CONTENTS.

PAGE.
[Chapter I.] (Fishes)[1]
Frequent occurrence of the Fish Symbol—Fish Heraldry—Earliest devices—Fish devices on Churches and other public buildings—TheCatacombs—Ichthus—Fish devices at Glastonbury Abbey, &c.—The Book-fish—Glasgow Fish-arms—The Fish and the Ring Story ofScotland—Solomon and the Fish and Ring—The Hermit’s Fish Pond of St. Neot’s—The Sacred Perch—The Dolphin—Neptune.
[Chapter II.] (Fishes)[10]
The Ancient Sacred Fish—Fish diet and its supposed effects—Fish and the Jews—The God Krodo—Oanes—Dagon—The Fish-godat Nimrod—Khorsabad—Fish Worship in Syria—Temple of Dagon at Azotus—The Dagon of the Bible—Adramelech—Abstinencefrom Fish-food—Ancient character of Fish Worship—“Paradise Lost”—The Irish demi-god Phin—The Fish as a ChristianSymbol—Idea involved in Fish Worship—Holy Fish Ponds—Ancient Caledonian objections to Fish—Other anti-fish-eating nations—Ishtar.
[Chapter III.] (Flowers)[25]
Universal Love of Flowers—Indifference to Flowers—Excessive Love of Flowers leading to adoration—Myths and Legends connectedwith Flowers—The Flos Adonis, Narcissus, Myrtle, Silene inflata, Clover—The Hundred-leaved Rose—Worship of Lily species—Significationof the Lotos—Hermaphroditic character of the Lotos—The Indian Mutiny of 1857, part played by the Lotus during its instigation.
[Chapter IV.] (Flowers)[33]
Importance of the Lotos—Varieties of Lotos—Statements by Herodotus, Homer, Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Pliny, Athenæus andothers—The arborescent Lotos—The Sacred Lotos of the Nile—The Indian Lotos—Nepaulese adoration of the Lotos—Shing-moo, the ChineseHoly Mother—Lakshmi—The Queens of Beauty—The Loves of Krishna and Radha.
[Chapter V.] (Fire)[43]
Story of the Fire-god and his Secret—Growth of Fire Worship—Fire an essential in Hindoo Worship—The Chaldeans—ThePersians—The Hebrews—Fire in Hindu Ceremonies—Duties of Hindu Life—The Serpent and Fire—Phallo-Pythic Solar Shrines—Fireand Phallic Worship—Leaping through fire—Fire-treading in Scotland—Fire-leaping in Russia—The Medes as Fire Worshippers—TheSabines—Fire and the Ancient Christians—The Roman Church and Fire—The Jews—Temple of Vesta—Fire Worship inIreland—Phallo-fire-worship of the Greeks and Romans.
[Chapter VI.] (Fire)[60]
Fire Worship in the States of the Mediterranean—Special sacredness of the Public City-fire of Greece and Rome—The SacredFire of Tlachtga—Ceylon Fire Worship—The Parsees—Persian Monuments—Impiety of Cambyses—Cingalese Terms, Sanscrit, Welsh,&c.—The Yule Log—Fire Worship in England—Fire of Beltane—Druidical Fires—May-day Fires—November Fires inIreland—Between two Fires—Scotland—The Summer Solstice-fire Ceremonies—Worship of Baal in Ireland—St. John’sDay—Bonfires—Decree of Council of Constantinople.
[Chapter VII.] (Fire)[75]
Paradise Lost and Moloch—The God of the Ammonites—The slaughter of Children by Fire, notices in the Scriptures—FireCeremonies and Moloch—Sacred Fire of the Phœnicians—The Carthaginians—Custom of Oziese—Sardinian Customs andMoloch—The Cuthites—Persian Fire Worship—House-fires of Greece and Rome—Sacred Books of the East—Laws of Manu—TheRig Veda and Hymns to Agni, the God of Fire—Vesta, Worship of—The Magi—Zoroaster.

FISHES, FLOWERS, AND FIRE.

CHAPTER I.

Frequent occurrence of the Fish Symbol—Fish Heraldry—Earliest Devices—Fish Devices in churches and other public buildings—The Catacombs—Ichthus—Fish Devices in Glastonbury Abbey, &c.—The Book Fish—Glasgow Fish Arms—The Fish and Ring Story of Scotland—Solomon and the Fish and Ring—The Hermit’s Fish Pond of St. Neot’s—The Sacred Perch—The Dolphin—Neptune.

Few, if any, symbols are of such frequent occurrence among the relics of bygone ages as that of the fish. Whether we look upon the monuments of Babylon and Nineveh, upon the walls of the Roman Catacombs where the early Christians sought a refuge from the fury of their Pagan persecutors, or amongst the heraldic devices adopted by our ancestors as coats of arms in comparatively modern times, the fish is ever prominent. With regard to the latter, it is certainly remarkable to what an extent it prevails, and several writers on Heraldry (particularly Moule) have given us very full accounts and graphic illustrations of its use. Nor is it one kind of fish only we find thus employed, which might perhaps be associated with some special myth or tradition—the dolphin, the herring, the salmon, the trout, the pike, the barbel, the roach, the sole, the turbot, the flounder, the haddock, the cod, the hake, the ling, the whiting, the mullet, the grayling and others have all been pressed into the same service, and even the different modes of taking fish by the spear, the net, or the hook, are found in the armorial ensigns of the lords of manors deriving revenue from the produce of the fishery. “The boats,” says Moule, “employed in the same service, which were at the command of the sovereign in time of war, and formed the original navy of Britain, distinguish the ensigns of the maritime lords, and the corporate bodies to whom the jurisdiction of the ports was entrusted.”

It is not unlikely that the vast numbers of fishes and their great variety may have had much to do with their employment in this connection; some years ago the British Museum contained fifteen hundred different species, while the museum in Paris—one unusually rich in specimens of this part of the animal kingdom—possessed as many as five thousand, a number which has steadily gone on increasing. “As the symbol of a name, almost all fish have been used in Heraldry; and in many instances fish have been assumed in arms in reference to the produce of the estate, giving to the quaint device a twofold interest. They are borne upright and extended, and when feeding are termed devouring; Allumé, when their eyes are bright, and Parné when their mouths are open.”[1]