Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 8, 1897.djvu/304

 28o Correspondefice.

infant who could hurl a stone weighmg three or four tons a couple of miles or so when he wanted to be suckled. Wade and his wife constructed the East Cleveland Roman Road, as well as Mulgrave and Pickering Castles, having for their sole tool a simple hammer, which they threw backwards and forwards to each other as needed. This is in lVdre?id och lVirdar?ie (only the actors are a Jatte and his spouse), and the hammer resolves itself into the old stone-hammer, so much prized by the modern collector, if examples chance to occur.

What occurs to me is, that modern folk-lore collectors are, however zealous, too little acquainted with the difference between the really old, and the modern "improvements" and "embellish- ments." Mr. Gomme evidently does not know the whole legend of Barn Hall. There is a lot to be illustrated and explained. The projector, planner, and builder of the intended Barn Hall sits up to wait for and catch in the act the wanton destroyer of his work. He is not alone, but has for his companions on the vigil two "spayed bitches," and they help him in his conflict with "Old Nick." I used to hear of the scrimmage and so forth, and got to couple the idea of the dogs and the armoured knight in the mouth of the 1825-30 tellers with an old effigy in Tolleshunt-Knights Church.

J. C. Atkinson.

Baptismal Rites.

Where can I find an account of pre-Christian rites analogous to baptism ? And in what countries of the Old World have such rites been practised by non-Christians since the commencement of our era ?

M. P.

All Souls.

In what book is the best description of Asiatic festivals which are similar in significance to that of our European All Souls Day to be found ?

M. P.