A reference to this custom by Sir Walter Scott, in his "Tales of My Landlord," in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, provoked much discussion, and doubt was expressed as to the existence of the custom in olden time. But abundant evidence was produced as to its veritableness.[228] An old English ballad was cited, in which one said sneeringly to his inferior:
"Thou art a carle mean of degree,
Ye salte doth stand twain me and thee;
But an thou hadst been of ane gentyl strayne,
I wold have bitten my gant[229] aganie."
And one of Bishop Hall's Satires, in 1597, was instanced as saying:
"A gentle squire would gladly entertaine
Into his house some trencher chaplaine;
Some willing man that might instruct his sons,
And that would stande to good conditions.
First, that he lie upon the truckle-bed,
Whiles his young maister lieth o'er his head.
Second, that he do, on no default,
Ever presume to sit above the salt."
It was a custom in Oxford University to give salt to a student who had concluded his course as a "freshman," and was finding admission into the company of maturer, or salter, students or sophisters. Drinking salt and water, or salt and beer, was a part of this ceremony. It was called "salting a freshman," or "college salting."[230]
A series of plates, illustrative of certain student ceremonies at Strassburg University was published in 1666. "The last [of these] represents the giving of the salt,—which a person is holding on a plate in his left hand, and with his right hand is about to put a pinch of it upon the tongue of each becanus, or freshman. A glass, probably holding wine, is standing near him. Underneath is the following couplet:
"Sal Sophiæ gustate, bibatis vinaque læta,
Augeat immensus vos in utrisque Deus!"[231]
In Hungary, at a wedding, there are customs that give solemn emphasis to the truth that two lives are newly made one in a sacred covenant. The ceremony is presided over by the Vajda, or chief ruler, rather than by any Christian ecclesiastic. He stands with his back to a blazing fire as the primitive altar.[232] When his address is concluded, an earthen vessel is dashed to pieces as a symbol of their former life now ended. Then the bridal couple are sprinkled with salt and brandy, doubly standing for blood on the threshold of their married life.[233]
Bread and salt seem to have a peculiar sacredness among the Hungarian gypsies. This incident, from a gypsy camp, is given in a Hungarian newspaper: A gypsy who had lost his cash informed his leader of the fact, and at once an order was issued for its restoration. The money not appearing, the gypsy chief bound two poles into the form of a cross, and fixed one end in the ground. On the top of the cross he fastened a piece of bread, and sprinkled it with salt. Each member of the band was then called to swear upon this symbol that he had not committed the theft. All stood the test, until the last one, an old woman, came forward. As she was about to take the oath, she turned pale, put her hand in her pocket, and brought out the stolen money. She was then soundly beaten, and kicked out of camp.[234]
The primitive idea that the sovereign properly controls salt as a source or means of life, and that a gift of salt from the sovereign lays a new obligation on the recipient, as illustrated in the days of Cyrus and Darius,[235] shows itself down to our own day. In the days of Arabi Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt desired to raise a sum of money, at a time when the people were exceptionally poor in consequence of excessive taxation and the rigors of a recent famine. Instead of relying on the ordinary and obnoxious tax collectors, the Khedive resorted to the pressure of the "fidelity to salt idea."