[Odds and Ends ]
A Curious Shrine—A Human Catharine-Wheel—A Deaf-and-Dumb Band, etc.
Near Ploumanach, in Brittany, there is one of the most curious shrines in Europe. This is the chapel of St. Guirec, a tiny, picturesque building of the twelfth century. It stands on a rock in the bay, and at high tide is surrounded by the waves. Inside is a wooden statue of St. Guirec in a deplorable state, for it is simply riddled with tiny holes. The reason for this sad state of things is that the fishermen's daughters have a strong superstition that if they come to pray at the shrine and stick a pin into poor St. Guirec they are certain to get married within the year. If the hapless saint gives himself a shake during the night and the pin drops out, it is an infallible sign that everything will go well.
THE CURIOUS CHAPEL OF ST. GUIREC, IN BRITTANY—IT CONTAINS A WOODEN STATUE OF THE SAINT, INTO WHICH THE FISHER-GIRLS STICK PINS, BELIEVING THAT THIS WILL ENSURE THEM A HUSBAND DURING THE YEAR!
From a Photograph.
The extraordinary photograph on the next page shows what may well be called a "human Catharine-wheel." This is to be seen at the annual feast of the Totonaco Indians at Papantla, in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico. Wearing huge, highly-coloured erections—made from the bark of a tree—on their heads, four men take their positions on the arms of the mill and proceed to make it rotate, gradually working up to a speed of forty or fifty revolutions a minute, while the crowd cheer excitedly. This ranks as "fun," but must be decidedly warm work for the performers, who, to guard against the results of giddiness, are strapped by the legs. The two Indians seen in the foreground are wearing grotesque masks.