h, a large fire
is kindled upon it; and the rest of the cattle are driven out, and
forced to pass through the fire one by one."[793] In this latter custom
we may suspect that the fire kindled on the grave of the buried cow was
originally made by the friction of wood, in other words, that it was a
need-fire. Again, writing in the year 1862, Sir Arthur Mitchell tells us
that "for the cure of the murrain in cattle, one of the herd is still
sacrificed for the good of the whole. This is done by burying it alive.
I am assured that within the last ten years such a barbarism occurred in
the county of Moray."[794]

[Calves killed and buried to save the rest of the herd.]

Sometimes, however, the animal has not even been buried alive, it has
been merely killed and then buried. In this emasculated form the
sacrifice, we may say with confidence, is absolutely useless for the
purpose of stopping a murrain. Nevertheless, it has been tried. Thus in
Lincolnshire, when the cattle plague was so prevalent in 1866, there
was, I believe, not a single cowshed in Marshland but had its wicken
cross over the door; and other charms more powerful than this were in
some cases resorted to. I never heard of the use of the needfire in the
Marsh, though it was, I believe, used on the wolds not many miles off.
But I knew of at least one case in which a calf was killed and solemnly
buried feet pointing upwards at the threshold of the cowshed. When our
garthman told me of this, I pointed out to him that the charm had
failed, for the disease had not spared that shed. But he promptly
replied, "Yis, but owd Edwards were a soight too cliver; he were that
mean he slew nobbutt a wankling cauf as were bound to deny anny road; if
he had nobbutt tekken his best cauf it wud hev worked reight enuff;
'tain't in reason that owd skrat 'ud be hanselled wi' wankling
draffle."[795]

Notes:

[262] See Jacob Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_*[4] (Berlin, 1875-1878), i.
502, 510, 516.

[263] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer
Nachbarstaemme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 518 _sq._

[264] In the following survey of these fire-customs I follow chiefly W.
Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus_, kap. vi. pp. 497 _sqq._ Compare also J.
Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,*[4] i. 500 _sqq._; Walter E. Kelly,
_Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore_ (London, 1863),
pp. 46 _sqq._; F. Vogt, "Scheibentreiben und Fruehlingsfeuer,"
_Zeitschrift des Vereins fuer Volkskunde_, iii.