
2 Henry VI.
283 Current Superstitions, edited by Fanny D. Bergen.
284 Clifton Johnson, What they say in New England, p. 92. 1896.
285 M. J. Schleiden, Das Salz, p. 73.
286 The Study of Sociology, p. 5.
287 Revue des traditions populaires, tome i. 1886.
288 A Theological and Philosophical Treatise of the Nature and Goodnesse of Salt. Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Richard Boyle at London, 1612.
289 James Napier, Folk-Lore, p. 33.
290 Pitré, vol. iv. p. 102.
291 R. T. Hampson, Medii Ævi Kalendarium. London, 1841.
292 Pitré, vol. ii. p. 161.
293 Dr. Heino Pfannenschmid, Das Weihwasser im heidnischen und christlichen Cultus.
294 Notes and Queries, 6th series, vol. ix. p. 428. May, 1884.
295 Century Dictionary.
296 Francis Grose, Popular Superstitions.
297 Spenser’s Faerie Queene.
298 Clara Erskine Clement, Naples.
299 Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology.
300 The Folk-Lore Journal, vol. vii. 1889.
301 Journal of American Folk-Lore, No. xviii. 1892.
302 The Washington Post, November 27, 1894.
303 William Henderson, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Countries of England.
304 Journal of American Folk-Lore, No. 19. 1892.
305 Keightley’s Fairy Mythology.
306 Giuseppe Pitré, Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del popolo Siciliano, vol. iii. p. 426. Palermo, 1889.
307 Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft, edited by Rev. Oswald Cockayne. London, 1865.
308 Rev. Charles Rogers, LL. D., Scotland, Social and Domestic.
309 Journal of American Folk-Lore, No. 13. 1891.
310 James M. Campbell, Notes on the Spirit-Basis of Belief and Custom.
311 Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland.
312 Revue des traditions populaires, tome vi. p. 43. 1891.
313 Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde, Band iv.
314 Sitzungberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
315 Abraham Fornander, An Account of the Polynesian Race, vol. i.
316 Aus dem Volksleben der Magyaren, p. 111.
317 William Elliot Griffis, A. M., The Mikado’s Empire.
318 Rogers, vol. iii. p. 288.
319 Henderson, p. 217.
320 Burkhardt’s Nubia.
321 M. J. Schleiden, Das Salz.
322 Waldron’s History.
323 Pitré.
324 M. J. Schleiden, Das Salz, p. 71.
325 The Leisure Hour, vol. xliii. p. 805. 1894.
326 The Book of Ser Marco Polo. London, 1874.
327 Lieutenant-Colonel N. Prejevalsky, Mongolia, vol. i. p. 122.
328 J. J. Manley, M. A., Salt and Other Condiments.
329 J. J. Manley, p. 13.
330 Nares’ Glossary, vol. ii. p. 763.
331 Cosmopolitan, vol. xx. p. 94. 1894.
332 Contemporary Review, vol. xxxi.
333 R. H. Busk, Roman Legends.
334 Schleiden, p. 73.
335 M. Dacier, The Life of Pythagoras, p. 60. London, 1707.
336 Feu M. Jean François Buddeus, Traité de l’athéisme et de la superstition.
337 Thomas Wright, A History of Domestic Manners in England during the Middle Ages.
338 Richard Boyle. 1612.
339 Chambers’s Book of Days.
340 Emily S. Holt, Ye Olden Time, p. 130.
341 Fosbroke, Encyclopædia of Antiquities.
342 Leges Curiales Regis Canuti; apud Bartholin, p. 583; J. S. Forsyth, The Antiquary’s Portfolio. London, 1825.
343 Elizabeth Hodges, Some Ancient English Homes.
344 Rogers, vol. i. p. 233.
345 P. H. Ditchfield, M. A., F. S. A., Old English Customs. 1896.
346 Martin Schoock, De Sternutatione Tractatus Copiosus. Amsterdam, 1664.
347 Joh. Gerhardus Menschen, Disquisitio Philologica de Ritu Salutandi Sternutantes. Kiloni, 1704.
348 John Potter, D. D., Antiquities of Greece.
349 Francis Rous, Archæologiæ Atticæ. London, 1685.
350 Encyclopédie méthodique. Paris, 1788.
351 U. S. Literary Gazette, vol. iv. 1826.
352 Eustace Neville Rolfe, B. A., Pompeii, Popular and Practical. London, 1888.
353 Gerald Massey, The Natural Genesis, vol. i. pp. 83-85.
354 Henderson, p. 128.
355 Mélusine, vol. iv. 1888-89.
356 William Jones, Credulities.
357 John Beaumont, Gent., A Treatise of Spirits. London, 1705.
358 Twelfth Annual Report of the Thirteen Club of New York, January, 1894. The writer has also consulted the original manuscript.
359 Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology.
360 A. Featherman, The Social History of the Races of Mankind.
361 R. H. Codrington, D. D., The Melanesians.
362 Notes and Queries, 1st series, vol. xii.
363 Rev. Charles Rogers, LL. D., F. S. A., Scotland, Social and Domestic.
364 Alexandre Desrousseaux, Mœurs populaires de la Flandre française.
365 Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 252, p. 237. January, 1882.
366 Wuttke, p. 243.
367 Philadelphia Inquirer, February 24, 1898.
368 Eugene Schuyler, Turkistan, p. 29.
369 Griffis, Japan, p. 187.
370 Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. x. p. 272. 1897.
371 Henderson, p. 206.
372 Vol. 73, pp. 41, 42. 1896.
373 Cornhill Magazine, vol. 76.
374 Lecture by Dr. D. G. Brinton, at the Lowell Institute, Boston, Mass., November 9, 1896.
375 Elijah M. Haines, The American Indian, p. 416.
376 D. G. Brinton, Myths of the New World, p. 307.
377 Andree, Ethnographische Parallelen, p. 177.
378 Herbert Spencer, Principles of Sociology, vol. iii. p. 186.
379 Rev. William Wyatt Gill, B. A., Myths and Songs from the South Pacific.
380 L. Maria Child, The Progress of Religious Ideas, vol. i. p. 276.
381 Schuyler, Turkistan, p. 29.
382 Isabella L. Bishop, Among the Tibetans, p. 104.
383 Rev. J. A. Graham, M. A., On the Threshold of Three Closed Lands, p. 76.
384 G. Maspero, The Dawn of Civilization. 1894.
385 Professor E. P. Evans, Popular Science Monthly, November, 1895.
386 W. Crooke, B. A., Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India.
387 S. Baring Gould, Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets.
388 The Catholic World, vol. iii. 1866.
389 Brand’s Popular Antiquities of Great Britain.
390 Encyclopædia of Arts and Sciences. Philadelphia, 1798.
391 Pedro Mexio, The Treasurie of Auncient and Moderne Times. 1613.
392 Legends of Iceland, collected by Jón Arnason, 2d series, p. 646.
393 Edward B. Tylor, Primitive Culture.
394 Temple Bar, vol. 43. 1875.
395 Dictionnaire des sciences occultes.
396 William S. Walsh, Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities.
397 Edward William Lane, The Modern Egyptians.
398 James Owen Dorsey, “A Study of Siouan Cults,” Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, D. C.
399 Lady Wilde’s Ancient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland.
400 M. l’Abbé Bertram, Dictionnaire de toutes les religions.
401 Cornhill Magazine, vol. 76.
402 Brand, vol. i. p. 361.
403 C. F. Gordon-Cumming, At Home in Fiji, p. 105.
404 E. Henry Carnay, Litterature orale de la Picardie. Paris, 1883.
405 Ernst Meier, Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben. Stuttgart, 1852.
406 François Lenormant, Chaldean Magic.
407 Adolf Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 351.
408 F. Chabas, Le calendrier des jours fastes et néfastes et de l’année egyptienne, p. 124.
409 M. Court de Gebelin, Monde primitif, vol. iv. Paris, 1776.
410 Jean Baptiste Thiers, Traité des superstitions. Paris, 1679.
411 Historia litteraria, vol. ii. London, 1731.
412 Monsieur Danet, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London, 1700.
413 Chabas, p. 124.
414 Rev. Edward Cockayne, M. A., Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England.
415 Brand’s Popular Antiquities.
416 Dr. C. Edward Sachan, The Chronology of Ancient Nations. London, 1879.
417 Israel Abrahams, M. A., Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, p. 184.
418 Bowring, Siam, vol. i. p. 158.
419 Mallet’s Northern Antiquities.
420 Mallet, p. 426.
421 Clifford Howard, Sex Worship, p. 119.
422 Mélusine, tome iv. 1888-89.
423 Cockayne, vol. iii. p. 163.
424 “Popular Superstitions,” Gentleman’s Magazine Library, vol. i.
425 William Jones, Credulities Past and Present.
426 T. F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs.
427 Isaac Disraeli, Curiosities of Literature, vol. i. p. 280.
428 Sir William Muir, K. C. S. I., The Life of Mahomet.
429 John J. Pool, Studies in Mohammedanism, p. 103.
430 M. l’Abbé Bertrand, Dictionnaire universel de toutes les religions.
431 Thomas Patrick Hughes, B. D., M. R. A. S., A Dictionary of Islam.
432 S. S. Thorburn, Bannú.
433 Israel Abrahams, M. A., Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, p. 186.
434 Gerald Massey, The Natural Genesis, vol. ii. p. 298.
435 Moritz Busch, Deutscher Volksglaube.
436 Rogers, vol. iii. p. 278.
437 Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland, p. 136.
438 Lady Wilde, Ancient Cures, Charms, and Usages of Ireland.
439 P. G. Heims, Seespuk, p. 135.
440 Wilhelm Kolbe, Hessische Volks-Sitten und Gebräuche.
441 Shropshire Folk-Lore, p. 260.
442 “Wily Beguiled,” Hawkins’s English Drama, vol. iii. p. 356.
443 Dr. Adolf Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube. Berlin, 1869.
444 E. L. Rochholz, Alt-deutsches Bürgerleben, pp. 52, 53.
445 Wlislocki, Aus dem Volksleben der Magyaren, p. 68.
446 Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, vol. iv. p. 307. 1894.
447 Giuseppe Pitré, Usi e costumi, credenze e pregiudizi del popolo Siciliano. 1889.
448 M. Jean-François Bladé, Contes populaires de la Gascogne. Paris, 1886.
449 M. l’Abbé Migne, Dictionnaire des superstitions populaires.
450 Giuseppe Pitré, Il venerdi nelle tradizioni popolari italiane.
451 Busch, op. cit.
452 A World of Wonders, edited by Albany Poyntz.
453 Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie, iv. 147.
454 Boston Herald, May 1, 1898.
455 W. R. S. Ralston, M. A., Russian Folk-Tales.
456 Larousse, Grand dictionnaire universel.
457 M. D. Conway, Demonology and Devil-Lore.
458 Fr. Noel, Dictionnaire de la fable.
459 Danet’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. London, 1700.
460 Andrew Lang, Custom and Myth.
461 Ermete Pierotti, Customs and Traditions of Palestine.
462 Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. x. No. 39, p. 274. 1897.
463 Leland’s Gypsy Sorcery.
464 Brewer’s Dictionary of Miracles.
465 Rev. Walter Gregor, M. A., Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northeast of Scotland.
466 Hulme, Natural History Lore and Legend, p. 241.
467 Thorpe, ii. p. 84.
468 Schuyler, Turkestan, p. 30.
469 Edward Jewitt Robinson, Tales and Poems of South India, p. 378.
470 E. Rolland, Faune populaire de la France. Paris, 1877.
471 Wuttke, p. 118.
472 Wuttke, p. 276.
473 Dr. Joseph Virgil Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren, p. 232.
474 Encyclopédie theologique, tome, “Sciences occultes.”
475 John Thrupp, The Anglo-Saxon Home. London, 1852.
476 Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft, edited by the Rev. Oswald Cockayne.
477 Francis Lenormant, Chaldean Magic and Sorcery.
478 Francis Rous, Archæologiæ Atticæ. London, 1635.
479 Grohmann, Apollo Smintheus, p. 60.
480 Grohmann, Aberglauben, vol. i. p. 59.
481 Grohmann, Aberglauben, vol. i. p. 61.
482 Thomas Gage, A New Survey of the West Indies. London, 1677.
483 Rev. Hilderic Friend, Flowers and Flower-Lore, p. 554.
484 John Henry Gray, M. A., LL. D., China, p. 169.
485 Martin Frederick Blumber, A History of Amulets.
486 Richard Folkard, Jr., Plant-Lore, p. 160.
487 The Buddhism of Tibet.
488 The Nation. June 15, 1866.
489 R. T. Hampson, Medii Ævi Kalendarium. See, also, article by W. W. Newell in Journal of American Folk-Lore, vol. v. No. 14.
490 Anthon’s Classical Dictionary.
491 Garnett, p. 340.
492 Lucy M. J. Garnett, The Women of Turkey, p. 286.
493 Jean Frederic Bernard, Superstitions anciennes et modernes, tome i. p. 101. 1733.
494 Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft.
495 The Folk-Lorist, vol. i. July, 1893.
496 William Jones, Credulities Past and Present.
497 J. B. Thiers, Traité des superstitions.
498 W. Crooke, B. A., North Indian Folk-Lore.
499 Folk-Lore. June, 1896.
500 W. W. Newell, Journal of American Folk-Lore, No. 16. 1892.
501 M. D. Conway, Demonology and Devil-Lore.
502 James M. Campbell, Notes on the Spirit Basis of Belief and Custom.
503 Bulletin de la societé d’ethnographie. July, 1887.
504 Rev. J. G. Wood, M. A., The Uncivilized Races of Men.
505 The Occult Sciences, from the French of Eusebe Salverte.
506 Journal of American Folk-Lore, No. 13. 1891.
507 L. Lalanne, Curiosités des traditions. Paris, 1847.
508 E. P. Evans, Atlantic Monthly, vol. 54. 1884.
509 W. Lander Lindsay, M. D., Mind in the Lower Animals.
510 Banier’s Mythology.
511 J. B. Thiers, Traité des superstitions.
512 Louis Duval, Rôle des croyances populaires dans la protection des animaux. 1889.
513 The Student and Intellectual Observer, vol. iii. 1869.
514 Rev. G. Oliver, D. D., The Pythagorean Triangle.
515 Pliny, Natural History, book xxviii.
516 Century Dictionary.
517 Sir John Bowring, F. R. S., The Kingdom and People of Siam, vol. i. p. 139.
518 Mallet’s Northern Antiquities, p. 112.
519 Folkard, p. 377.
520 Robert Vilvain, of Excester, Enchiridium Epigrammatum, p. 148. 1654.
521 T. Wain, The Wonderful Number Seven.
522 Charles De B. Mills, The Tree of Mythology.
523 The International Cyclopædia, vol. xiii. p. 360.
524 Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, art. “Seven.”
525 F. Lenormant, Chaldean Magic and Sorcery.
526 Enchiridium Epigrammatum, p. 141. 1654.
527 T. Wain, The Wonderful Number Seven.
528 S. Pancoast, M. D., The Kabbala, p. 247.
529 The National Review, vol. xxi. p. 199. 1893.
530 D. Person, Varieties.
531 All the Year Round, vol. iii. 1870.
532 Cockayne, vol. ii. p. 335.
533 Crooke, p. 199.
534 Campbell, Spirit Basis of Custom and Belief, p. 208.
535 Times’ Whistle.
536 Fräulein Helene Raff.
537 Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft, edited by the Rev. Oswald Cockayne.
538 Archæologia, vol. xxx. p. 427. 1844.
539 Celtic Magazine, vol. viii. p. 252.
540 William G. Black, Folk-Medicine.
541 Social Life in Scotland, vol. iii. p. 227.
542 C. G. Leland, Gypsy Sorcery.
543 Das Kloster, Band xii. p. 771; Thorpe’s Northern Mythology, vol. i. p. 227; Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology, vol. i. pp. 272 et seq.
544 Gerald Massey, Luniolatry, p. 17.
545 J. B. Salgues, Des erreurs et des préjuges.
546 Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, vol. iv. p. 250. 1894.
547 Boston Transcript, December 30, 1897.
548 Surgeon-General Edward Balfour, The Encyclopædia of India.
549 Journal of American Folk-Lore, No. 17. April, 1892.
550 Brewers’ Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
551 The Century Dictionary.