o
have been personified as Jack, Gill, Joan, Will, or Robin,
indifferently, according as the supposed spirit of the lamp
seemed to the particular rustic mind to be a male or female
apparition." In Worcestershire it is called
"Hob-and-his-lanthorn," and "Hobany's" or "Hobnedy's Lanthorn."

[139] Mr. Ritson says that Milton "is frequently content to
pilfer a happy expression from Shakespeare--on this occasion,
'night-wanderer.'" He elsewhere calls it "the friar's lantern."

This appearance has given rise to a most extensive folk-lore, and is
embodied in many of the fairy legends and superstitions of this and
other countries. Thus, in Germany, Jack-o'-lanterns are said to be the
souls of unbaptized children, that have no rest in the grave, and must
hover between heaven and earth. In many places they are called
land-measurers, and are seen like figures of fire, running to and fro
with a red-hot measuring rod. These are said to be persons who have
falsely sworn away land, or fraudulently measured it, or removed
landmarks.[140] In the neighborhood of Magdeburg, they are known as
"Luechtemannekens;" and to cause them to appear, it is sufficient to
call out "Ninove, Ninove." In the South Altmark they are termed
"Dickepoten;" and if a person only prays as soon as he sees one, he
draws it to him; if he curses, it retires. In some parts, too, a popular
name is "Huckepoten," and "Tuckbolde." The Jack-o'-lanterns of
Denmark[141] are the spirits of unrighteous men, who, by a false
glimmer, seek to mislead the traveller, and to decoy him into bogs and
moors. The best safeguard against them, when they appear, is to turn
one's cap inside out. A similar notion occurs in Devonshire with regard
to the Pixies, who delight in leading astray such persons as they find
abroad after nightfall; the only remedy to escape them being to turn
some part of the dress. In Normandy these fires are called "Feux
Follets," and they are believed to be cruel spirits, whom it is
dangerous to encounter. Among the superstitions which prevail in
connection with them, two, says Mr. Thoms,[142] are deserving of notice:
"One is, that the _ignis fatuus_ is the spirit of some unhappy woman,
who is destined to run _en furolle_, to expiate her intrigues with a
minister of the church, and it is designated from that circumstance La
Fourlore, or La Fourolle." Another opinion is, that Le Feu Follet is the
soul of a priest, who has been cond