pages. The peasant's notions on the nature and the movements of the heavenly bodies are as curious as his ideas on matters sublunary. The bright starry band, which stretches across the sky, and which has been compared by the fancy of so many races to a road or way, is called by the Macedonian country-folk 'The Heap of corn' (Ewpós), or 'The Priest's Straw' (Tò axuро тоû πажâ). In explanation of this quaint appellation the following story is told: "There was once a village priest, who in the dead of night purloined some grain from a heap which lay on a farmer's threshing-floor, waiting to be winnowed. But as the thief carried his booty away, the night breeze blew the straw or chaff back, and thus laid a trail by means of which the unholy father was easily tracked and brought to book." It would be equally easy to track this idea to its oriental source. We know that the Syrians, the Persians and the Turks give to the Galaxy the name of 'Straw Road,' likening it to a lane littered with bits of straw that fall from the nets in which they are in the habit of carrying it.' The Man in the Moon of English folklore is a conception akin to that of the hero of the Milky Way adventure. Like his Eastern cousin, he also is a person detected in the act of gathering illicit goods, though in his case these are but sticks, the notion being derived from the story of the Sabbathbreaker in the Bible (Numb. xv. 32 foll.). Chaucer goes farther, and accuses him of actual theft, and by so doing he brings him a step nearer to the Macedonian papas, or village priest: On her brest a chorle painted ful even Bearing a bush of thorns on his backe, Which for his theft might clime so ne'r the heaven.2 The Greeks of the south call the Milky Way 'River Jordan.' The tendency to compare the heavenly bodies to objects familiar to a husbandman's mind is also displayed in the Macedonian names for various constellations. Thus the Great 1 Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. 1. p. 360. 2 See The Book of Days, vol. 1. p. 52. Bear, just as among our own peasants, is called the 'Plough' ('Aλéтpɩ), and the different parts of that implement furnish names for other groups of stars, such as the 'Yoke' (Zvyós), the 'Plough-feet' (тà 'AλETρоπódia), three stars in the neighbourhood of the Pleiades." 3 The constellation of the Pleiades too, known in Greece Proper as the 'Poulia' (ỷ Пoúλιa), is called by the Macedonians the Clucking or Brooding Hen' (ý Kλwoσapiá). The setting of this group towards the end of November is regarded as an official announcement of the advent of winter, an idea embodied in the following folk-rhymes from Southern Greece: Σ τῆς δεκαφτά, 'ς τῇς δεκοχτὼ Ἡ Πούλια βασιλεύει Και πίσω παραγγέλνει· Μήτε πουλάκι 'ς τὸ κλαδί, Μήτε γηωργὸς ἐς τὸν κάμπο, or Μηδὲ τσομπάνος 'ς τὰ βουνά, "On the seventeenth, on the eighteenth (o. s.) The Pleiades set And leave behind them the command: Let no bird rest on the bough Nor husbandman in the plain, or Nor a shepherd in the mountains, 1 Cp. the Homeric names auaža, a wain, 'the great bear'; Bowτns, a ploughman, the constellation of Arcturus.' 2 The author's primitive acquaintance with Astronomy forbids any attempt at more accurate identification, but he will hazard the suggestion that by the 'three stars' is probably meant the belt of Orion. 3 This modern conception of the constellation as a bird supports to a certain extent the suggestion that the ancient name, πλειάδες, is not derived from πλέω, 'to sail,' but stands for Teλeiádes, 'a flock of doves.' Mr Walter Leaf, in his edition of Homer's Iliad (XVIII. 486), argues with much force in favour of this view, pointing out that the other names of stars mentioned by the poet are all derived from a pastoral or agricultural and not from a seafaring life. This advice tallies exactly with old Hesiod's warning: "When the Pleiades, flying from Orion's mighty strength, sink into the shadow-streaked sea, it is then that gales from all points of the sky are wont to rage: beware of having a boat upon the murky billows at that time of the year." Consequently, great attention is paid by the peasants to the conditions attending the setting of this constellation, and from those conditions are drawn omens as to the quantity of the forthcoming crop and the fertility of cattle. If it sets in a cloudy sky, it is said to portend a rich harvest. The rainbow, commonly called "bow” (Sóğa or doğápı, from τόξον), is known at Liakkovikia as κερασουλένη, and in that district the belief prevails that if a male child passes beneath it, he turns into a girl; if a girl, she turns into a boy. In other parts of the Greek world the rainbow is called 'Heaven's Girdle' (ζωνάρι τοῦ οὐρανοῦ). 3 The falling of the wind towards evening is popularly expressed: "He is gone to supper" (IIîye và pán). The New Moon. The new moon is observed with a view to ascertaining the state of the weather for the ensuing quarter. Mè тí καιрò πιάστηκε τὸ φεγγάρι ; is the common expression. On this notion, which the Macedonian peasants share with many people in England—that is, that the weather changes with the moon's quarterings-Mr Tylor observes: "That educated people to whom exact weather records are accessible should still find satisfaction in the fanciful lunar rule, is an interesting case of intellectual survival." According to the same author the idea is a counterpart of the tendency to associate the growth. and death of plants with the moon's wax and wane, and, we 1 W. and D. 619 foll. 2 Α. Δ. Γουσίου, ‘Η κατὰ τὸ Πάγγαιον Χώρα, p. 77. 6 3 Scarlatos, • Λεξικὸν τῆς καθ ̓ ἡμᾶς Ἑλληνικῆς διαλέκτου, s. v. δοξάρι. 4 Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. 1. p. 130. might add, it belongs to the stage of culture which prevailed before the line was very rigidly drawn between meteorology and theology-to times when sky and heaven meant one and the same thing.1 Eclipse of the Moon. An eclipse of the moon is considered by the Mohammedans of Macedonia, as of other parts of the East, a portent of bloodshed. It is met with reports of fire-arms, and the Imams call from the minarets the faithful to public prayers in the mosques. This recalls in a striking manner the practices of many savage and barbaric nations. The Indians of America, on seeing the phenomenon, howled and bewailed and shot at the sky in order to drive off the monsters which, they believed, were trying to devour the moon. Similar ideas and similar methods prevail among many African tribes. The great nations of Asia, such as the Hindoos and the Chinese, still cling to the belief in the Eclipse-monster. The latter meet it with prayers, like the Turks. But even in civilized Europe, both ancient and modern, we find numerous proofs of this superstition. The Romans came to the succour of the afflicted moon by flinging firebrands into the air, by the blare of trumpets and the clang of brazen pots. The superstition survived through the Middle Ages into a very late period. France, Wales and Ireland offer many instances as late as the 17th century." see 1 For certain curious English superstitions regarding the moon R. Inwards, Weather Lore, p. 64; The Book of Days, vol. 11. p. 202; Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society, vol. iv. pp. 121, 122. On the general subject concerning the supposed influence of the moon on the life of plants and animals see J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough, vol. 1. pp. 155 foll. and Note B. pp. 457, 458. 2 Tylor, Primitive Culture, vol. 1. pp. 328 foll. CHAPTER VII. WINTER FESTIVITIES. Of Christmas' sports, the wassail bowl, Of Twelfth-tide cakes, of pease and beans, HERRICK, Hesperides. 'Solemn scenes' would have been better than merry scenes' as a description of the Macedonian Yule-tide celebrations in their entirety. The period of Twelve Days, from the Nativity to the Epiphany (Awdeκańμeρo), is perhaps the most prolific in superstitious lore and practice presented by the Macedonian folkcalendar. It is during this season that the natural horrors of winter are heightened by the mysterious beings known and dreaded under the name of Karkantzari or Skatsantzari1. 1 Other forms of the name, current in various parts of Greece, are κaλnκάντσαρος, καλκάτσαρος, λυκοκάντσαρος, κοληκάντσαρος etc. Some spell it with instead of n; but there is little choice as both vowels are pronounced alike, and the spelling cannot be determined until the derivation is discovered. This last has for many years afforded matter for speculation to the ingenious. The most plausible of all the etymologies suggested is Bernhard Schmidt's (Das Volksleben der Neugriechen, pp. 142 foll.). He derives the Greek from the Albanian Karkandsoli, which in its turn comes from the Turkish Kara (=black) -kondjolos (=loup-garou). But he does not state whether the Turks actually call the monsters by that name, or whether they believe in them at all. For details concerning the nature and attributes of these singular beings, as conceived by the Greeks of the South, see Rennell Rodd, The Customs and Lore of Modern Greece, pp. 197 foll.; W. H. D. Rouse, Folklore from the Southern Sporades in Folk-Lore, June 1899, pp. 174 foll.; G. Georgeakis et Léon Pincau, Le Folk-Lore de Lesbos, p. 349. The Macedonian conception is substantially the same. |