Skulls : Chapter Eight Skulls In medieval churches, castles, and mansions where there is a parapet rising from the wall and obscuring a portion of the roof, this parapet is supported at intervals by corbels, that usually represent heads of either men or beasts, very frequently grotesque. These corbels are...
The Ancient Divinities : Chapter Four The Ancient Divinities We cannot expect to find reminiscences of the gods and goddesses of the primitive Silurian or Ivernian race that peopled Great Britain and Ireland, or even of the Celtic and Roman divinities, save in a most attenuated form. Even the saints of the Catholic Church...
Untitled : A BOOK OF FOLK-LORE. BY SABINE BARING-GOULD [1913] Title Page Preliminary The Spirit of Man The Body of Man The Ancient Divinities Sacrifice The Mystery of Death Fetches Skulls Pixies and Browies Birth and Marriage
Title Page : A BOOK OF FOLK-LORE. BY SABINE BARING-GOULD [b. 1834 D. 1924] London, Collins'-Clear-Type-Press [1913] Scanned And Redacted By Phillip Brown. Additional Formatting And Proofing By John B. Hare. This Text Is In The Public Domain. This File May Be Used For Any Non-commercial Purpose Provided This...
The Mystery Of Death : Chapter Six The Mystery of Death A few years ago I was planning a dolmen (in English usually, but incorrectly, called a cromlech) near Brives, in the department of Corrze, when the local antiquary, M. Philibert Lalande, informed me that it had been excavated, and on that occasion a curious fact...
The Spirit Of Man : Chapter Two The Spirit of Man There is a remarkable Arabian story called "Hai Ebn Yokdhan", written in Spain by Ebn Tophail. It is a philosophical romance, and relates how a child brought up by a nannygoat began to study the secrets of life. His nurse, the goat, died, and he wondered in wh...
Birth And Marriage : Chapter Ten Birth and Marriage I have mentioned elsewhere [a] the strong objection I found was entertained in Yorkshire against having a child baptised in a new font in a new church, the deeply--rooted conviction being that such a child became the perquisite of the devil. A like prejudice exists...
Preliminary : Chapter One Preliminary In the early days of exploration of prehistoric relics little care was bestowed on discriminating the several layers of deposit through which the spade cut, and what was found was thrown up into a common heap, and little account was taken as to the depths at which...
Pixies And Browies : Chapter Nine Pixies and Brownies In the year 1838, when I was a small boy of four years old, we were driving to Montpellier, on a hot summer day, over the long straight road that traverses a pebble and rubble strewn plain on which grows nothing save a few aromatic herbs. I was sitting on the box...
Sacrifice : Chapter Five Sacrifice In the year 1853, a farmer named J.S., in Meavy Parish, between Tavistock and Plymouth, a native of North Devon, lost a good many cattle and sheep, due probably to a change of pasture. He accordingly took a sheep to the top of Catesham Tor, killed and then burnt it...
Fetches : Chapter Seven Fetches In the infancy of man there were two phenomena that sorely perplexed him: his reflection in standing water, and his shadow. The universal ignorance of the most elementary laws of Nature goes far to explain the origin of many myths that were adopted as solutions of problems...
The Body Of Man : Chapter Three The Body of Man A friend, a judge in Ceylon, had to sentence a Cingalese to be hung for murder. The man, when sentence had been pronounced, glared at him and said: "It is well, and shortly after I shall be a dog and will bite and tear you." The doctrine of the Hindu as to the spirit...
