Section 5. The Midsummer Fires.
BUT THE SEASON at which these firefestivals have been most generally
held all over Europe is the summer solstice, that is Midsummer Eve (the
twenty-third of June) or Midsummer day (the twenty-fourth of June). A
faint tinge of Christianity has been given to them by naming Midsummer
Day after St. John the Baptist, but we cannot doubt that the celebration
dates from a time long before the beginning of our era. The summer
solstice, or Midsummer Day, is the great turning-point in the sun's career,
when, after climbing higher and higher day by day in the sky, the luminary
stops and thenceforth retraces his steps down the heavenly road. Such a
moment could not but be regarded with anxiety by primitive man so soon
as he began to observe and ponder the courses of the great lights across
the celestial vault; and having still to learn his own powerlessness in face
of the vast cyclic changes of nature, he may have fancied that he could
help the sun in his seeming decline-could prop his failing steps and
rekindle the sinking flame of the red lamp in his feeble hand. In some such
thoughts as these the midsummer festivals of our European peasantry may
perhaps have taken their rise. Whatever their origin, they have prevailed
all over this quarter of the globe, from Ireland on the west to Russia on the
east, and from Norway and Sweden on the north to Spain and Greece on
the south. According to a mediæval writer, the three great features of the
midsummer celebration were the bonfires, the procession with torches
round the fields, and the custom of rolling a wheel. He tells us that boys
burned bones and filth of various kinds to make a foul smoke, and that the
smoke drove away certain noxious dragons which at this time, excited by
the summer heat, copulated in the air and poisoned the wells and rivers by
dropping their seed into them; and he explains the custom of trundling a
wheel to mean that the sun, having now reached the highest point in the
ecliptic, begins thenceforward to descend. 1
The main features of the midsummer fire-festival resemble those which
we have found to characterise the vernal festivals of fire. The similarity of
the two sets of ceremonies will plainly appear from the following
examples. 2
A writer of the first half of the sixteenth century informs us that in almost
every village and town of Germany public bonfires were kindled on the
Eve of St. John, and young and old, of both sexes, gathered about them
and passed the time in dancing and singing. People on this occasion wore
chaplets of mugwort and vervain, and they looked at the fire through
bunches of larkspur which they held in their hands, believing that this
would preserve their eyes in a healthy state throughout the year. As each
departed, he threw the mugwort and vervain into the fire, saying, "May all
my ill-luck depart and be burnt up with these." At Lower Konz, a village
situated on a hillside overlooking the Moselle, the midsummer festival used
to be celebrated as follows. A quantity of straw was collected on the top of
the steep Stromberg Hill. Every inhabitant, or at least every householder,
had to contribute his share of straw to the pile. At nightfall the whole male
population, men and boys, mustered on the top of the hill; the women and
girls were not allowed to join them, but had to take up their position at a
certain spring half-way down the slope. On the summit stood a huge
wheel completely encased in some of the straw which had been jointly
contributed by the villagers; the rest of the straw was made into torches.
From each side of the wheel the axle-tree projected about three feet, thus
furnishing handles to the lads who were to guide it in its descent. The
mayor of the neighbouring town of Sierck, who always received a basket
of cherries for his services, gave the signal; a lighted torch was applied to
the wheel, and as it burst into flame, two young fellows, strong-limbed and
swift of foot, seized the handles and began running with it down the slope.
A great shout went up. Every man and boy waved a blazing torch in the
air, and took care to keep it alight so long as the wheel was trundling
down the hill. The great object of the young men who guided the wheel
was to plunge it blazing into the water of the Moselle; but they rarely
succeeded in their efforts, for the vineyards which cover the greater part
of the declivity impeded their progress, and the wheel was often burned
out before it reached the river. As it rolled past the women and girls at the
spring, they raised cries of joy which were answered by the men on the
top of the mountain; and the shouts were echoed by the inhabitants of
neighbouring villages who watched the spectacle from their hills on the
opposite bank of the Moselle. If the fiery wheel was successfully conveyed
to the bank of the river and extinguished in the water, the people looked
for an abundant vintage that year, and the inhabitants of Konz had the
right to exact a waggon-load of white wine from the surrounding
vineyards. On the other hand, they believed that, if they neglected to
perform the ceremony, the cattle would be attacked by giddiness and
convulsions and would dance in their stalls. 3
Down at least to the middle of the nineteenth century the midsummer fires
used to blaze all over Upper Bavaria. They were kindled especially on the
mountains, but also far and wide in the lowlands, and we are told that in
the darkness and stillness of night the moving groups, lit up by the
flickering glow of the flames, presented an impressive spectacle. Cattle
were driven through the fire to cure the sick animals and to guard such as
were sound against plague and harm of every kind throughout the year.
Many a householder on that day put out the fire on the domestic hearth
and rekindled it by means of a brand taken from the midsummer bonfire.
The people judged of the height to which the flax would grow in the year
by the height to which the flames of the bonfire rose; and whoever leaped
over the burning pile was sure not to suffer from backache in reaping the
corn at harvest. In many parts of Bavaria it was believed that the flax
would grow as high as the young people leaped over the fire. In others the
old folk used to plant three charred sticks from the bonfire in the fields,
believing that this would make the flax grow tall. Elsewhere an
extinguished brand was put in the roof of the house to protect it against
fire. In the towns about Würzburg the bonfires used to be kindled in the
market-places, and the young people who jumped over them wore
garlands of flowers, especially of mugwort and vervain, and carried sprigs
of larkspur in their hands. They thought that such as looked at the fire
holding a bit of larkspur before their face would be troubled by no malady
of the eyes throughout the year. Further, it was customary at Würzburg, in
the sixteenth century, for the bishop's followers to throw burning discs of
wood into the air from a mountain which overhangs the town. The discs
were discharged by means of flexible rods, and in their flight through the
darkness presented the appearance of fiery dragons. 4
Similarly in Swabia, lads and lasses, hand in hand, leap over the
midsummer bonfire, praying that the hemp may grow three ells high, and
they set fire to wheels of straw and send them rolling down the hill.
Sometimes, as the people sprang over the midsummer bonfire they cried
out, "Flax, flax! may the flax this year grow seven ells high!" At Rottenburg
a rude effigy in human form, called the Angelman, used to be enveloped in
flowers and then burnt in the midsummer fire by boys, who afterwards
leaped over the glowing embers. 5
So in Baden the children collected fuel from house to house for the
midsummer bonfire on St. John's Day; and lads and lasses leaped over the
fire in couples. Here, as elsewhere, a close connexion was traced
between these bonfires and the harvest. In some places it was thought that
those who leaped over the fires would not suffer from backache at reaping.
Sometimes, as the young folk sprang over the flames, they cried, "Grow,
that the hemp may be three ells high!" This notion that the hemp or the
corn would grow as high as the flames blazed or as the people jumped
over them, seems to have been widespread in Baden. It was held that the
parents of the young people who bounded highest over the fire would
have the most abundant harvest; and on the other hand, if a man
contributed nothing to the bonfire, it was imagined that there would be no
blessing on his crops, and that his hemp in particular would never grow. At
Edersleben, near Sangerhausen, a high pole was planted in the ground
and a tarbarrel was hung from it by a chain which reached to the ground.
The barrel was then set on fire and swung round the pole amid shouts of
joy. 6
In Denmark and Norway also midsummer fires were kindled on St. John's
Eve on roads, open spaces, and hills. People in Norway thought that the
fires banished sickness from among the cattle. Even yet the fires are said
to be lighted all over Norway on Midsummer Eve. They are kindled in
order to keep off the witches, who are said to be flying from all parts that
night to the Blocksberg, where the big witch lives. In Sweden the Eve of
St. John (St. Hans) is the most joyous night of the whole year. Throughout
some parts of the country, especially in the provinces of Bohus and
Scania and in districts bordering on Norway, it is celebrated by the
frequent discharge of firearms and by huge bonfires, formerly called
Balder's Balefires (Balder's Bălar), which are kindled at dusk on
hills and eminences and throw a glare of light over the surrounding
landscape. The people dance round the fires and leap over or through
them. In parts of Norrland on St. John's Eve the bonfires are lit at the
cross-roads. The fuel consists of nine different sorts of wood, and the
spectators cast into the flames a kind of toad-stool (Bäran) in order to
counteract the power of the Trolls and other evil spirits, who are believed
to be abroad that night; for at that mystic season the mountains open and
from their cavernous depths the uncanny crew pours forth to dance and
disport themselves for a time. The peasants believe that should any of the
Trolls be in the vicinity they will show themselves; and if an animal, for
example a he or she goat, happens to be seen near the blazing, crackling
pile, the peasants are firmly persuaded that it is no other than the Evil One
in person. Further, it deserves to be remarked that in Sweden St. John's
Eve is a festival of water as well as of fire; for certain holy springs are then
supposed to be endowed with wonderful medicinal virtues, and many sick
people resort to them for the healing of their infirmities. 7
In Austria the midsummer customs and superstitions resemble those of
Germany. Thus in some parts of the Tyrol bonfires are kindled and burning
discs hurled into the air. In the lower valley of the Inn a tatterdemalion
effigy is carted about the village on Midsummer Day and then burned. He
is called the Lotter, which has been corrupted into Luther. At Ambras, one
of the villages where Martin Luther is thus burned in effigy, they say that if
you go through the village between eleven and twelve on St. John's Night
and wash yourself in three wells, you will see all who are to die in the
following year. At Gratz on St. John's Eve (the twenty-third of June) the
common people used to make a puppet called the Tatermann, which they
dragged to the bleaching ground, and pelted with burning besoms till it
took fire. At Reutte, in the Tyrol, people believed that the flax would grow
as high as they leaped over the midsummer bonfire, and they took pieces
of charred wood from the fire and stuck them in their flax-fields the same
night, leaving them there till the flax harvest had been got in. In Lower
Austria bonfires are kindled on the heights, and the boys caper round
them, brandishing lighted torches drenched in pitch. Whoever jumps thrice
across the fire will not suffer from fever within the year. Cart-wheels are
often smeared with pitch, ignited, and sent rolling and blazing down the
hillsides. 8
All over Bohemia bonfires still burn on Midsummer Eve. In the afternoon
boys go about with handcarts from house to house collecting fuel and
threatening with evil consequences the curmudgeons who refuse them a
dole. Sometimes the young men fell a tall straight fir in the woods and set it
up on a height, where the girls deck it with nosegays, wreaths of leaves,
and red ribbons. Then brushwood is piled about it, and at nightfall the
whole is set on fire. While the flames break out, the young men climb the
tree and fetch down the wreaths which the girls had placed on it. After that
lads and lasses stand on opposite sides of the fire and look at one another
through the wreaths to see whether they will be true to each other and
marry within the year. Also the girls throw the wreaths across the flames to
the men, and woe to the awkward swain who fails to catch the wreath
thrown him by his sweetheart. When the blaze has died down, each
couple takes hands and leaps thrice across the fire. He or she who does
so will be free from ague throughout the year, and the flax will grow as
high as the young folks leap. A girl who sees nine bonfires on Midsummer
Eve will marry before the year is out. The singed wreaths are carried home
and carefully preserved throughout the year. During thunderstorms a bit of
the wreath is burned on the hearth with a prayer; some of it is given to kine
that are sick or calving, and some of it serves to fumigate house and
cattle-stall, that man and beast may keep hale and well. Sometimes an old
cart-wheel is smeared with resin, ignited, and sent rolling down the hill.
Often the boys collect all the worn-out besoms they can get hold of, dip
them in pitch, and having set them on fire wave them about or throw them
high into the air. Or they rush down the hillside in troops, brandishing the
flaming brooms and shouting. The stumps of the brooms and embers from
the fire are preserved and stuck in cabbage gardens to protect the
cabbages from caterpillars and gnats. Some people insert charred sticks
and ashes from the midsummer bonfire in their sown fields and meadows,
in their gardens and the roofs of their houses, as a talisman against
lightning and foul weather; or they fancy that the ashes placed in the roof
will prevent any fire from breaking out in the house. In some districts they
crown or gird themselves with mugwort while the midsummer fire is burning,
for this is supposed to be a protection against ghosts, witches, and
sickness; in particular, a wreath of mugwort is a sure preventive of sore
eyes. Sometimes the girls look at the bonfires through garlands of wild
flowers, praying the fire to strengthen their eyes and eyelids. She who
does this thrice will have no sore eyes all that year. In some parts of
Bohemia they used to drive the cows through the midsummer fire to guard
them against witchcraft. 9
In Slavonic countries, also, the midsummer festival is celebrated with
similar rites. We have already seen that in Russia on the Eve of St. John
young men and maidens jump over a bonfire in couples carrying a straw
effigy of Kupalo in their arms. In some parts of Russia an image of Kupalo
is burnt or thrown into a stream on St. John's Night. Again, in some districts
of Russia the young folk wear garlands of flowers and girdles of holy herbs
when they spring through the smoke or flames; and sometimes they drive
the cattle also through the fire in order to protect the animals against
wizards and witches, who are then ravenous after milk. In Little Russia a
stake is driven into the ground on St. John's Night, wrapt in straw, and set
on fire. As the flames rise the peasant women throw birchen boughs into
them, saying, "May my flax be as tall as this bough!" In Ruthenia the
bonfires are lighted by a flame procured by the friction of wood. While the
elders of the party are engaged in thus "churning" the fire, the rest
maintain a respectful silence; but when the flame bursts from the wood,
they break forth into joyous songs. As soon as the bonfires are kindled, the
young people take hands and leap in pairs through the smoke, if not
through the flames; and after that the cattle in their turn are driven through
the fire. 10
In many parts of Prussia and Lithuania great fires are kindled on
Midsummer Eve. All the heights are ablaze with them, as far as the eye
can see. The fires are supposed to be a protection against witchcraft,
thunder, hail, and cattle disease, especially if next morning the cattle are
driven over the places where the fires burned. Above all, the bonfires
ensure the farmer against the arts of witches, who try to steal the milk from
his cows by charms and spells. That is why next morning you may see the
young fellows who lit the bonfire going from house to house and receiving
jugfuls of milk. And for the same reason they stick burs and mugwort on the
gate or the hedge through which the cows go to pasture, because that is
supposed to be a preservative against witchcraft. In Masuren, a district of
Eastern Prussia inhabited by a branch of the Polish family, it is the custom
on the evening of Midsummer Day to put out all the fires in the village.
Then an oaken stake is driven into the ground and a wheel is fixed on it as
on an axle. This wheel the villagers, working by relays, cause to revolve
with great rapidity till fire is produced by friction. Every one takes home a
lighted brand from the new fire and with it rekindles the fire on the domestic
hearth. In Serbia on Midsummer Eve herdsmen light torches of birch bark
and march round the sheepfolds and cattle-stalls; then they climb the hills
and there allow the torches to burn out. 11
Among the Magyars in Hungary the midsummer fire-festival is marked by
the same features that meet us in so many parts of Europe. On Midsummer
Eve in many places it is customary to kindle bonfires on heights and to
leap over them, and from the manner in which the young people leap the
bystanders predict whether they will marry soon. On this day also many
Hungarian swineherds make fire by rotating a wheel round a wooden axle
wrapt in hemp, and through the fire thus made they drive their pigs to
preserve them from sickness. 12
The Esthonians of Russia, who, like the Magyars, belong to the great
Turanian family of mankind, also celebrate the summer solstice in the usual
way. They think that the St. John's fire keeps witches from the cattle, and
they say that he who does not come to it will have his barley full of thistles
and his oats full of weeds. In the Esthonian island of Oesel, while they
throw fuel into the midsummer fire, they call out, "Weeds to the fire, flax to
the field," or they fling three billets into the flames, saying, "Flax grow
long!" And they take charred sticks from the bonfire home with them and
keep them to make the cattle thrive. In some parts of the island the bonfire
is formed by piling brushwood and other combustibles round a tree, at the
top of which a flag flies. Whoever succeeds in knocking down the flag with
a pole before it begins to burn will have good luck. Formerly the festivities
lasted till daybreak, and ended in scenes of debauchery which looked
doubly hideous by the growing light of a summer morning. 13
When we pass from the east to the west of Europe we still find the
summer solstice celebrated with rites of the same general character. Down
to about the middle of the nineteenth century the custom of lighting bonfires
at midsummer prevailed so commonly in France that there was hardly a
town or a village, we are told, where they were not kindled. People
danced round and leaped over them, and took charred sticks from the
bonfire home with them to protect the houses against lightning,
conflagrations, and spells. 14
In Brittany, apparently, the custom of the midsummer bonfires is kept up to
this day. When the flames have died down, the whole assembly kneels
round about the bonfire and an old man prays aloud. Then they all rise
and march thrice round the fire; at the third turn they stop and every one
picks up a pebble and throws it on the burning pile. After that they
disperse. In Brittany and Berry it is believed that a girl who dances round
nine midsummer bonfires will marry within the year. In the valley of the
Orne the custom was to kindle the bonfire just at the moment when the sun
was about to dip below the horizon; and the peasants drove their cattle
through the fires to protect them against witchcraft, especially against the
spells of witches and wizards who attempted to steal the milk and butter. At
Jumièges in Normandy, down to the first half of the nineteenth century, the
midsummer festival was marked by certain singular features which bore the
stamp of a very high antiquity. Every year, on the twenty-third of June,
the Eve of St. John, the Brotherhood of the Green Wolf chose a new chief
or master, who had always to be taken from the hamlet of Conihout. On
being elected, the new head of the brotherhood assumed the title of the
Green Wolf, and donned a peculiar costume consisting of a long green
mantle and a very tall green hat of a conical shape and without a brim.
Thus arrayed he stalked solemnly at the head of the brothers, chanting the
hymn of St. John, the crucifix and holy banner leading the way, to a place
called Chouquet. Here the procession was met by the priest, precentors,
and choir, who conducted the brotherhood to the parish church. After
hearing mass the company adjourned to the house of the Green Wolf,
where a simple repast was served up to them. At night a bonfire was
kindled to the sound of hand-bells by a young man and a young woman,
both decked with flowers. Then the Green Wolf and his brothers, with their
hoods down on their shoulders and holding each other by the hand, ran
round the fire after the man who had been chosen to be the Green Wolf of
the following year. Though only the first and the last man of the chain had
a hand free, their business was to surround and seize thrice the future
Green Wolf, who in his efforts to escape belaboured the brothers with a
long wand which he carried. When at last they succeeded in catching him
they carried him to the burning pile and made as if they would throw him
on it. This ceremony over, they returned to the house of the Green Wolf,
where a supper, still of the most meagre fare, was set before them. Up till
midnight a sort of religious solemnity prevailed. But at the stroke of twelve
all this was changed. Constraint gave way to license; pious hymns were
replaced by Bacchanalian ditties, and the shrill quavering notes of the
village fiddle hardly rose above the roar of voices that went up from the
merry brotherhood of the Green Wolf. Next day, the twenty-fourth of June
or Midsummer Day, was celebrated by the same personages with the same
noisy gaiety. One of the ceremonies consisted in parading, to the sound of
musketry, an enormous loaf of consecrated bread, which, rising in tiers,
was surmounted by a pyramid of verdure adorned with ribbons. After that
the holy hand-bells, deposited on the step of the altar, were entrusted as
insignia of office to the man who was to be the Green Wolf next year. 15
At Château-Thierry, in the department of Aisne, the custom of lighting
bonfires and dancing round them at the midsummer festival of St. John
lasted down to about 1850; the fires were kindled especially when June
had been rainy, and the people thought that the lighting of the bonfires
would cause the rain to cease. In the Vosges it is still customary to kindle
bonfires upon the hill-tops on Midsummer Eve; the people believe that the
fires help to preserve the fruits of the earth and ensure good crops. 16
Bonfires were lit in almost all the hamlets of Poitou on the Eve of St. John.
People marched round them thrice, carrying a branch of walnut in their
hand. Shepherdesses and children passed sprigs of mullein (verbascum)
and nuts across the flames; the nuts were supposed to cure toothache,
and the mullein to protect the cattle from sickness and sorcery. When the
fire died down people took some of the ashes home with them, either to
keep them in the house as a preservative against thunder or to scatter
them on the fields for the purpose of destroying corn-cockles and darnel.
In Poitou also it used to be customary on the Eve of St. John to trundle a
blazing wheel wrapt in straw over the fields to fertilise them. 17
In the mountainous part of Comminges, a province of Southern France,
the midsummer fire is made by splitting open the trunk of a tall tree, stuffing
the crevice with shavings, and igniting the whole. A garland of flowers is
fastened to the top of the tree, and at the moment when the fire is lighted
the man who was last married has to climb up a ladder and bring the
flowers down. In the flat parts of the same district the materials of the
midsummer bonfires consist of fuel piled in the usual way; but they must be
put together by men who have been married since the last midsummer
festival, and each of these benedicts is obliged to lay a wreath of flowers
on the top of the pile. 18
In Provence the midsummer fires are still popular. Children go from door
to door begging for fuel, and they are seldom sent empty away. Formerly
the priest, the mayor, and the aldermen used to walk in procession to the
bonfire, and even deigned to light it; after which the assembly marched
thrice round the burning pile. At Aix a nominal king, chosen from among
the youth for his skill in shooting at a popinjay, presided over the
midsummer festival. He selected his own officers, and escorted by a
brilliant train marched to the bonfire, kindled it, and was the first to dance
round it. Next day he distributed largesse to his followers. His reign lasted
a year, during which he enjoyed certain privileges. He was allowed to
attend the mass celebrated by the commander of the Knights of St. John on
St. John's Day; the right of hunting was accorded to him, and soldiers
might not be quartered in his house. At Marseilles also on this day one of
the guilds chose a king of the badache or double axe; but it does not
appear that he kindled the bonfire, which is said to have been lighted with
great ceremony by the préfet and other authorities. 19
In Belgium the custom of kindling the midsummer bonfires has long
disappeared from the great cities, but it is still kept up in rural districts and
small towns. In that country the Eve of St. Peter's Day (the twenty-ninth of
June) is celebrated by bonfires and dances exactly like those which
commemorate St. John's Eve. Some people say that the fires of St. Peter,
like those of St. John, are lighted in order to drive away dragons. In
French Flanders down to 1789 a straw figure representing a man was
always burned in the midsummer bonfire, and the figure of a woman was
burned on St. Peter's Day, the twenty-ninth of June. In Belgium people
jump over the midsummer bonfires as a preventive of colic, and they keep
the ashes at home to hinder fire from breaking out. 20
The custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer has been observed in many
parts of our own country, and as usual people danced round and leaped
over them. In Wales three or nine different kinds of wood and charred
faggots carefully preserved from the last midsummer were deemed
necessary to build the bonfire, which was generally done on rising ground.
In the Vale of Glamorgan a cart-wheel swathed in straw used to be ignited
and sent rolling down the hill. If it kept alight all the way down and blazed
for a long time, an abundant harvest was expected. On Midsummer Eve
people in the Isle of Man were wont to light fires to the windward of every
field, so that the smoke might pass over the corn; and they folded their
cattle and carried blazing furze or gorse round them several times. In
Ireland cattle, especially barren cattle, were driven through the midsummer
fires, and the ashes were thrown on the fields to fertilise them, or live coals
were carried into them to prevent blight. In Scotland the traces of
midsummer fires are few; but at that season in the highlands of Perthshire
cowherds used to go round their folds thrice, in the direction of the sun,
with lighted torches. This they did to purify the flocks and herds and to
keep them from falling sick. 21
The practice of lighting bonfires on Midsummer Eve and dancing or
leaping over them is, or was till recently, common all over Spain and in
some parts of Italy and Sicily. In Malta great fires are kindled in the streets
and squares of the towns and villages on the Eve of St. John (Midsummer
Eve); formerly the Grand Master of the Order of St. John used on that
evening to set fire to a heap of pitch barrels placed in front of the sacred
Hospital. In Greece, too, the custom of kindling fires on St. John's Eve and
jumping over them is said to be still universal. One reason assigned for it is
a wish to escape from the fleas. According to another account, the women
cry out, as they leap over the fire, "I leave my sins behind me." In Lesbos
the fires on St. John's Eve are usually lighted by threes, and the people
spring thrice over them, each with a stone on his head, saying, "I jump the
hare's fire, my head a stone!" In Calymnos the midsummer fire is supposed
to ensure abundance in the coming year as well as deliverance from fleas.
The people dance round the fires singing, with stones on their heads, and
then jump over the blaze or the glowing embers. When the fire is burning
low, they throw the stones into it; and when it is nearly out, they make
crosses on their legs and then go straightway and bathe in the sea. 22
The custom of kindling bonfires on Midsummer Day or on Midsummer Eve
is widely spread among the Mohammedan peoples of North Africa,
particularly in Morocco and Algeria; it is common both to the Berbers and
to many of the Arabs or Arabic-speaking tribes. In these countries
Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June, Old Style) is called
l'săra. The fires are lit in the courtyards, at cross-roads, in the
fields, and sometimes on the threshing-floors. Plants which in burning give
out a thick smoke and an aromatic smell are much sought after for fuel on
these occasions; among the plants used for the purpose are giant-fennel,
thyme, rue, chervil-seed, camomile, geranium, and penny-royal. People
expose themselves, and especially their children, to the smoke, and drive
it towards the orchards and the crops. Also they leap across the fires; in
some places everybody ought to repeat the leap seven times. Moreover
they take burning brands from the fires and carry them through the houses
in order to fumigate them. They pass things through the fire, and bring the
sick into contact with it, while they utter prayers for their recovery. The
ashes of the bonfires are also reputed to possess beneficial properties;
hence in some places people rub their hair or their bodies with them. In
some places they think that by leaping over the fires they rid themselves of
all misfortune, and that childless couples thereby obtain offspring. Berbers
of the Rif province, in Northern Morocco, make great use of fires at
midsummer for the good of themselves, their cattle, and their fruit-trees.
They jump over the bonfires in the belief that this will preserve them in
good health, and they light fires under fruit-trees to keep the fruit from
falling untimely. And they imagine that by rubbing a paste of the ashes on
their hair they prevent the hair from falling off their heads. In all these
Moroccan customs, we are told, the beneficial effect is attributed wholly to
the smoke, which is supposed to be endued with a magical quality that
removes misfortune from men, animals, fruit-trees and crops. 23
The celebration of a midsummer festival by Mohammedan peoples is
particularly remarkable, because the Mohammedan calendar, being purely
lunar and uncorrected by intercalation, necessarily takes no note of
festivals which occupy fixed points in the solar year; all strictly
Mohammedan feasts, being pinned to the moon, slide gradually with that
luminary through the whole period of the earth's revolution about the sun.
This fact of itself seems to prove that among the Mohammedan peoples of
Northern Africa, as among the Christian peoples of Europe, the midsummer
festival is quite independent of the religion which the people publicly
profess, and is a relic of a far older paganism. 24