herald the approach of the lady
with her oxen. It was, and still is (though in decreasing force), the
custom for large numbers of people to make a pilgrimage to witness the
phenomenon; and it is said that the lady herself appears in mermaid form
upon the surface, and combs her tresses. I have little doubt that in
this superstition we have the relic of a religious festival in honour of
an archaic divinity whose abode was in the lake. She has, perhaps, only
escaped being an enchanted princess by being a Welsh rather than a
German goddess. If the mermaid form be of genuine antiquity,--about
which I confess to a lurking suspicion,--it is another bond with the
Scottish stories, with Melusina and with Derceto.[239]

We have now considered the principal points of the myth. The
feather-robe, or skin, we found absent from all its more archaic
examples. There, no change of form occurs, or when it does occur it is
accomplished by simple transformation. When present, the robe is a mere
symbol of the lady's superhuman nature, or else the result of
enchantment. These are more recent types, and are all, or nearly all,
_maerchen_. In the later sagas, such as those of Melusina and the Lady of
the Van Pool, it is again absent; though relics of the change of form
frequently remain.

Capture of the Swan-maiden proper is effected by theft of her robe: in
other types either by main force, or more frequently with her consent,
more or less willingly given, or by her own initiative.

We then passed to the more important subject of the taboo. The taboo,
strictly speaking, only appears where the peltry is absent. Several of
its forms correspond with rules of antique etiquette. Others recall
special points connected with savage life, such as the dislike of iron
and steel, and the prejudice against the mention of a personal name.
Other prohibitions are against reproaching the wife with her origin,
against reminding her of her former condition, or against questioning
her conduct or crossing her will. But whether the taboo be present or
absent, the loss of the wife is equally inevitable, equally foreseen
from the beginning. It is the doom of the connection between a simple
man and a superhuman female. Even where the feather-robe is absent the
taboo is not always found. Among savages the marriage-bond is often very
loose: notably in the more backward races. And among these the
superhuman wife's excuse for flight is simpler; and sometimes it is only