Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 7, 1896.djvu/173

Rh thrice waved it before me in the sign of the cross, muttering:—

Finally, she dropt in an ivy twiga twig of bay [sic], which popped and crackled. "Now he'll get well," she said. So I did; the headache was quite gone next day.

Sacred Places, Holy Trees and Wells.—There are some interesting sanctuaries in the island, at which are held famous festivals; the chief are Ayássos and Mandamádos. Of these I could a tale unfold; but it would not bear upon folk-lore, so I leave it unsaid in this place. But all over the island, almost in every square mile, are endless, or country shrines, many ruined, but most still frequented on the day of their saint, when the people come to worship and make offerings. I cannot help thinking that these may often mark the spots where in ancient times a bit of the farm land was left fallow for Pan and the Nymphs. Some few of these are Byzantine ruins (as the near Dip), some are roofed and complete, many mere enclosures. Some have a sacred well in or near them, as that of St. Paul, near Eresos. Here hang the rags of the worshippers, most of them fastened first to sticks and then thrust into the cracks between the stones; one was fastened to an iron nail; a few are hung to the twigs of agnus castus bushes which grow outside the walls. This plant appears to be a favourite in Lesbos for the purpose. It was sacred in ancient times; and it was associated with Hera in Samos (cf Paus. iii. 14.7, vii 4.4, viii 23.5, and the art. Agnos in Pauly).