[339]. This custom was told to W. Mannhardt by a French prisoner in the war of 1870-71 (Baumkultus, p. 434).
[340]. W. Mannhardt, Baumkultus, pp. 434 sq.
[341]. Ibid. p. 435.
[342]. See above, pp. [76] sq.
[343]. M. Martin, Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (London, 1673 [1703]), p. 119; id. in Pinkerton’s Voyages and Travels, iii. 613; W. Mannhardt, Baumkultus, p. 436. According to Martin, the ceremony took place on Candlemas Day, the second of February. But this seems to be a mistake. See J. G. Campbell, Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, pp. 247 sq. The Rev. James Macdonald, of Reay in Caithness, was assured by old people that the sheaf used in making Briid’s bed was the last sheaf cut at harvest (J. Macdonald, Religion and Myth, p. 141). Later on we shall see that the last sheaf is often regarded as embodying the spirit of the corn, and special care is therefore taken of it.
[344]. John Ramsay of Ochtertyre, Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century, edited by Alex. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1888), ii. 447. At Ballinasloe in County Galway it is customary to fasten a cross of twisted corn in the roof of the cottages on Candlemas Day. The cross is fastened by means of a knife stuck through a potato, and remains in its place for months, if not for a year. This custom (of which I was informed by Miss Nina Hill in a letter dated May 5, 1898) may be connected with the Highland one described in the text.
[345]. J. Train, Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 116.
[346]. See below, pp. [240] sqq. Brigit is the true original form of the name, which has been corrupted into Breed, Bride, and Bridget. See Douglas Hyde, A Literary History of Ireland (London, 1899), p. 53, note 2.
[347]. A. Kuhn, Märkische Sagen und Märchen, pp. 318 sqq.; W. Mannhardt, Baumkultus, p. 437.
[348]. W. Mannhardt, Baumkultus, p. 438.