Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/488



present the Balkan Peninsula has special interest for many of us, and this elaborate account of the home life of its four chief races—Greeks, Albanians, Bulgarians and Osmanli Turks—is timely. The Author's knowledge of the people is wide, but she fully admits the difficulty of exploring the beliefs of the many races which are included in the population. "It would prove a stupendous if not an impossible task to collect all the folk-beliefs and customs of the Balkan Greeks and their neighbours One generally learns them only by transgressing them." As an example, she tells of the horror expressed when she took into the house a little owlet which she found outside her window. It is the bird of death, and sure enough, soon after the family pet kid was found dead in the garden.

The "Old Religion" still survives with undiminished power, and, in spite of the veneer of doctrine and ritual prescribed by the Greek Church or by Islam, has a profound influence over the people. This is shown throughout the interesting survey of the life from cradle to grave. The Nereids, like our fairies, come out of their springs at night, steal babies, and leave changelings in their stead. "The Greek inhabitants of a village near Salonika relate that companies of Nereids may often be seen dancing in the moonlight on the adjacent seashore, and are careful to give a wide berth to these haunts of the 'Outlanders. Gifts must be given to the Fates and a libation poured to Mother Earth to save children from harm. The Evil