ioe on Christmas morning. The night of
St. John's Day is mentioned as the time when the horn now at Arendal was
obtained. The saint here referred to is probably St. John the
Evangelist, whose feast is on December the 27th. And in more than one
case the incident is connected with a marriage, which would be an
appropriate occasion for the propitiation of the household spirit. The
only instance presenting any difficulty is that of the cup at Kirk
Malew; and there the difficulty arises from the name of the saint to
whom the cup was apparently dedicated. Nor is it lessened by the number
of saints bearing the name of Lupus. The days on which these holy men
are respectively commemorated range through the calendar from January to
October; and until we know which of them was intended it is useless to
attempt an explanation. The question, however, is of small account in
the face of the probability called forth by the coincidences that
remain.

There is one other matter to which I would call attention, namely, that
while stories of the type discussed in the foregoing pages are common to
both Celts and Teutons, the stolen cup is exclusively a Teutonic
possession. More than that, no authentic record of the preservation of
the relic itself is found save in the homes and conquests of the
Scandinavian race. Is this to be accounted for by the late date of
Christianity, and, therefore, the more recent survival of heathen rites
among Teutonic, and especially Scandinavian, peoples?

FOOTNOTES:

[104] Girald. Cambr., l. i. c. 8.

[105] Davies, "Mythology," p. 155. Mr. Wirt Sikes quotes this story
without acknowledgment, stating that the legend, "varying but little in
phraseology, is current in the neighbourhood of a dozen different
mountain lakes." As if he had collected it himself! (Sikes, p. 45).
Compare an Eskimo story of a girl who, having acquired _angakok_ power,
visited the _ingnersuit_, or underground folk, "and received presents
from them; but while carrying them homewards the gifts were wafted out
of her hands and flew back to their first owners" (Rink, p. 460).

[106] Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 120, apparently quoting Harry's "Sagen,
Maerchen und Legenden Niedersachsens"; Sebillot, "Trad. et Sup." vol. i.
p. 115; "Zeits. f. Volksk." vol. ii. p. 415, quoting Vernaleken.

[107] Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 305, 306; "Choice Notes," p. 76.

[108] Niederhoeffer, vol. iv. p. 130; Bartsch, vol. i. p. 278; Thorpe,
vol. iii. p. 56, quoting