In Poitou also it
used to be customary on the Eve of St. John to trundle a blazing
wheel wrapt in straw over the fields to fertilise them.
In the mountainous part of Comminges, a province of Southern France,
the midsummer fire is made by splitting open the trunk of a tall
tree, stuffing the crevice with shavings, and igniting the whole. A
garland of flowers is fastened to the top of the tree, and at the
moment when the fire is lighted the man who was last married has to
climb up a ladder and bring the flowers down. In the flat parts of
the same district the materials of the midsummer bonfires consist of
fuel piled in the usual way; but they must be put together by men
who have been married since the last midsummer festival, and each of
these benedicts is obliged to lay a wreath of flowers on the top of
the pile.
In Provence the midsummer fires are still popular. Children go from
door to door begging for fuel, and they are seldom sent empty away.
Formerly the priest, the mayor, and the aldermen used to walk in
procession to the bonfire, and even deigned to light it; after which
the assembly marched thrice round the burning pile.
Pages:
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742
1743
1744
1745
1746
1747
1748
1749
1750
1751
1752
1753
1754
1755
1756
1757
1758
1759
1760