Archaic England Part 23

[256] Courtney, Miss, _Cornish Feasts and Folklore_, p. 129.

[257] Hope, R. C., _Sacred Wells_.

[258] _Demonology and Witchcraft_.

[259] At the time of writing the Servians say they are putting their trust in "Bog and Britannia".

[260] This is an official etymology. It is the one and only poetic idea admitted into Skeat's Dictionary.

[261] _Cf._ Johnson, W., _Folk Memory_, p. 159.

[262] Pliny relates Varro's description as follows: "King Porsenna was buried beneath the city of Clusium, in a place where he left a monument of himself in rectangular stone. Each side was 300 feet long and 50 feet high, and within the bas.e.m.e.nt he made an inextricable labyrinth, into which if anyone ventured without a clue, there he must remain, for he never could find the way out again. Above this base stood five pyramids, one in the centre and four at the angles, each of them 75 feet in circ.u.mference at the base, and 150 feet high, tapering to the top so as to be covered by a cupola of bronze. From this there hung by chains a peal of bells, which, when agitated by the wind, sounded to a great distance. Above this cupola rose four other pyramids, each 100 feet high, and above these again, another story of five pyramids, which towered to a height so marvellous and improbable, that Varro hesitates to affirm their alt.i.tude."

And in this he was wise, for he had already said more upon the subject than was credible. However, any one who has seen the tomb of Aruns, the son of Porsenna, near the gate of Albano, will be struck with the similarity of style, which, comparing small things with great, existed between the monuments of father and son. Those who have never been in Italy may like to know that this tomb of Aruns is said to have been built by Porsenna, for the young Prince who fell there in battle with the Latins, and with the Greeks from c.u.ma, and it is certainly the work of Etruscan masons. Five pyramids rise from a base of 55 sq. feet, and the centre one contains a small chamber, in which was found, about fifty years since, an urn full of ashes.--Gray, Mrs. Hamilton, _Sepulchres of Etruria_, p. 450.

[263] Taylor, R., _Te Ika A Maui_, or _New Zealand and its Inhabitants_, p. 352.

[264] _Cf._ Stow, _London_.

[265] Evans, Sir Arthur, quoted in _Crete of Pre-h.e.l.lenic Europe_, p. 32.

[266] Bonwick _Irish Druids and Old Irish Religion_, p. 230.

[267] Anwyl, E.

[268] It is not unlikely that the Goss and Ca.s.s families of to-day are the descendants of the British tribe referred to by the Romans as the Ca.s.si.

[269] The Welsh for alban or alpin is elphin.

[270] Urlin, Miss Ethel M., _Festivals, Holy Days, and Saints'

Days_, p. 192.

[271] _Ibid._, p. 196.

[272] _Cf._ Hone, W., _Everyday Book_, vol. i., col. 1340.

[273] _Cf._ Hone, W., _Everyday Book_, vol. i., col. 1340.

[274] xli. 19.

[275] _Faiths and Folklore_, i., 332.

[276] _Celtic Britain_, p. 211. Sir John frequently changed his mind.

[277] _Barddas_, p. 416.

[278] The Phrygian Cap was symbolic.

[279] _Myths of Crete and Pre-h.e.l.lenic Europe_, p. x.x.xii.

[280] _Mykenae_, p. 179.

[281] _Rude Stone Monuments_, p. 207.

[282] Baldwin, J. G., _Prehistoric Nations_, p. 162.

[283] Keightley, _Fairy Mythology_, p. 317.

[284] Hazlitt, W. Carew, _Faiths and Folklore_, ii., 608.

[285] Rhys, Sir J., _Celtic Britain_, p. 271.

[286] The Celtic Angus is translated _excellent virtue_.

[287] _Cf._ Baring-Gould, Rev. S., _Curious Myths_, pp. 266-316.

[288] _Orphic Hymn_, lv., 5, 10, and 11.

[289] Courtney, Miss M. L., _Cornish Feasts and Folklore_, p. 136.

[290] From prehistoric times this ensign seems to have been known as "the Jack," and the immutability of the fabulous element was evidenced anew during the present year when on 23rd April the Admiral on sh.o.r.e wirelessed to the Zeebrugge raiding force: "England and St. George". To this was returned the reply: "We'll give a twist to the dragon's tail".

[291] Since writing I find this surmise to be well founded. At the present moment there is a Persian cannon (A.D. 1547) captured at Bagdad, now on exhibition in London. It bears an inscription to the effect:--

"'Succour is from G.o.d, and victory is at hand.'

The Commander of Victory and Help, the Shah, Desiring to blot out all trace of the Turks, Ordered Dglev to make this gun.

Wherever it goes it burns up lives, It spits forth flames like a dragon.

It sets the world of the Turks on fire."

[292] Wise, T. A., _History of Paganism in Caledonia_, p. 114.

[293] _Irish Mytho. Cycle_, p. 229.

[294] The Norwegian for _neigh_ is _kn_eggya, the Danish, _gn_egge.

[295] There is no evidence to support the supposition that Eppillus may have been an English king.

[296] An omniscient _eagle_ was a.s.sociated with _Achill_ (Ireland).

[297] _Ancient Coins of the Romans Relating to Britain_, p. 197.

[298] _Faiths and Folklore_, vol. i., p. 329.

[299] _Faiths and Folklore_, vol. i., p. 329.

[300] Madeley, E., _The Science of Correspondence_, p. 194.

[301] Dalston in c.u.mberland is a.s.sumed to have been a town in the dale or _dale's town_. But surely "towns" were never thus anonymous?

[302] P. 299.