Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/539

 Revieivs. 503

English example,' a charm for luck or fertility: certainly not a symbol of capture or an oflering lo evil spirits (p. 257). The custom of the bridegroom giving a dress to the bride or plaiting her hair marks the intimacy of their union (p. 261). The use of fish at weddings is a sign of luck, and particularly of plenty in the kitchen (pp. 293, 299). Regarding the avoidance by the bride- groom of his wife's relations,- he concludes that "especially in a country where the sexes are separated from each other to such a degree as they are in Morocco, the mutual relations into which a man and woman enter by their marriage are looked upon as some- thing to be ashamed of, and this feeling of shame would naturally display itself very acutely in the presence of persons who would not only at once come to think of these relations but feel averse to the very idea of them. It seems to me quite clear that the young man's shyness of his parents-in-law is psychologically con- nected with his shyness of his own parents in all matters relating to his marriage" (p. 313).

It is improbable that all these views will meet with general acceptance, but the explanations are offered without dogmatism, and with the hesitation which all true scholars must feel in approaching such difficult problems.

The second book will be of deep interest to all who are engaged in the study of calendar customs. The most important part of the ploughing rites is the ceremonial meal, which is perhaps in some measure an' act of imitative or homeopathic magic : " the eating of the food made of corn will cause the eating of the same kind of food in the future, in other words, the crops will prosper" (j). 15). In the spring, when the wheat has sprouted, a doll, known as Mata, is carried about by a man on horseback, while men of other villages pursue him and try to capture it; if they succeed, the village which owns the doll has to buy it back with some nice food. Professor Westermarck regards the doll as the personification of the wheat and its vital energy ; she is supposed to be the bride of the field, and the rite is called " the wedding of the wheat." " Considering how commonly violent movements, contests, and racing are found as rites of purification, I venture to believe that

^J. Brand, Observations on Popiilar Antiqtiilies, 1849, vol. iii., p. 16S.
 * See Folk-Lorc, vol. xxiii., p. 51S.