Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/390

 350 Reviews.

until the baby was christened the mother used to put the Bible under its pillow to guard against all evil spirits and bad influ- ences. At the present day this is yet done amongst the Pro- testants in some parts of Switzerland.

The chapters relating to Birth, Marriage, Death, and Witchcraft are full of interesting facts, many of the details given appearing for the first time, to my knowledge. The volume is enriched by a carefully compiled glossary and a very good grammar of the folk-speech. Many old dialect poems, songs, and rhymes are also given.

Florence Peacock.

Bye-gones relating to Wales and the Border Counties. 1897-98. Second Series. Vol. V. Oswestry and Wrexham: Woodall, Minshull, & Co.

Bye-gones is a reprint from an Oswestry newspaper. All who are interested in Wales and Welsh matters know how valuable it is as a local Notes and Queries. Many a fact that would otherwise have been forgotten is here garnered. Among such facts a pro- minent place is given to folklore. A large number of superstitions are noted in the volume. Many of them doubtless have been already noted, but it is to be hoped that will not be a reason for discontinuing the notes. It is important to know with certainty the distribution of traditional observances of all kinds.

A curious practice is stated (p. 406) to prevail at Neston parish church of locking all doors during the celebration of a marriage. The origin of this custom may be sought in more than one direc- tion ; but it would be all guesswork in the absence of more detailed local information. For instance, does the converse custom of unlocking all doors, drawers, boxes, &c., at a birth obtain in the parish ? Speaking of marriage customs, an order of the Commissioners of the Marches on the 26th August, 1534, addressed to the Mayor and Aldermen of Hereford, is quoted on the following page at length, forbidding the " gadering of Com- mertheas " and assembling at " love ales or bydden ales."

No one can pretend to have exhausted any branch of inquiry in British folklore who has not searched Bye-gones.

E. Sidney Hartland.