ale--the
surrender of the estate during the owner's lifetime. This is a
well-marked feature of early custom, and Du Chaillu has preserved
something like the survival of the ritual observances connected with
it in his account of the Scandinavian practice. On a visit to Husum he
witnessed the ceremonial which attended the immemorial custom of the
farm coming into possession of the eldest son, the father still being
alive. The following is Mr. Du Chaillu's description, and the details
are important: "The dinner being ready, all the members of the family
came in and seated themselves around the board, the father taking, as
is customary, the head of the table. All at once, Roar, who was not
seated, came to his father and said, 'Father, you are getting old; let
me take your place.' 'Oh, no, my son,' was the answer, 'I am not too
old to work; it is not yet time: wait awhile.' Then, with an
entreating look, Roar said, 'Oh, father, all your children and myself
are often sorry to see you look so tired when the day's labour is
over: the work of the farm is too much for you; it is time for you to
rest and do nothing. Rest in your old age. Oh, let me take your place
at the head of the table.' All the faces were now extremely sober, and
tears were seen in many eyes. 'Not yet, my son.' 'Oh, yes, father.'
Then said the whole family, 'Now it is time for you to rest.' He rose,
and Roar took his place, and was then the master. His father,
henceforth, would have nothing to do, was to live in a comfortable
house, and to receive yearly a stipulated amount of grain or flour,
potatoes, milk, cheese, butter, meat, etc."[91] Without stopping to
analyse this singular ceremony in detail, it is important to note that
old age is the assigned cause of resignation by the father of his
estate; that the ceremony is evidently based upon traditional forms,
the meaning of which is not distinctly comprehended by the present
performers; that the father is supported by his successor. As a proof
that we have here a survival of very ancient practice, it may be
noticed that in Spiti, a part of the Punjab, an exact parallel occurs.
There the father retires from the headship of the family when his
eldest son is of full age, and has taken unto himself a wife; on each
estate there is a kind of dower-house with a plot of land attached, to
which the father in these cases retires.[92] In Bavaria and in
Wuertemberg the same custom obtains,[93] and the sagas of the North