362. The word which I have translated "weeds"
is in Esthonian _kaste-heinad_, in German _Thaugras_. Apparently it is
the name of a special kind of weed.
[447] Fr. Kreutzwald und H. Neus, _Mythische und Magische Lieder der
Ehsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1854), p. 62.
[448] J.B. Holzmayer, "Osiliana," _Verhandlungen der gelehrten
Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat_, vii. (1872) pp. 62 _sq._ Wiedemann
also observes that the sports in which young couples engage in the woods
on this evening are not always decorous (_Aus dem inneren und aeusseren
Leben der Ehsten_, p. 362).
[449] J.G. Kohl, _Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen_, ii. 447 _sq._
[450] J.G. Georgi, _Beschreibung aller Nationen des russischen Reichs_
(St. Petersburg, 1776), p. 36; August Freiherr von Haxthausen, _Studien
ueber die innere Zustaende das Volksleben und insbesondere die laendlichen
Einrichtungen Russlands_ (Hanover, 1847), i. 446 _sqq._
[451] Alfred de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de
France_ (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 19.
[452] It is notable that St. John is the only saint whose birthday the
Church celebrates with honours like those which she accords to the
nativity of Christ. Compare Edmond Doutte, _Magie et Religion dans
l'Afrique du Nord_ (Algiers, 1908), p. 571 note I.
[453] Bossuet, _Oeuvres_ (Versailles, 1815-1819), vi. 276 ("Catechisme
du diocese de Meaux"). His description of the superstitions is, in his
own words, as follows: "_Danser a l'entour du feu, jouer, faire des
festins, chanter des chansons deshonnetes, jeter des herbes par-dessus
le feu, en cueillir avant midi ou a jeun, en porter sur soi, les
conserver le long de l'annee, garder des tisons ou des charbons du feu,
et autres semblables.
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