Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 9, 1898.djvu/43

Rh word is doubted; as we might say: "Will you swear to that?" If the challenge is accepted, the swearer takes three strides towards the altar, and with uplifted hand calls on the saint to strike him dead if what he has said is not true.

At Easter, boys formerly went from house to house, performing the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead; and the payment was invariably an egg from each householder—this only, I believe, among the Greeks.

The seventh son has peculiar power in charming away sickness, and writing effective spells.

The Jin not only guard wells and hidden treasure, but sometimes perform kindnesses to the poor and distressed, by multiplying their meal, or causing mills to grind extra-quickly. In these cases, they manifest themselves as old men of the mountains. In one case, a miller was aided in performing impossible tasks, such as carrying flour in a bottomless tub, and water in a bottomless pitcher, imposed upon him by an evil spirit, who was to have his soul if he failed.

If the foregoing notes have any merit, it is that all have been gleaned on the spot. None of the writings or travels of others have been put under requisition. Had they been, instances might have been multiplied, as, for instance, Dean Stanley's notice of broken sherds in the Ilex Groves. I have drawn no conclusions as to the origins, religious or ethnic, of any of the items collected. I trust that others may be able to make use of them in these directions, and that hints for future use may be given me, in case I return to the Lebanon, as is not improbable.