An oath taken on sacred stones was regarded by the ancient Scandinavians as peculiarly binding upon him who took such an oath; in the old Norse annals it is stated that Gudrun Gjukesdatter offered King Atle that he would take an oath on the “pure white stone.” The hero Duthmaruno is said to have sworn by “Loda’s Stone of Power,” which represented the almighty divinity of the Norsemen.[[56]]
A sacred well on the north side of Lough Neagh, Ireland, lends peculiar sanctity to the yellow crystals found in great quantity near by. The belief in their miraculous quality finds expression in the legend that they grow up out of the ground on Midsummer Night, and whosoever wishes to possess them as talismans must pronounce certain magic rhymes in the act of collecting them. They then become luck-bringers of potent virtue and ensure the prosperity of the household in which they are guarded.[[57]]
The stone, or rather rock, named catlinite, and popularly known as “pipe-stone,” was regarded by certain tribes as one of their most valuable materials,[[58]] and was extensively used for pipe-bowls. In color it ranges from a deep red to an ashy tint; the chief quarry is situated some three hundred miles west of the Falls of St. Anthony, on the dividing ridge between the Saint Peter’s and Missouri rivers. This region was visited in 1836 by George Catlin, to whom we are indebted for the preservation of so much regarding Indian folk-lore and customs, and after whom the substance is named. While it is impossible to determine with any degree of certainty for how long a time the Indians were familiar with this material, there are those who believe that the quarries were worked and the material used for pipe-bowls by native sculptors long before the earliest notice we have to that effect.[[59]] Great skill and patience were displayed by the Indians in the making of these pipe-bowls, which were sometimes carved with various symbolical figures. We have an early record of such pipes from the pen of Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary to the Indians, who saw one when visiting the Illinois Indians in 1673. He reports it as being of polished red stone, like marble, so pierced that one orifice served to hold the tobacco, while the other was fastened on the stem, which was a stick two feet long, as thick as a common cane and pierced in the middle. The whole was covered with large feathers of red, green, and other colors.
Catlin states that at the time of his visit the “pipe-stone” quarry was guarded with a certain religious reverence from the visit of the white man, the Indians declaring that this red stone was “a part of their flesh,” and that to take it from them would be to tear out their flesh and spill their blood. This highly poetic language may or may not have signified a superstitious reverence for the substance; indeed, it may simply have voiced the fear of these Indians that they might be despoiled of what for them was an especially valuable material, which they asserted had been bestowed upon them by the Great Spirit for the making of pipes exclusively. In our day an old Ojibway Indian, especially skilled in the work, has a name signifying “he who makes pipes,” and carved pipe-bowls of catlinite are usually sold for from $1 to $10 apiece; as much as $20, however, is occasionally paid for a particularly large and finely carved specimen. This substance is also worked up into charms and other small ornaments which are sold to tourists, the annual sales of all descriptions amounting to some $10,000 annually. Catlinite takes a fine polish and is easily worked; a peculiarly attractive variety is red with white and gray spots.
HINDU WEARING A COLLECTION OF ANCESTRAL PEBBLES AS AMULETS
The popular fancy for the “Fairy Stones” from a peak of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Patrick County, Virginia, is said to be directly traceable to the tale, “Trail of the Lonesome Pine,” by John Fox, Jr., who makes one of these pretty staurolite crystals exercise an important influence over the destinies of his hero and heroine. This was cleverly utilized by the manager of a New York theatre, when he gave a souvenir performance of a dramatized version of the story, by presenting one of these “Fairy Stones” to each lady in the audience, a gift not only in perfect rapport with the play, but one highly appreciated by the recipients, few of whom were not unconsciously influenced by the symbolic half-religious, half-mythical quality ascribed to this attractive little gem.
Collections of stones and pebbles, often of little or no intrinsic value but supposed to possess occult powers, are handed down from father to son in many Hindu families of the poorer class. The accompanying illustration shows an aged Hindu, as he appeared to a recent traveller, decorated with such stones to the number of about three hundred on a ceremonial occasion. In this case they were all pierced and threaded on cords, so as to be attached to the person, and the old man proudly declared that, thousands of years ago, one of his ancestors was a playmate of the god Krishna, who had bestowed the stones upon him as a special mark of divine favor.
The presence of erratic boulders was accounted for by popular legend in a variety of ways. Sometimes it was declared that the Virgin or a saint, while bearing an enormous stone through the air to be used in the construction of a church, had learned on the way that the church was completed and the stone no longer needed, and immediately let it drop to the earth.[[60]]
A stone having the rude form of a chair or seat, and known as Canna’s Stone, enjoyed repute in Wales for its curative powers. It was in a field in close proximity to the church of Llangan, Carmarthenshire, which owed its foundation to St. Canna. Near this stone is a well called Flynon Canna, the waters of which were believed to be a cure for ague. To make the cure effective, however, the patient, after imbibing the sacred water, had to sit for a time in Canna’s Stone, and if he dozed while sitting there this was considered to promise a speedy recovery. The combined treatment by well and stone was often repeated for several successive days and was occasionally prolonged for two or three weeks.[[61]]