Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 29, 1918.djvu/330

 3 2 o Collectanea.

I was told, though so far away from her, had to suffer in her stead. He continued to be poorly and out of sorts ; until at one period his wife became unwell, when he immediately recovered. I find that this belief in the husband suffering if the wife keeps well during her pregnancy is believed in all round Oxford. Mrs. Seligman has kindly made enquiries for me in the neighbourhood of Thame, and there the husband suffers from neuralgia if the wife is immune.

The same idea holds sway in parts of Cheshire. I have been told of two cases in a small village in that county. My in- formant knew the people well.

In the first case the wife was expecting her second child, and on one occasion some of her friends, knowing that she was in this condition, came to enquire after her health. Having duly expressed their sympathy with her, she said : " Oh, I

am all right, J is bearing the little one this time, and he

is awfully bad," and there was great chuckling among the women. Indeed, the man suffered so badly from " morning sickness " that he was obliged to give up his work for a time, and my informant told me that she saw him going about looking an absolute wreck. He also suffered from neuralgia.

In the other case in this village where there was this vicarious suffering on the part of the husband, the wife eventually had twins. The man's discomfort did not end with his wife's confinement ; for tke twins were bad sleepers, and he and his wife had to walk up and down their room a great part of the night, each trying to soothe a fractious infant 1

It would be interesting to find out if such ideas exist where couvade is or was practised.

A further case of sympathetic transference came under my notice a few days ago. The people concerned are well known to my informant, and they live in Oxford.

In this case the wife suffered very badly from haemorrhoids, and her husband had frequently begged her to see a doctor, but in vain. He happened on one occasion to express great sympathy with her, just before she became pregnant. The haemorrhoids were, according to my informant, immediately transferred to the husband, who has suffered from them off