Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/139

 Reviews, 1 2 1

the Channel Islands. It will be seen that the work covers a wide field ; and the matter is derived from many sources, from local records as well as from local informants.

We get some interesting glimpses of old Guernsey life. There is a full account of the Chevaiichee de St. Michel, the annual peram- bulation for the purpose, not of beating the bounds, but of inspect- ing the roads of the island. There is a photograph of " le grand' querrue" drawn by (in this instance) five pairs of horses and one of oxen, the attelage being the joint contribution of the neighbours, who will each in turn make use of the same "great plough." It is still in use. Moreover, at the subsequent feast provided by the farmer for his helpers, the men and the women eat separately, no women sitting down till the men have finished. The vraic (sea- weed) harvest is strictly regulated by ordinance of the Royal Court. It is an occasion of festivity, of feasting in the household and dancing at the tavern in the evening, but no longer, unfortunately, to the music of the old-fashioned chtfournie, the mediaeval rote. Old French rondes, however, still prevail in Guernsey as in Canada. ^Ve hear much, too, of \heJo7tquiere, lit de fouaille, or greeti bed, a low pallet serving as " a sort of rustic divan," to be found in the living room of every farmhouse and cottage, "which at Midsum- mer, after the fresh fern has been cut," is decorated with flowers and fern. Formerly a girl, elected from among the inhabitants of the district, was seated in state beneath the floral canopy, " where under the name of ' La Mome,' she received in silence the homage of the assembled guests " (p. 52). This custom is not altogether clearly described. We may note here that in Guernsey the house- hold furniture belongs to the wife, not the husband. It is strange to find so little of fishermen's folklore. A bumble-bee flying before the fisher on the way to the shore is a good omen, but if it meets him, a bad one (p. 505 Cf. Folk-Lore, vol. xi., p. 438). To see a cormorant before a gull has been seen is a very bad omen. It is unlucky to count the catch until the fish have been landed, and currant-cake should not be taken in the boat (p. 506). It is customary to take off the hat when passing a curiously-shaped rock called Le Petit Bonhoiiwie d'Andriou, of which a photograph is given. Offerings of biscuit or wine, and even old clothes, were formerly made to it, by throwing them into the sea. Other rocks also are saluted by lifting the hats or lowering the topmast. We are persuaded that more may yet be gathered on this head.