The Inhabitants of the Philippines Part 33

The profession of the Roman Catholic religion has perhaps helped this superst.i.tion to linger on, for the wearing of scapularies is common, especially amongst the women. These articles are manufactured for the priests and some are sent out to Antipolo, to be blessed at the shrine of Nuestra Senora de Buen Viage y de la Paz, and sold to the pilgrims who crowd in thousands to this shrine in May of each year.

A Tagal woman sometimes wears as many as three of these scapularies hung from silk threads round her neck and covered by her upper garment. They usually dispose two in front, where they conceive the danger is greatest, and one on the back, as a further precaution against an attack from the rear.

Wearing these holy amulets, and having crossed herself and uttered a prayer before coming downstairs in the morning, the Tagal wife or maid feels that she has done all she can, and that if any backsliding should occur, during the day, it will not be her fault.

She believes greatly in lucky or holy numbers--I heard the following story related by a native lady to a native priest when going to Batangas by steamer.

The lady was telling the priest of her husband's illness (it appeared to have been congestion of the lungs), and she prepared and applied a poultice of three heads of garlic in honour of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity; this not producing the desired effect, she then made a poultice of five heads of garlic, in honour of the Five Wounds of our Blessed Saviour, and successively others of seven heads, in honour of the Seven Pains of the Blessed Virgin; twelve heads in honour of the Twelve Apostles, and last of all a poultice of thirty-three heads of garlic in honour of the Thirty-three years our Blessed Saviour remained on earth. The priest had nodded approval as she went on, but as she stopped he said: "And then?" To which the lady replied, "Then he died."

This poor man came off easily, for in some cases people who suffer from fits and other diseases are thought to be possessed by devils, and are severely beaten to drive out the evil spirit. The patient does not always escape with his life.

The women often dream of lucky numbers in the Manila Lottery and make every endeavour to purchase the number they have dreamt of.

Amongst the Christian superst.i.tions may be mentioned the feast of San Pascual Bailon at Obando. Those who attend this function are commonly the rowdier cla.s.s of inhabitants of the Capital, and they go mostly on foot, making music and dancing on the way. They also dance in the courtyard in front of the church, not forgetting to refresh themselves with strong drink in the meanwhile.

This is not at all an edifying spectacle, for the dancers are covered with dust and with the perspiration from their active exertions. I do not know the legend that gives occasion to this curious form of devotion. Occasionally, and especially during Holy Week, another form of penitence is practised by the natives. I remember, about 1892, seeing one of these penitents, a man having a mask on his face, the upper part of his body bare, and a long chain fastened to one ankle and dragging on the ground behind him. In one hand he bore a flagellum with which he from time to time lashed himself on the shoulders, which bore evident marks of the discipline they had received. A youth who followed him occasionally jerked the chain, throwing the penitent violently at full length upon the dusty road. This form of penitence is not approved, however, by the priests, for when I called on the parish priest, the same evening, I mentioned the circ.u.mstance to him, and he directed the penitent to be locked up, to stop what he rightly termed a scandal.

On many occasions the natives had got up a religious excitement, and great gatherings have taken place at some spot where a miraculous appearance of the Blessed Virgin, or some supernatural manifestation has been alleged to have occurred.

All these affairs have been somewhat sceptically inquired into by the priests under a general order to this effect issued by the archbishop, and so far as my experience goes, the excessive religious ardour of the natives has rather been checked than stimulated.

When writing about the Visayas I shall have more to say about misdirected religious zeal. The Tagals practise circ.u.mcision as a hygienic measure, and not as a religious rite. The operation is usually performed at the age of fourteen by a companion or friend of the patient, and a sharp flint or piece of volcanic gla.s.s (obsidian) is used for this purpose. From what I have heard, this custom is really maintained by the women, who refuse their favours to the uncirc.u.mcised of their own nation, though with foreigners they are more complaisant.

Cursing.

In cursing, the Tagal displays a directness quite worthy of the Anglo-Saxon. All his remarks are very much to the point, and would have earned the approval of the late lamented and reverend author of the Ingoldsby Legends. Leaving out the world-wide reflections upon the virtues of an opponent's female ancestry, since these appear to belong indiscriminately to all nations, the princ.i.p.al Tagal curses are as follows:--

1. May an evil wind blow upon you.

2. May the earth open and swallow you up.

3. May the lightning strike you.

4. May the alligator eat you.

The superiority of the Tagal style as compared with the French Mortbleu, Ventre bleu, must be apparent to all unprejudiced observers. The Tagal has drawn all his curses from the grand and awful operations of nature in his own country, except the last, where he invokes the dreaded saurian, the most fearsome inhabitant of the Philippine swamps, rivers, and coasts--formerly venerated by his ancestors and respectfully addressed by them as nono, or grandfather.

Under American guidance and example, I think the Tagals quite capable of developing a startling vocabulary of swear-words, and in course of time rivalling their instructors in profanity, with a touch of their old style to give a little local colour.

Courtship.

Courtship is sometimes a long business amongst the Tagals. It is still customary in the country districts for the impecunious candidate for matrimony to serve the father of the damsel he desires to wed for a period which may extend to a couple of years or more. He is called a Catipado, and is expected to make himself generally useful, and to take a hand in any labour that may be going on, sowing or reaping, mending the roof, or patching the canoe.

It is his privilege to a.s.sist the girl of his choice in her labours. The girls of a household are expected to husk the rice for the next day's use. This is done in the cool of the evening, out of doors, a wooden mortar and long heavy pestle being used. It is a well-recognised occasion for the lover to a.s.sist and entertain his sweetheart.

Very pretty do the village maidens look, as, lightly clothed in almost diaphanous garments, they stand beside the mortars plying the pestle, alternately rising on tiptoe, stretching the lithe figure to its full height and reach, then bending swiftly to give force to the blow.

No att.i.tude could display to more advantage the symmetry of form which is the Tagal maiden's heritage, and few sights are more pleasing than a group of these tawny damsels husking paddy midst chat and laughter, while a tropical full moon pours its effulgence on their glistening tresses and rounded arms.

Marriage.

But let us return to the Catipado. He must be very careful not to give cause of offence to the elders of the family, more especially towards the end of his term, as there may be a disposition amongst them to dismiss him, and take on another to begin a new term. In fact, many natives have shown themselves so unwilling to consent to their daughter's marriage, when no sufficient reason could be given for their refusal, that the Governor-General, representing the Crown, is entrusted with a special power of granting the paternal consent in such cases.

No regular marriage can be celebrated whilst the girl is a minor, without the father's consent.

When this is refused, and the patience of the lovers is exhausted, the girl leaves her father's house and is deposited in the house of the fiscal, or churchwarden, under the care of his wife.

A pet.i.tion on stamped paper is then prepared, reciting the circ.u.mstances; this goes to the parish priest and to the Gobernadorcillo, who require the father to state the grounds of his refusal. If they are satisfied that no good reason exists, the pet.i.tion, with their approval noted on it, goes to the Governor-General, and in due time a notification appears in the official Gazette that the Governor-General has been pleased to overrule the father's negative, and a license (on stamped paper also) for the marriage to be celebrated, is delivered to the priest. This procedure is very necessary, but it has the disadvantage of being slow and expensive, so that in some cases, instead of adopting this course, the youthful pair allow themselves some advances of the privileges of matrimony, and perhaps there arrives a time when the obdurate parent finds himself obliged to consent to legalise an accomplished fact to avoid an open scandal.

The erring damsel, however, may think herself lucky if she escapes a fatherly correction laid on with no grudging hand, before the reluctant consent is granted.

The priest will of course require the youthful sinners to confess and do penance for their previousness before he will marry them.

The marriage ceremony is a very simple one, and usually takes place after early Ma.s.s. The priest fixes the fee according to the means of the party; it is often a substantial one. After the ceremony comes a Catapusan or a.s.sembly, when the relatives and friends are entertained. There will be music, and unless the priest disapproves of dancing, that will be indulged in. The Augustinians mostly allow dancing, but the Dominicans often object to it as an immoral amus.e.m.e.nt.

The house will be hung with bright-coloured cloths and paper lanterns; the table loaded with refreshments, both light and heavy.

Wedding Feasts.

Roast pig is a standing dish at these feasts, the animal being roasted whole, on a spit over a fire made on the ground. A professional roaster superintends the operation, and the pig is brought to a fine even colour all over. Sometimes there are roast turkeys or roast mutton and kid, possibly beef cooked in various ways, surely fish of different kinds, fresh, salted, or smoked; the indispensable boiled rice or morisqueta, and an abundance of sweets, fruits in syrup, guava jelly, and Dutch cheese. There will be chocolate and perhaps coffee. As to drinks, besides some native brews, there will be Norwegian or German export beer, or Tennant's beer in stone bottles, square-face gin, and Spanish red wine (Vino Tinto).

Unlimited Buyo, cigarettes and cigars are provided. All these things are hospitably pressed upon all comers, especially upon any European present. If his politeness prevents his refusing this miscellaneous a.s.sortment, unless he is favoured with the digestion of an ostrich, he will rue it next day, and perhaps for several days. The worthy priest is naturally in the place of honour, and like the wise man he mostly is, he perhaps brings, slung under his habit, or sends beforehand, a capacious leather bottle, with a supply of generous wine direct from some convent vineyard on the peninsula, a pure natural wine, undefiled and unfortified by German industrial spirit. A tall and portly Augustine monk, in his spotless and ample white robes, presents a very imposing and apostolic appearance, and looks quite in his place at the head of the table. The host seldom sits down with his guests, but busies himself attending to their wants.

CHAPTER XXIV.

TAGALS AS SOLDIERS AND SAILORS.

The houses of the well-to-do natives are large and airy, and are kept scrupulously clean under the vigilant eye of the mistress.

Hospitality is a characteristic of the Tagal. According to his means he keeps open house on religious feast-days or on family festivals, and readily invites to his table at any time travellers who may be pa.s.sing through the town. Having enjoyed their hospitality on many occasions, I can testify to their kindness and liberality. They placed at my disposal their riding-ponies, vehicles or canoes, and did all in their power to show me anything remarkable in their neighbourhood.

The Tagals make good soldiers, and can march long distances barefooted. Morga remarks how quickly they learned to use the arquebus or musket in the wars of the conquest. They gave proofs of their pluck and endurance when a.s.sisting the French in Tonquin. If well led they will advance regardless of danger; when once engaged they become frenzied and blood-thirsty, most difficult to restrain. They are not improved by being made to wear gloves, boots, helmets, and European uniforms.

In this they are not singular, for the Ceylon Rifle Regiment (a Malay corps) was utterly ruined, and never did any good after being put into boots and gloves by some narrow-minded martinet.