10
THE HESPERIAN
i
any and nil such nttonipts, curing notliing is still romomborcd in this practice of tlio
for literary idiom. Thoy lovo and cherish poor fire-shovel.
So again on the eve of ovory first of May,
the village youth honor their sweethearts by
oroctingtho May troo or May pole. Ill luck
would surely bo his portion who neglected
to leavo a handful of grain standing in th
their dialect, handing it down to children
and children's childron.
As in speech, so in apparol. Feminine
Foresters have no need of modiste or fashion-sheet.
Mother, irrand mother, errand-
-j o
child, all wear garments cut by the sumo harvest field as an offeriner to the fiold-irnrl
pattern. Gown, bodice, ruffle, pleat, or god of Plenty. Wodau, in tho old reli-
hoad-goar, , ribbon or braid, color and gion, was ontroatod to replenish tho oarth
cut uro nil alike. Any chance variation lies tho next soason, an offering was mndo, water
in tho quality of goods, not in tho milliner's was sprinkled upon it and tho roapers with
art. Ench locality has its soparato and dis- uncovered heads called upon tho deity to re-
tinct Traoht. On market days or in railway member his kindness to them. In some
stations the sight-seer delights in picturesque parts of Germany tho harvest-home festival
costumes. From nciffhboriiisr Swiss cantons, is kHII Irnnw n WrHn'a
v a j ................ ,lJ ,, uuuii n ixivttvi.
The SpectroHuutsman still runs his mad
chase across the fields and stubble of the
Black Forest peasant. His snorting steed
and baying hounds and harsh commands
often terrify the belated traveller. Never
must a woman bo the first to enter a
stranger's house on New Year's morning,
else a grievous fatality will surely follow in
her careless steps.
from Alsace, from tho Upper Rhine, from
tho Schwarzwald, from tho Ncckar Yalloy,
oddly picturesque costumes drift together,
ouch proclaiming to tho trained eye tho spot
whore the cradle of tho man or tho woman,
thus nppnrelled, stood.
x-
Othor customs are adherod to equally
tenaciously. In legends, tradition, olf-lore,
proverbs, habits, the living present is built
upon the living past, unconsciously, it is
truo, nevertheless understood only by tho past.
Thus Saint John's Day (June 24) is still
celebrated by engaging in rustic dances
around a burning pile in the conter of the
Dorf plate and tho villager seizes his "best
girl" and leaps with her across the embers.
Irue, ho is unaware that he, in a manner,
TV
The wedding party, led by the blushing
bride nnd her more blushing maids, the
bride's female companions, all afoot and
docked in holiday attire and clumsy arti
ficial flowers; the groom and his com
panions, father, uncles, friends, similarly
decked; tho bride a magnificent crown (the
property of the village) on her brow, which
celebrates tho glory of the sun's strength, on may have rested on her mother's head when
4-l" . 1.1. j f "1
uu .uiiv.il ui iu great cun-gou at Ins she wedded; the joyous ringing of the
highest elevation. The ancient Peruvian, at church bolls during the march of tho proces-
lus Feast of Raymi represents one stage in this sion, the humble offerings of tho villagers
cult the 1 orestor another. Strange pecu- consisting of various useful articles, money,
hanty this, oftho human mind! kitchen utenBil garden.tool8 J
The hreshovel, sign and symbol of the table linen, etc., the -wedding drink" when
primitive house-god or god of tho hearth, all the assembly drinks from the cup of hus-
theLarLamiliarisof the Romans, must first band nr lnn k i. .,' r.....t
..i!. .u k- .!.. ,l ,, ..... "" "" luB muni, uiu roruH
m ui i uu uiKun uo cno new abode which tho
peasant builds for himself. Every family
looks upon this act as essential to all future
peace within that dwolling. Clearly, the
ancient ancestor worship, whon tho hearth
was tho altar and tho house-father the priest,
region and its inhabitants as having been
but slightly touched by the great world outside.
Only ono boll tolls now. Tho train of
mourners, all afoot, follow the coffin borne