The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical Part 38

In the department of the Hautes Alpes, of France, in and around the village of Andrieux, the dead are wrapped in a winding sheet, but are not inclosed in a coffin. In the valleys of Queyras and Grave, the dead are suspended in a barn during five months in the winter, until the earth is softened by the sun's rays, when the corpse is consigned to its native element. On the return to the home of the deceased, it becomes a scene of baccha.n.a.lian revelry, in which the groans and sighs of the mourners mingle with the songs and jests of the inebriated guests. At Argentiere, after the burial, the tables are set out round the church-yard; that of the curate and the mourning family over the grave itself.

_Treatment of Lepers in England._

According to the tenor of various old civil codes and local enactments, when a person became affected with leprosy he was looked upon as legally and politically dead, and lost the privileges of citizens.h.i.+p. He was cla.s.sed with idiots, madmen and outlaws, and was not allowed to inherit.

The church performed the solemn ceremonies of the burial of the dead over him on the day on which he was separated from his fellow-men, and confined to a lazar-house. A priest, with surplice, stole and crucifix, conducted the leper from his residence to the church, and thence to the lazar-house. As the priest left the latter place he threw upon the body of the poor outcast a shovelful of earth, in imitation of the closing of a grave.

_Kissed while Asleep._

There exists an old social custom of claiming a pair of gloves, from man or woman, by a kiss given when asleep. Allusion to this occurs in Scott's "Fair Maid of Perth." Catherine Glover, on St. Valentine's day, found Henry of the Wynd asleep in a chair in her father's house. She stole a kiss from him, thereby choosing him as her valentine, and winning a pair of gloves. Her father, who was a glove-maker, says: "Thou knowest the maiden who ventures to kiss a sleeping man wins of him a pair of gloves. Come to my booth. Thou shalt have a pair of delicate kid-skin that will exactly suit her hand and arm."

_How the Chinese Secure a Pastor._

The fourth of February, says the Nevada _Transcript_, is the day on which the Chinese select one of their number to preside over their Joss house. The manner of proceeding is as follows: The two companies here are permitted to have each a certain number of representatives, and the fleetest and strongest men are generally chosen. These delegates repair to a vacant lot at the rear of the Joss house. A stipulated number of bombs, each one containing a metallic ring, are placed in charge of a committee, whose duty it is to fire off the bombs, one at a time. When the explosion takes place, the ring contained in the bomb is sent flying into the air. It is the desire of the two factions to have their respective delegates to secure as many of the rings as possible. Of course, a general scramble ensues. At the close, the side which has secured the most rings is ent.i.tled to select a Joss (equivalent to a minister of the gospel with us) from among their number.

_Easter-Box._

A custom was inst.i.tuted in the city of Toulouse by Charlemagne, that at Easter any Christian might give a box on the ear to a Jew wherever he chanced to meet him, as a mark of contempt for the nation which had, at that season, crucified the Saviour of mankind. This usage, scandalous in itself, was sometimes, through zeal, practiced with great violence. It is stated that the eye of a poor Jew was forced out on the side of the head whereon the blow was given. In the course of centuries this cruel custom was commuted for a tax, and the money appropriated to the use of the church of St. Saturnin.

_Antipathies._

Amatus Lusita.n.u.s relates the case of a monk who fainted whenever he saw a rose, and never quitted his cell when that flower was blooming.

Scaliger mentions one of his relatives who experienced a similar horror when seeing a lily. Montaigne stated that there were men who dreaded an apple more than they did a musket ball. Zimmerman tells us of a lady who could not endure the touch of silk and satin, and shuddered when placing her hand upon the velvet skin of a peach. Boyle records the case of a man who felt a natural abhorrence to honey. Without his knowledge, some honey was mixed with a plaster applied to his foot, and his agony compelled his attendants to withdraw it. A young man was known to faint whenever he heard the servant sweeping. Hippocrates mentions one Nicanor who swooned whenever he heard a flute. Erasmus experienced febrile symptoms when smelling fish. The Duke d'Epernon swooned on beholding a leveret, although a hare did not produce the same effect. Henry III. of France fainted at the sight of a cat, and Marshal d'Albert at the sight of a pig.

_Superst.i.tions Respecting Bees._

The lower order of people in some parts of England have curious superst.i.tions respecting the bee. A poor old widow once complained to me that all her stocks of bees had died, and on inquiring the cause, she informed me that on the death of her husband, a short time before, she had neglected to _tap_ at each of the hives, to inform the bees of the circ.u.mstance; that, in consequence of this omission, they had been gradually getting weaker and weaker, and that now she had not one left.

Mr. Loudon mentions, that when he was in Bedfords.h.i.+re, he was informed of an old man who sang a psalm in front of some hives which were not doing well, but which he said would thrive in consequence of that ceremony. In Norfolk, at places where bees are kept, it is an indispensable ceremony, in case of the death of any of the family, to put the bees in mourning, or the consequence would be that all of them would die. The method of putting them in mourning is to attach a piece of black cloth to each of the hives. In the neighborhood of Coventry, in the event of the death of any of the family, it is considered necessary to inform the bees of the circ.u.mstance, otherwise they will dwindle and die. The manner of communicating the intelligence to the little community, is, with due form and ceremony, to take the key of the house, and knock with it three times against the hive, informing the inmates, at the same time, of the bereavement. A similar custom prevails in Kent.-_Mr. Jesse._

_Welcoming the New Moon._

In Scotland, especially among the Highlanders, the women make a courtesy to the new moon. In some parts of England the women exclaim, upon seeing the new moon: "A fine moon, G.o.d bless her!"

_The Bodach Glas._

Among the warnings or notices of death to be found in the dark chronicle of superst.i.tions, the omens peculiar to certain families are not the least striking. Pennant tells us that many of the great families in Scotland had their demon, or genius, who gave them monitions of future events. Thus the family of Rothmurchan had the Bodac an Dun, or Ghost of the Hill; and the Kincardines, the Spectre of the b.l.o.o.d.y Hand. The Bodach Glas is introduced in the novel of "Waverley," as the family superst.i.tion of the MacIvors, the truth of which had been proved by an experience of three hundred years. Bodach is from the Saxon, Bode, a messenger, a tidings-bringer; Glas, the Gaelic for gray, the "Gray Messenger." The appearance of a tall figure in a gray plaid was always regarded as an omen of an early death in the family.

_Strange Instance of Sympathy._

The Duke de Saint Simon mentions in his "Memoirs" a singular instance of const.i.tutional sympathy between two brothers. These were twins-the President de Banquemore and the Governor de Bergues, who were surprisingly alike, not only in their persons, but in their feelings.

One morning, he tells us, when the president was at his royal audience, he was suddenly attacked by an intense pain in the thigh; at the same instant, as it was discovered afterwards, his brother, who was with the army, received a severe wound from a sword on the same leg, and precisely the same part of the leg.

_Double Apparition._

In a letter of Philip, the second Earl of Chesterfield, it is related, that "on a morning in 1652, the earl saw an object in white, like a standing sheet, within a yard of his bedside. He attempted to catch it, but it slid to the foot of the bed, and he saw it no more. His thoughts turned to his lady, who was then at Networth, with her father, the Earl of Northumberland. On his arrival at Networth, a footman met him on the stairs, with a packet directed to him from his wife, whom he found with Lady Ess.e.x, her sister, and Mr. Ramsey. He was asked why he had returned so suddenly. He told his motive; and on perusing the letters in the packet, he found that his lady had written to him, requesting his return, for she had seen an object in white, with a black face, by her bedside. These apparitions were seen by the earl and countess _at the same moment_, when they were forty miles asunder."

_Spirit of Dundee._

At the time Viscount Dundee fell in the battle of Killiecrankie, in 1689, his friend, the Lord Balcarras, was a prisoner in the Castle of Edinburgh, upon a strong suspicion of attachment to the unfortunate house of Stuart. The captive earl was in bed, when a hand drew aside the curtain, and the figure of his friend was revealed to him, armed as for battle. The spectre gazed mournfully on Lord Balcarras, pa.s.sed to the other end of the chamber, leaned some time on the mantlepiece, and then slowly pa.s.sed out of the door. The earl, not for a moment supposing that he was looking at an apparition, called out "Stop!" but the figure heeded him not. Immediately afterwards, the news was conveyed to his lords.h.i.+p of the battle, and that the gallant Dundee was slain; or, as the song says, that

"Low lay the bonnet of bonny Dundee."

_Captain Kidd's Vision._

Lord Byron used to mention a strange story which the commander of a packet related to him. This officer stated, that being asleep one night in his berth, he was awakened by the pressure of something heavy on his limbs; and, there being a faint light in his room, could see, as he thought distinctly, the figure of his brother, who was at that time in the same service in the East Indies, dressed in his uniform, and stretched across the bed. Concluding it to be an illusion of the senses, he shut his eyes and made an effort to sleep. But still the same pressure continued, and still, as often as he ventured to look, he saw the figure lying across in the same position. To add to his wonder, on putting forth his hand to touch the figure, he found the uniform in which it appeared to be dressed _dripping wet_. On the entrance of one of his brother officers, to whom he called out in alarm, the apparition vanished. A few months later Captain Kidd received intelligence that on that very night his brother had been drowned in the Indian seas.-_Moore's Life of Byron._

_Sir Henry Wotton's Strange Dream._

Honest Isaac Walton makes Sir Henry Wotton a dreamer in the family line; for, just before his death, he dreamed that the University treasury was robbed by townsmen and poor scholars, and that the number was five. He then wrote to his son Henry at Oxford, inquiring about it, and the letter reached him the morning after the night of the robbery. "Henry,"

says the account, "shows his father's letter about, which causes great wonderment, especially as the number of thieves was exactly correct."

_Supernatural Appearance at Holland House._

Aubrey tells us, in his "Miscellanies," that "the beautiful Lady Diana Rich, daughter of the Earl of Holland, as she was walking in her father's garden, at Kensington, to take the fresh air before dinner, about eleven o'clock, being then very well, met with her own apparition-habit and everything-as in a looking-gla.s.s. About a month after she died of smallpox. It is said that her sister, the Lady Elizabeth Thynne, saw the like of herself also, before she died. This account I had from a person of honor."

_Old Grimaldi's Death._

Grimaldi, the father of "Joe," the celebrated clown, had a vague yet profound dread of the 14th day of the month. At its approach he was always nervous, disquieted, anxious; directly it had pa.s.sed, he was another man again, and invariably exclaimed, in his broken English, "Ah!

now I am safe for anoder month." If this circ.u.mstance were unaccompanied by any singular coincidence, it would be scarcely worth mentioning; but it is remarkable that Grimaldi actually died on the 14th of March, and that he was born, christened and married on the 14th of the month.-_d.i.c.kens' Life of Grimaldi._

_Twelfth-night Omens._

In Normandy, if any of the family are absent when the cake is cut on Twelfth-night, his share is carefully put by. If he remains well, it is believed that the cake continues fresh; if ill, it begins to be moist; if he dies, the cake spoils.

_Twofold Apparition._

Mrs. Mathews relates, in the memoirs of her husband, the celebrated comedian, that he was one night in bed and unable to sleep from the excitement that continues some time after acting; when, hearing a rustling by the side of his bed, he looked out and saw his first wife, who was then dead, standing by the bedside, dressed as when alive. She smiled and bent forward, as if to take his hand; but in his alarm he threw himself out on the floor to avoid the contact, and was found by the landlord in a fit. On the same night, and at the same hour, the second Mrs. Mathews, who was far away from her husband, received a similar visit from her predecessor, whom she had known when alive. She was quite awake, and in her terror seized the bell-rope to summon a.s.sistance; the rope gave way, and she fell with it in her hand to the floor.

_Dr. Donne's Apparition._

Isaac Walton gives an account of this apparition in the life of Dr.

Donne. The doctor left his wife unwell in London, and went with Sir Robert Drury to Paris. Two days after arriving there he stated to Drury that he had had a vision of his wife walking through his room, with her hair hanging over her shoulders, and a dead child in her arms. So impressed were they by the incident that they immediately sent a messenger to London to inquire regarding Mrs. Donne's health. The intelligence procured by the man was, that she had been brought to bed of a dead child at the very hour in which her husband thought he had seen her in Paris.