THE LAND OF SUPERSTITION.
HOLDING A BOY OVER "ST. JOHN'S FIRE," IN THE BELIEF THAT IT WILL CURE HIP-DISEASE.
By Frederic Lees.
Nowhere in France are curious beliefs so rife as in Finistère, the Morbihan, and the Côtes-du-Nord, where most of the little-known facts contained in the following pages were collected. As to the photographs by M. Paul Géniaux, the well-known authority on Breton folk-lore, they are unique, since they represent for the first time a number of the superstitious ceremonies to which the Bretons, in spite of the spread of education, still pin their faith.
WE were cycling through Brittany—my Breton friend and I—and the turn of the road suddenly brought us within sight of a typical Finistère village, with its picturesque grey cottages surrounded by verdant orchards. Slackening speed, we began to look about us, and it was then that, glancing to my right down a narrow side road, I beheld a scene that made me dismount and call to my companion.
"I say, Géniaux, whatever are they doing to the little chap?" I cried. "Are they grilling him for supper?"
My friend's only reply was a chuckle and the click of the shutter of his camera, which, on coming to me, he had instinctively swung into the right position for a snapshot. Not until the photographic record had been obtained and the plate had been changed did he vouchsafe to give me an explanation of what we saw before us. In the middle of the road a small bonfire was merrily crackling. Over it a boy of six or seven was being held by a man and a woman, whilst three other peasant-women and some children looked on with solemn faces. What could be the meaning of this extraordinary proceeding, which looked for all the world like a human sacrifice?
"No; he's not being prepared for supper," replied Paul Géniaux, with another chuckle. "That boy has something the matter with his leg—hip-disease, I should say; and these good people think they are going to effect a cure by holding him over a bonfire on St. John's Day. I hope they'll succeed. Poor little chap! We are lucky to have seen the ceremony and got a photograph, for this is one of the most curious of our Breton superstitions. I'd quite forgotten that to-day was the 'Jour de Saint-Jean.' Many a bonfire will be lit in Brittany to-night, and many a cripple will be submitted to this ordeal of fire."
Whilst my friend was speaking the ceremony had come to an end and the little boy had been handed over to his mother, who departed on her way, probably rejoicing. As the other members of the group were about to disperse we drew near, with the usual salutations, and entered into conversation. Though I knew that my fellow-traveller's knowledge was quite equal to that of these simple peasant folk, I was anxious to learn something from their own lips, and above all to judge for myself of their sincerity. At first they were decidedly shy, but when my friend spoke a few words to them in their native Breton they became quite open, and evidently no longer regarded us as "strangers."
THE TOMB OF ST. YVES—HUNCHBACKS COME FROM FAR AND NEAR TO CRAWL THROUGH IT AND SO GET THEIR DEFORMITY REMOVED.
From a Photograph.
"Yes; we were quite right," explained the man. "The boy was suffering from hip-disease; and as all the doctors in the district had failed to do him any good they were trying a remedy in which they had every faith. It was a great pity that the mother had not resorted to it sooner. But she was a young woman, full of all sorts of new ideas, and she had preferred to waste her money on the doctors. He was a believer in the old remedies. He had known a 'feu de Saint-Jean' perform miracles. But to be thoroughly effective it was essential that the two people who held the child should concentrate their thoughts on the work and have perfect faith. Nothing could be done without faith."
There was such a ring of sincerity in his voice that we two sceptics were disarmed. It was useless to try to disillusionize the man, so we asked him further questions and obtained the additional information that a "feu de Saint-Jean" was good for other things besides complaints and diseases. A horse, for instance, that had been passed through the fire was rendered proof against illness, and would perform its work much better than one that had not undergone the ordeal. This chance meeting with an interesting example of Breton superstition prompted an idea. We determined that whilst on our journey through Brittany we would collect as many similar examples as we could, so as to form the nucleus of a book on the folklore of that part of France. And wherever we went we found something to add to our records, as the following examples will show.
A very large number of the superstitions of Brittany apply to ailments. Poor food, the excessive use of alcohol, and profound ignorance of the laws of health make the Bretons subject to numerous complaints, which they endeavour to cure by means that were adopted by their forefathers as far back as the fourteenth century. On reaching a little village near Tréguier we were advised to see the tomb of St. Yves in the church-yard, and on going there found an old woman—a hunchback—creeping through a narrow aperture with which that beautiful monument is pierced. Though she had been deformed since childhood, she was quite convinced that the saint, who had been renowned during his life-time for the miraculous healing of the sick, might still be able to do something for her. This "Hunchbacks' Hole" in the tomb of St. Yves had already cured quite a number of bossus, in accordance, legend said, with a promise made by the holy man. He himself, in his youth, had been hunchbacked. Remembering this when on his death-bed, he gave instructions that his tomb should be fashioned in the particular form in which it is to-day, at the same time promising that every cripple who crept through it should have the benefit of his prayers in heaven.
A CURIOUS CURE FOR WARTS—DROPPING HARICOT BEANS ONE BY ONE DOWN A "HOLY" WELL.
From a Photograph.
The minor troubles to which poor humanity is subject are also "cured" by the carrying out of certain other peculiar ceremonies. When a Breton girl suffers from warts, for instance, she has herself blindfolded, takes a handful of haricot beans, and feels her way to the nearest well, into which she must throw the beans one by one, at the same time wishing. Should the well be a holy one—and most wells in Brittany have been blessed by the priests and are therefore considered to be "holy"—all the better; for her warts will disappear the very next day. In the case of an ordinary well, however, they will not be "charmed away" anything like so rapidly. Still, in the end the sincere wisher will get rid of them. To combat acute forms of headache a very curious method is employed near Billiers, in the Morbihan. The sufferer pricks his or her forehead with a needle until blood flows; then, with the same needle, he or she pricks a certain cross that was erected in 1874 near the village. By this means it is believed that the headache is made to "enter the wood," where it will remain for at least a fortnight. This "cure" is attributed to the intervention of the Virgin Mary, who is said to have appeared in the above-mentioned year where the cross is erected, with a promise that she would perform miracles "to prove her descent at that spot." Adjoining the cross for curing headaches is another that is reputed to be of great service in the cure of diseases of the scalp. All that the sufferers need do is to come and pray there, leaving their bonnets or caps behind them, attached to a forked branch stuck in the earth.
HOW TO REMOVE A HEADACHE—HAVING PRICKED YOUR FOREHEAD WITH A NEEDLE TILL BLOOD FLOWS, YOU STICK THE NEEDLE INTO THE CROSS ON THE RIGHT. THE SECOND CROSS IS HELD IN HIGH REPUTE FOR CURING SCALP DISEASES.
From a Photograph.
UNLESS ONE OF THE HIVES OF A DECEASED PEASANT IS IMMEDIATELY COVERED WITH CRAPE THE BEES WILL FLY AWAY AND SEEK ANOTHER MASTER!
From a Photograph.
When, in the case of serious ailments, a cure is not effected by one or other of these means, the sufferer considers that he has received a very bad sign. Everyone must die sooner or later, and he recognises that he has received a warning. Sometimes the "warning" is a very definite one, as we were told on passing through a place called Muzollac. A candle is seen to float out through the church door and fall down the chimney of the house of the sick person! Death is not far off when that phenomenon is observed, and one of the first things that the relatives do, should there be bees in the garden, is to cover one of the hives with crape. If this is not done they believe the bees will all fly away and seek another master!
There are all sorts of superstitions in Brittany connected with candles and death. On the occasion of a marriage, for instance, the bride and bridegroom take great care to give an extra large tip to the choir-boy whose duty it is to light the candles on the altar and see that they burn well throughout the ceremony. For, should one of the candles begin to flicker and go out, it is certain that someone is going to die within a year. If it is one in front of the bride, then she is to be the victim; if it is one opposite the bridegroom, then the misfortune is to descend upon him.
DIVINATION BY NEEDLE—IF THE GIRLS' NEEDLES FLOAT TWICE OUT OF THREE TIMES THEY WILL SECURE A HUSBAND. SOME UNSCRUPULOUS INQUIRERS "SQUARE" THE ORACLE BY GREASING THEIR NEEDLES!
From a Photograph.
The majority of the strange beliefs of ancient Brittany apply, however, not to so gloomy a subject as death, but to the joyful one of love and marriage. Especially are the maidens of that part of France believers in signs and portents. They begin at the age of sixteen or seventeen with the floating needle superstition. In little parties of three to six they set out for a walk in the country, choosing a day when there is not much wind, for there must be hardly a ripple on the surface of the pool where they intend to question the future.
When, in the beautiful, orchard-covered suburbs of Quimper, we met one of these bright-faced, laughing groups of lasses, the object of whose journey was evident from the plaster statuette of St. Catherine which one of them carried in her arms, we asked to be allowed to accompany them. Hearing that their portraits were to be taken they willingly consented. So we set off across the fields together and soon arrived at a shaded pool of clear spring water.
ANOTHER METHOD OF "QUESTIONING ST. CATHERINE"—THE STATUETTE OF THE SAINT IS AFFIXED TO A TREE AND A HEAD-DRESS PLACED UPON IT. IF IT FALLS TO THE RIGHT THE GIRL WILL MAKE A HAPPY MARRIAGE; IF TO THE LEFT, SHE WILL BE AN OLD MAID.
From a Photograph.
The statuette of St. Catherine—the patron saint of old maids—was then placed on one of the banks, and the girls, taking out their needles, began to see if they would float on the surface of the water. If they succeeded twice out of three times in making them float, then the saint had answered in the affirmative; they were to have a husband, and perhaps before many months had gone by. But if the needles went to the bottom, then they would remain spinsters all their lives. In the eyes of the Breton girl this is a terrible fate; and Géniaux told me, as we continued on our way towards the ancient cathedral city, that sometimes those who go on needle-floating excursions do not play fair: they take care to grease their needles well, so that they cannot do anything else but float!
In other parts of Brittany, especially in the northern departments, another method of questioning St. Catherine is adopted. The statuette is affixed to a tree in an orchard. One after the other the girls then arrange a head-dress above the saint's head. If the wind blows the coiffure down to the right, it is regarded as proof that the girl to whom it belongs will make a happy marriage; but if it falls to the left, she will be an old maid all her life. To the girls in the Côtes-du-Nord this is an absolutely reliable test, and no amount of argument will make them believe that St. Catherine does not control the wind in such a manner that it answers "yes" or "no."
IN SOME PARTS OF BRITTANY IT IS BELIEVED THAT NO MARRIAGE WILL TURN OUT WELL UNLESS THE YOUNG MAN DEPOSITS A CERTAIN SUM OF MONEY WITH HIS INTENDED—IF THE MAN BREAKS THE ENGAGEMENT HE LOSES HIS MONEY.
From a Photograph.
THE VILLAGERS OF BILLIERS PUT LARGE CROSSES IN WHITEWASH OVER THEIR DOORS TO PROTECT THE HOUSES FROM LIGHTNING.
From a Photograph.
Before leaving the subject of marriage superstitions, I must not omit to mention the belief that is common around Pont-l'Abbé to the effect that no marriage will turn out a happy one unless the fiancé deposits a sum of money, varying from fifty to five hundred francs, according to his social position, with his intended. Parisians are well acquainted with this custom in the case of their tailors, who, when a customer is not very well known, insist on a deposit. "On est prié de laisser des arrhes" is a common notice in the shops of French tailleurs; but until I went to Brittany I was not aware that it was also observed in the marriage market. The money is deposited, as I have said, in order to assure a happy union; but should no marriage take place, and this through the fault of the fiancée, the sum must be returned. If the engagement is broken off by the man, then he loses his deposit. When at Pont-l'Abbé we were told an amusing story in this connection.
A certain shrewd Breton maiden, whom the inhabitants of the little town still called "the perpetual fiancée," got herself engaged no fewer than seven times in succession, and each time she succeeded in forcing her fiancé to break the engagement. In this way she collected close on one thousand francs. After the seventh young man of Pont-l'Abbe had been cast aside she could not succeed in finding an eighth, for everybody fought shy of her. One day, however, the announcement went forth, to everybody's amazement, that "the perpetual fiancée" was to be married. The fortunate, or unfortunate, bridegroom turned out to be a sailor of the neighbouring port of Loctudy, who had been away on a long voyage, and to whom, people said, the girl had been engaged all the time. During his absence she had simply been collecting a little dowry for the man of her heart!
As will be seen, superstition enters so largely into the daily life of the Breton that wherever you go you are sure to find instances of it. The millers of Pont-l'Abbé and district nail a pair of sabots to their water-wheels in order to make them turn well and grind the corn to perfection.
Even the sportsmen, whom you would think would depend entirely on their skill, are superstitious. Near Billiers we came across one of them who was busily engaged in searching for the pellets with which he had killed a fine hare. After a good deal of difficulty he found three or four. He then proceeded to fill some new cartridge-cases, putting one of the used shot into each case; for this, he said, was an absolutely certain means of killing every time that he raised his gun to his shoulder. This was, perhaps, the strangest of all the superstitions encountered during our wanderings through ancient Armorica.
The inhabitants of Billiers put a large cross in whitewash over the doors of their cottages, so as to protect them against lightning; they stretch cords over their huge iron stew-pots, and sit watching them for hours to see if they are vibrated by some unseen power—vibration being a sure sign that those who take part in the experiment are to be happy for the remainder of the year; and on the fish-women receiving the first proceeds of a sale they fall down on their knees to make the sign of the cross, which will ensure them having a profitable day's work.
ON RECEIVING THE PROCEEDS OF THEIR FIRST SALE THE FISH-WOMEN FALL DOWN UPON THEIR KNEES TO MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS, WHICH ENSURES A PROFITABLE DAY'S WORK.
From a Photograph.