Dancing
began later, and the bystanders threw water on each other. At Ciotat,
while the fire was blazing, the young people plunged into the sea and
splashed each other vigorously. At Vitrolles they bathed in a pond in
order that they might not suffer from fever during the year, and at
Saintes-Maries they watered the horses to protect them from the
itch.[489] At Aix a nominal king, chosen from among the youth for his
skill in shooting at a popinjay, presided over the festival. He selected
his own officers, and escorted by a brilliant train marched to the
bonfire, kindled it, and was the first to dance round it. Next day he
distributed largesse to his followers. His reign lasted a year, during
which he enjoyed certain privileges. He was allowed to attend the mass
celebrated by the commander of the Knights of St. John on St. John's
Day: the right of hunting was accorded to him; and soldiers might not be
quartered in his house. At Marseilles also on this day one of the guilds
chose a king of the _badache_ or double axe; but it does not appear that
he kindled the bonfire, which is said to have been lighted with great
ceremony by the prefet and other authorities.[490]
[The Midsummer fires in Belgium; bonfires on St. Peter's Day in Brabant;
the King and Queen of the Roses; effigies burnt in the Midsummer fires.]
In Belgium the custom of kindling the midsummer bonfires has long
disappeared from the great cities, but it is still kept up in rural
districts and small towns of Brabant, Flanders, and Limburg.
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