Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 2 1884.djvu/326

 318 NOTES AND QUERIES.

replaced the old one which had become rotten and tottering. Thus it is in the old succession, and not merely a new whim. Many of the people remember the day when the old customs of dancing round the pole, climbing it when greased, and other games were in full vigour. Wellow and the neighbourhood is famous for the age which its inhabitants attain, as well as for the fact that it is in close proximity to Sherwood Forest, with its wealth of traditionary and historic lore. I am told that a Maypole also stood, not many years ago, at another Tillage called Famsfield, only a few miles distant, situated near the cathedral town of Southwell, but this had never been replaced. I should be glad to know if a list of standing village Maypoles has ever been drawn up, and, if not, whether Members would kindly supply reliable information on the subject. Hilderic Friend.

Worksop.

Some Chinese Superstitions. By the Rev. J. E. Walker, Shan- Wu, China. — In China every Foo city is supposed to have two pagodas. In the city of Foo-chow one of the pagodas is situated about a quarter of a mile to the north-east, and the other as far to the' north-west, of the south gate. I once asked a coolie what these pagodas were for ; he answered, " To pin down the loong. In the ground," he said, " is a loong ^ or dragon, and if he were not pinned down he might move about, and give rise to prodigies." I put the same question to a literary man, and he replied, " They are the homes of the loong ; and," he continued, " the two wells just inside the south gate are his eyes, while the two moats outside the gate are his feelers or whiskers." The loong^ or dragon, as it is commonly translated, is to the Chinese nation all that the eagle is to us, and a great deal more. It is a mysterious, fabulous creature — in many respects like the dragon of Western fables, but far surpassing it. Not only supernatural, but almost divine qualities are attributed to it. It is intimately associated with many of the mo«t ancient superstitions of China ; among these is the foong-shooy or wind-water superstition. Foong-shooy concerns the shape and location of cities, houses, roads, canals, groves, graves, &c., with a view to warding off evil and seciu*ing good fortune. In very ancient times it may have referred simply to a proper regard for wind and water in selecting sites, but at the present