"Wassail the trees, that they may bear
You many a plum and many a pear;
For more or less fruit they will bring,
As you do them wassailing."Survivals of this kind show how tenaciously old superstitious rites
struggle for existence even when they have ceased to be recognised as
worthy of belief.
Footnotes:
- "Outlines of Primitive Belief," 1882, p. 54. 2. "Tree and Serpent Worship." 3. See
Sir John Lubbock's "Origin of Civilisation," pp. 192-8. 4. Fortnightly Review, "The
Worship of Animals and Plants," 1870,vii. 213. 5. Ibid., 1869, vi. 408. 6. "Principles of
Sociology," 1885, i. p. 359. - "The Origin of Civilisation and Primitive Condition of Man." 8. Quarterly Review,
cxiv. 212. 9. Keary's "Primitive Brlief," pp. 332-3; Edinburgh Review, cxxx.488-9. 10.
"Du Culte des Dieux Fetiches," p. 169. 11. "Primitive Belief," pp. 332-3. 12.
Fergusson's "Tree and Serpent Worship," p. 16. 13. cxxx. 492; see Tacitus' "Germania,"
ix. 14. See Edinburgh Review, cxxx. 490-1. 15. Edinburgh Review, cxxx. 491. 16. Mr.
Fergusson's "Tree and Serpent Worship." See Edinburgh Review, cxxx. 498. 17. See
Lewin's "Hill Tracts of Chittagong," p. 10. 18. Cornhill Magazine, November 1872, p.
- An important tribe in Central India. 20. See Sherring's "Sacred City of the
Hindus," 1868, p. 89. 21. Dorman's "Primitive Superstitions," p. 291. 22. See
"Researches in Geology and Natural History," p. 79. 23. "Anahuac," 215, 265. 24.
Dorman's "Primitive Superstitions." p. 292. 25. "Journeys to the Polar Sea." i. 221. 26.
"The Origin of Civilisation." 27. "Songs of the Russian People." p. 219. 28. Ibid., p. 238. 29.
See my "British Popular Customs." p. 21.
- An important tribe in Central India. 20. See Sherring's "Sacred City of the