Wn' MM 1»*»I M Tf» l,fli,i M I****WtJ' i.|.|.|.|.i-iTFFr l-l-l-l-l i.|.|,|.|.|.|.|.i.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.|.r nhi ittit HHHH t*^ ' ') ",^" ^ * " ■ W*f*»— **w ^ ' ■If BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF iienrg W. Sage 1S91 .../L./JM.Z//A Sa/^JI. - -:. The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924007896297 Gr ^ ffih^ c#0lli- f, i f. /, J I, /. 1 1 / I /^./^VA^;2. PREFACE Readers of this Essay may think that its construction neglects the order of history. Instead of proceeding from ancient to modern times, we deal first with the present and find our way back to the remote past. Probably this is the best, because the most natural, and also the most logical, method of dealing with the subject in question. Having observed a remarkable custom, and heard current comments on it, our reflection upon the patent facts leads to question- ing. The life of the person celebrated must be our first concern. We should then inquire into the meaning of other ceremonies which history shows were of the same nature as our observance. After dealing with these, and with such parentage as they seem to disclose, we may notice any parallel which appears between them all, and primeval cus- toms. And if we find records of ceremonies anciently observed at the place where the modern custom is followed, we must inquire into these. The further we look back from the firm position of the present, the less likely is our view to catch traces of an explanation. But rustic rites of little account to our modern social life may be the means of elucidating customs which cannot at once be fully explained. I request the reader, not indeed to favour the following discussion with any kindness or indulgence (for in questions of true inter- pretation no such attitude is desirable), but to carefully weigh the facts laid before him, and the suggestions made towards their explanation. Though method and argument must rely for acceptance vi Preface on their own inherent strength, yet kindness is not out of place if shown to an inquirer. I ask this from the reader in regard to any faults of presentation or of arrangement, and cordially acknowledge it from those to whom I have already submitted the Essay. Criticisms and suggestions of great value have been made by Messrs. Alfred Nutt, E. S. Hartland, and W. H. D. Rouse, who read the manuscript on behalf of the Folk-Lore Society. To them, and to the Society for undertaking its issue, my sincere thanks are due, and are given. To avoid error, as far as possible, in a pas- sage from the Eugubine Tables (which forms an Appendix), an early proof of this, with the whole work, was submitted to Professor R. S. Conway. His important criticisms have rendered the Appendix more secure, and the arguments which are based on it in the Essay itself both wider and less ven- turesome than they were at first. I wish to thank him heartily for his sound advice, and for his information on various points of the obscure Umbrian language. But neither is he, nor are the gentlemen before named, in the least responsible for the rendering referred to, or for any part of the discussion. My hearty thanks are also offered to Signor Dino Massai, of the National Library in Florence, and to Professor Reggiani of Gubbio, for help in the course of the inquiry ; also to the First Captain and the Ceraioli, as well as to all Eugubines indeed, for much kindness and information freely given to the English visitor. I earnestly wish this little book may fall into the hands of a traveller whose name I do not know, who, at a table- d'hdte at Milan late in 1894, first mentioned to me the enthusiastic May festival at Gubbio, and exhorted me to see it. I venture to hope the description in the first chapter may faintly recall the interest of those striking scenes ; but still more, that this word of thanks may reach the person to whom it is very certainly due. HERBERT M. BOWER. TABLE OF CONTENTS THE CEREMONIES PAGE Gubbio — Its situation and antiquity — The Eugubine Tables — May-Festival — The Three Ceri — The Saints — Ceraioli — Guilds — Pranzo — Wine — Elevation of the Ceri — Captain — Hatchet-bearer — Revolutions of the Ceri Withershins — Speedy visits in the Town — Stationing the Ceri — Episcopal Procession — The Piazza and great Bell — Ceremony at meet- ing the Ceri — The Procession of the Ceri — Their circuits on the Piazza — Climbing Monte Ingino to the Monastery — Final Circuits — Devotion to Sant Ubaldo — Fires — The Fair 1-18 II SANT UBALDO OF GUBBIO Inquiry as to S. Ubaldo, Patron of Gubbio — The " Acta Sanc- torum " — Family, birth, and character — Bishop of Gubbio — Clemency to a builder — Quelling a tumult — Wondrous cures — The war against Eleven Cities — Conciliation of Bar- barossa — Afflictions of Ubaldo — Death — Whitsuntide — Pacifications — Miracles at bier — Local rejoicing — Forts on the Hill — Ubaldo's Canonization — Translation — Monas- tery — Stefanoof Cremona — Attention to the Cultus of Ubaldo in the Sixteenth Century — The thumb-joint — Oliverio's assiduity and exorcisms — Abstract of Ubaldo's posthumous miracles — Their comprehensive range .... 19-38 viii Contents III ANALYSIS OF THE FOREGOING MATERIALS PAGE Ubaldo's qualifications for Sainthood— Death-day metaphori- cally a Birth-day— Conflict with Evil Spirits— Protection of Gubbio— Generous nature of Ubaldo, and of the alleged miracles as a whole — Some grotesque punishments in support of his posthumous dignity — Saint-invocation — Demigods, heroes, genii— Divus Prsesul — Adoration — The Ceri celebra- tions countenanced by the Church, but not part of her own Service — Triads and the number Three — Division of the Ceremonies into two parts — Special remarks on the Cero itself— The names Iguvium, Ingino 39-49 IV THE WOODEN CERO OF THE MIDDLE AGES AND ITS PARENTAGE Artificial light in Christian Worship — Ceri used in honour of Saints — The Cero Pasquale — Tablets — Incense-cones — Symbolism — Fire-rites and wax — February and Candlemas — Current explanations of the Ceri — Lustrations — Ceres — The Carroccio and Antenna or Albero — Association of such half-military, half-religious objects with Ceri in the old Flo- rentine Summer Processions — The elaborate turning Cero of Florence — Periodically renewed freedom of Contadini — The Summer Giants of Flanders — Teutonic processions with covered images — Gods' waggons — Tree-worship — Kinship of the Eugubine and Florentine observances — Wax-tribute — Rivalry between Christian and Pagan Fire- observances — Ubaldo's Pedestal — The First Captain — Annual office — Contestabile — Intercalary government — Military Bodies at Summer Festivals — Mock kings, &c. — Column of May, Standard of Justice, and National Assembly — Value of Brand's " Antiquities " in Ellis's edition — Definite parentage for the Cero still wanting .... 50-69 Contents ix V MAY AND SUMMER TREE-FESTIVALS PAGE Maypole — Jack-in-the-Green — Species of Magic — Fancied power of Tree-Spirits — Various instances of Popular Custom detailed ; including water-charm and human representation of the Tree-Spirit — Survival of Tree- Worship far into Chris- tian times — Tree- Worship still widely spread over the Pagan world — Ancient Tree- Worship of Aryan Nations— Points of comparison between Tree-Festivals and the Ceri celebra- tions at Gubbio — Trede's description of the Nola Summer Festival, with colossal " Lilies " in honour of S. Paulinus — Bacchus — Comparison of these Lilies or Towers with the Ceri of Florence and Gubbio — The Cero of Gubbio probably an old Tree-Emblem 70-84 VI THE GREGORIAN METHOD Bacchus, Dionysus, and Tree-Worship— Some representations of Dionysus exemplify the transition from vague Nature Spirits to Anthropomorphic Gods, and suggest an explanation for the covering of Teutonic Images— Some of Mr. Frazer's conclusions regarding the Primitive Worship of the Aryans — Assimilation of old Characteristics by a new Religion sometimes a conscious and deliberate act— The method of Gregory the Great and earlier namesakes — Results of the method — Its appropriateness in such a case as the transi- tion from a Tree-Emblem to the Cero of Gubbio . . 85-96 VII THE TRIAD OF THE IGUVINE LUSTRATION Doubtful nature of evidence as to the Cero in pre-Christian times— The Eugubine Tables— The Lustration of the People —Mars, Martius, Cerfus, Kerri, Cer, Kri, Cerus, Ceres, and Cerrus— Cero and popular Etymology— The Cerfus Triad Contents PAGE — Evidence as to the season of their special invocation — May, Whitsuntide, Rogations — Comparison of the Ancient Lustration with the Modern Ceremonies — Possible use of Prototypes of the Ceri themselves — Attributes of the Ancient Triad compared with those of the Modern Saints — Further evidence of the Tables as to sacrifice of a Sheep and construction of the Lectica — General remarks on the evidence — Note as to Viterbo ..... 97-1 16 VIII COI^CLUSION The probabilities disclosed by the whole inquiry — Survival of very Ancient Tree-Emblems in the Ceri at Gubbio — The Captain — Ancient Liberties — Axe — Wine — Terminal Stations — Water — Popular Lustration — Subsidiary com- parisons : — Gang-flower, " Cyric scot," speed and noise, Salii, the Hill, annual representation of Death, the With- ershins turn. Species of Magic practised in Maytime — Christian and Attidian modification of Country Customs — The Cerfus Triad — Reflections on the survival of primitive ideas 117-131 APPENDIX TUB ANCIENT LUSTRATION OF THE IGUVINE PEOPLE Taken from Tables VI. and VIL — Translation based on the Latin versions of Br&l and Biicheler .... 132-140 Index 141-146 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS No. I. Scene in Gubbio II. The Three Ceri III. Part of the Ecclesiastical Procession IV. A Group of Ceraioli .... V. Small Models by Magni . VI. Catafalque of a Pope (Picart) . VI I. S. Ubaldo Ves. e COn. {from a woodcut) ■VIII. Monte Ingino from the Plain IX. The Ceri on the Piazza (Antonigli) X. Scenes on Monte Ingino . XI. Sketch Plan of Gubbio Before page I To face page 4 )j „ 12 J) „ 46 Yi „ 50 )J ., 52 )) » 92 )» » 10° JJ „ 116 71 .. 130 )» » 140 Number I, Scene in the Streets of Gubbio. 15 May, i8g6. Number I. Scene in the Streets of Gubbio. 15 May, 1896. THE ELEVATION AND PROCESSION OF THE CERI AT GUBBIO I THE CEREMONIES On the western slope of Monte Ingino, a minor eminence connected with the Central Apennines, stands the town of Gubbio, whose history goes back to the dim ages of fable, and is lost among dark diluvial waves. For Gubbio is said to have been one of the first five cities built in Italy after the Flood. It may be supposed that a town which, despite the assaults of war and the divers political transmutations of so long a period, still flourishes, will retain some traces, whether in architecture or in the customs of the people, characteristic of at least remote times. And indeed the buildings themselves bear witness to the mediaeval great- ness of this walled city, as do some ruins in the plain close by to its magnificence in the great days of Rome. With that mighty Republic Iguvium was allied in friendship (not by conquest) when her citizens were incorporated into the tribe Clustumina. But there remain at Gubbio indications of a still more remote antiquity and a more interesting char- acter than even the ramparts, the palaces, and the crumbling theatre present. The famous Eugubine Tables, about which a whole literature exists, are preserved in the Municipio ; and, if we may rely on the authority of recent scholarship, these documents of bronze were written out for an act or record A 2 Elevation and Procession of the Cert. confirmatory of very old observances, in the attempt to save from disintegration an already decaying religion. Two of these Tables, conventionally numbered VI. and VII., set out in the ancient speech of the Umbrians an elaborate Liturgy for no less than eight ancient ceremonies of a sacri- ficial kind. These were prescribed for the lustration and purification of both place and people. The sacrifices and processions there ordered were, without doubt, connected with ancient custom ; and the ritual was kept up, or more precisely defined, by a great sacerdotal corporation called the Attidian Brotherhood. It has been thought that not only did the Umbrian nation regard the city as its religious centre, and repair hither for periodical observances, but that the neighbouring Etruscans also acknowledged the supreme sanctity of some celebrations -performed here. Though the worship of the classic gods has, at Gubbio as elsewhere, long since yielded to the Christian religion ; though even the temple of Apennine Jove, on the neighbouring heights of Scheggia, is shrunk to a handful of stones, there is observed in the town, and honoured by bonfires in the country, a curious local ceremony, which annually arouses the enthusiasm of the whole population. As to its origin, the opinion of the townsfolk is divided. Some say it is of Christian birth, others suspect that it survives, though in altered guise, from an old Pagan festival. The advocates of the former opinion point to two events in the life of their great bishop and saint, Ubaldo Baldassini, the anni- versary of whose death in 1160 the observance apparently distinguishes; while the latter view may possibly be sup- ported by some peculiar features in the ceremonj' itself. Whichever is correct, there is no doubt as to the devoted affection felt to-day by Eugubines for Sant Ubaldo, their gentle, wise, and sturdy hero : a sentiment which cannot but captivate a stranger who accompanies in its gyrations the impetuous annual procession of the Ceri. It is remarkable that, though from a distance one may The Ceremonies. 3 hear of the festival, or rather the Vigil, of "Sant Ubaldo," or simply of the picturesque procession in May from Gubbio to the " Franciscan Monastery " on the hill ; yet at Gubbio itself the 15th of May is known as the day of the " Cerir The meaning of the term is not quite simple. The Ceri of Gubbio bear no obvious resemblance to wax-lights, though the word suggests such a meaning, and has also been used to designate lofty wooden candles. However, if we are disposed, without further thought, to decisively affirm they can only be rude figures of the female "Ceres," we must pause at least one moment to reflect that " Cero " is mas- culine, and may also mean a "blockhead." In the years 1895 and 1896 I visited Gubbio at the time of the May •Festival, and took notes of what I saw and heard. Almost every point in the following account was observed with my own eyes, but some few lacunm and doubtful details have been supplied from inquiry. In the latter year, being favoured with a seat at the mid-day table of the Prima Capitano, the earlier part of the celebration was perforce less fully observed ; but I was compensated by conversa- tion on the subject, and by the opportunity; of becoming acquainted with a poem wherein one of the local clergy has described the scene. That vivacious " Polimetro " was read aloud by its author with admirable spirit. It well depicts the proceedings of the Ceraioli, though I cannot say I recognised in their actual cries the refrain — " Viva Ubaldo d'Iguvio il Pastor Viva il Cero vessillo d'onor ; " or the hymn quoted — " O lume della fede Delia chiesa splendore Sostegno d'ogni cuore Ubaldo Santo." ' 1 The printed poem is from the press of S. Lapi, of Citta di Castello, and dated 1886. The name is " I Ceri Eugubini." 4 Elevation and Procession of the Cert. The poet is, however, by no means didactic as to the origin of the Cero, but admits a doubt among several theories. One is that the Cero springs from the war-chariot or ensign of some famous Milanese leader named Agobio, who, " while faith still lived," associated the Infula with the Sword. A second opinion, he says, is that, as the symbol of hard- won palms, it was annually dragged forth in the month of flowers in gratitude to "divo Ubaldo," through whom the people's hearts were kept safe in virtue ; and that, observing ■ a lofty and pious usage, they exhibited it as a trophy in every street. He mentions a third view, that the Cero was a remnant of some old Pagan rite, sacred to Ceres, and observed by the whole population of Gubbio; but that after such custom was done away by Christian pastors, the ceremony was turned to honour of the true Deity. However that may be, it is declared in the introductory verses, that nowadays the people of Gubbio do not consider due respect is shown to Ubaldo, their Protector, unless the Ceri go forth through the streets. The visitor may be perhaps aroused on the 15th of May about 5 A.M. by a loud reveille beaten on a drum outside his lodging, if it be known to the kindly Eugubines that he is interested in their festival. On walking forth, he should accept the services of a guide, and inspect one or other of the Ceri. They are three wooden pedestals whereon about mid-day three saintly figures will be fixed and raised high in air. The Cero of Ubaldo slightly differs from the other two. It is about twelve feet long, pointed at both ends. At half its length, also, it is reduced nearly to a point, and thus it forms an upper and a lower lobe. Each half is nearly square in section, a cylindrical form being discernible, with corners or edges added. It is about eighteen inches across, and hollow, made of wood, and covered with oiled canvas of a tawny-yellow colour, painted in arabesque with sprays of verdure, and furnished with two slight handrails, one at each side, parallel with the axis. There are some Number It. The three Ceri, in the Via Savelli (formerly Delle Fonti), AT GuBBio, 15 May, 1896. The Ceremonies. 5 yellow tinsel flags temporarily affixed to the Cero; these get much damaged or broken oflf in the wild procession of the day. Another minute feature appears in photographs I took after the Ceri were raised, which, as it is not recorded among my memoranda, apparently I did not specially note at the time. This is a small crossbar near the top of the obelisk, nmning from back to front, and bearing a circular decoration with rays, like a tiny sun or star. It is quite perceptible, at least upon Sant Ubaldo's Cero in the photo- graph. Of the three great saints who come out to-day, Sant Ubaldo is the marked favourite at Gubbio. His Cero is more elaborately decorated than those of Sant Antonio and San Giorgio. Sant Ubaldo's pedestal was repaired or new made in 1883. Peeping from the painted arabesque appear in one or two places grotesque human heads. But, more conspicuously emblazoned on the sides, are the arms of the " Muratori" and of the Municipio, as well as those of different quarters or regions of the city (Sant Andrea, San Pietro, San Martino, and San Giuliano). Each Cero has, at the bottom, a stout projecting butt with a slot in it, wherewith it can be firmly fixed at right angles to a heavy horizontal Barella or stretcher. The Barella, which will thus receive and support the Cero, consists of a very strong wooden frame borne by two ponderous shafts, one at each side. When all is fitted together, the Barella with its remarkably tall burden will be raised on the shoulders of ten or more bearers, and so carried forth on its impetuous career. As one passes this morning through the picturesque streets, one cannot fail to notice small groups of men curi- ously dressed in a sort of uniform. These are the Ceraioli, or bearers of the Ceri. Though their garb somewhat varies, the order of dress followed by the neatest, or those best able to afford it, consists of white trousers, a white or a red shirt, and a long coloured sash passing several times round the loins. The head-dress is something like a Turkish Z^^', or a 6 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. Neapolitan red cap, with a long string and tassel reaching nearly to the waist. These men are mostly young and athletic, and all move about with a hurrying gait and alert mien, betokening some lively business in prospect. Several have apparently come in from the country. They carry little bundles, consisting generally of a plate inside a hand- kerchief, which one sees later in the day in charge of their sisters, their sweethearts, or their wives. These bundles will be filled with fragments from the "Tavole," where the Ceraioli are regaled with food and wine. They have the acknowledged privilege of taking from the table victuals for their households, besides eating what they choose for them- selves. Those Ceraioli who will actually carry the burden are free of the table, but those who are only to hold the steadying guy-ropes must pay five lire for the privilege of attending this feast. Though to-day is a Vigil, one highly important part of the proceedings consists in these meals taken by the Ceraioli. They are laid out on tables in different houses. Theoreti- cally the bearers are banded together, and eat together by corps or sections. The modern organization is said to be incomplete ; but a distinct feature of it, whether perfectly or imperfectly observed, is the division of the Ceraioli into three bodies, corresponding at once with the three Saints whose procession distinguishes the occasion, and with three ancient guilds. For the great Sant Ubaldo, the special Patron of Gubbio, has one company of bearers, the " Muratori," or Masons. San Giorgio again protects, and is carried by the " Negozianti," or Traders. Sant Antonio is the natural friend and particular care of the " Contadini " or Country-men. The arrangements for the Pranzo are elaborate. So nume- rous are the Ceraioli and the guests, that even a large and crowded hospitality of private houses would not suffice. In 1 896, for instance, there were a first and a second Tavola for Sant Ubaldo, laid out in separate houses. Each of these had also an image of the Saint set up amid decorations over The Ceremonies. 7 a tiny table separate from the tables used for actual food, and exactly like a temporary altar. The Tavole for San Giorgio and Sant Antonio were combined in the great hall of the Orfanotrofio, where were to be entertained over a hundred Ceraioli. Here all three Saints were represented by images of them, placed side by side upon a sort of altar or separate table at the head of the great room. At each end of that structure was reared one of the great Ceri — of San Giorgio and Sant Antonio. These two Ceri are painted more plainly than that of Sant Ubaldo, in simple arabesque. The effect of the whole was interesting and even imposing. One or two supplementary Tavole, in other houses, I did not visit. The principal Tavola of Sant Ubaldo, given by the First Captain, accommodates a great number of Ceraioli sitting together in their coloured attire, and also the more con- siderable guests. The Bishop is the chief guest, and, occasionally at least, presides. The Syndic of the town, some cathedral canons, a military officer, a notable tenor singer, an Italian marquis, may be found among the others. At each plate is regularly laid a bunch of flowers. None but men sit down, though the master and mistress of the house lent for the occasion, as well as many other people of both sexes, wait attentively at table. The scene is very pictur- esque, and indeed many persons come in as spectators. In 1896 the new Bishop said a long grace, and made a short speech before sitting down ; his well-chosen words showing that he understood the strength of the civic feeling at Gubbio, and of the devotion to Sant Ubaldo. The day is an ecclesiastical Vigil, and the food is of magro character. One dish is a regular institution, namely, a risotto with boiled pease and small cuttlefish. The host is in duty bound to supply this dish at the Pranzo del Cero. It is followed by fish courses in endless succession and variety of dressing. Every now and then an enthusiast among the Ceraioli will vociferously exclaim " Evviva Sant 8 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. Ubaldo ! " or some other inspiration, immediately greeted with exuberant cheering. The wine of the country, which is both light and excellent, is freely distributed. One of my informants indeed (while speaking of the ceremony as of some unexplained though beloved custom) told me in deprecatory phrase that the wine furnishes the vigour of the Ceraioli. The arduous work of the day, however, whether or not the observance itself have any Bacchic aspect, is capable of no mere toper's explanation. For the duties of these bearers are discharged with an amazing energy and endurance, which the juice of the grape may indeed stimu- late, but can never create. Spirit of another kind, enthu- siasm of a finer quality, together with much bone and muscle, are needed for the dashing speed and obstinate persistency wherewith those great burdens, the Ceri, are moved over the steep streets of Gubbio and the hillside of Ingino. In the midst of the feasting and jubilation which distinguish the chief Pranzo of Ubaldo, a sudden stir is made near the windows. Something has happened out- side, and the eager spectators gaze out with wonder and delight to see San Giorgio carried high on his Cero and Barella as fast as sturdy bearers can run along the street. The " Elevation of the Ceri " has evidently begun with this mercurial and ubiquitous Saint. Sant Ubaldo himself appa- rently prefers to come on the scene with the greater dignity of a little delay. However this may be, the Ceraioli of Sant Ubaldo now rush from the room with Italian impe- tuosity, and display much activity outside. The trea- sured Cero for the patron saint is hauled from a shed or warehouse close by, and the great Barella is adjusted, this being now put into a vertical position to bring it to a right angle with the prone Cero. In 1895, one man was very conspicuous, mounted on an edge of the Barella, and using such superintendence and control as a vociferous Italian crowd can allow. There was a vast amount of needless advice and indignant protest ; though all seemed The Ceremonies. 9 to regard " Garibaldi " as their foreman. He subsequently steered the course of the Cero, moving between the shafts with a hand on each. Such seemed to be the duties per- formed by a Capo died, or " leader of ten," in the organization of these bearers. At last, the butt of the Cero being properly adjusted, a stout plug of iron is triumphantly driven in. Meanwhile the figure of the Saint has been brought down from the banqueting room, and affixed to the other, or upper end of the Cero. No one apparently objects to this being done in the open street. Poor Sant Ubaldo is horizontal for some considerable time, his robes hanging dishevelled, and his blessing hand extended, in peaceful indifference to the din. At last all are satisfied that the Saint's feet are duly fixed. The Barella is brought down parallel to the ground, and borne on the men's shoulders, swinging up the image, so that the Saint's head is some eighteen feet in air. At the same moment a vessel of water is emptied over the Cero and thrown away. The Cero is thus duly elevated amid the shouts of the people. The team of bearers consists of eight or ten men. But very many more are needed for each Saint, to furnish reliefs. And indeed many citizens, in their ordinary attire, readily lend their strength when necessary; some of the bearers thus finding subsidiary helpers who support their outer shoulders. Some also run as flankers, holding the ends of guy-ropes, which are attached to the great pedestal, to steady it and keep it well forward. The whole cortege always moves at a dashing double or run ; never at a walk, except where some unusual steepness of the road makes the quicker pace absolutely impossible. But the ceremony of elevating the Ceri is by no means completed with the mere raising and carrying away of these strange structures. A procession is formed about the, hour of noon, and headed by a captain with a drawn sword. Another man, whose shirt is red, also moves ahead of the lo Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. Cero, and carries in his hand a hatchet covered with a white cloth. Thus is formed the escort for the Cero of Sant Ubaldo, a considerable crowd attending also. The pro- cessions of the three saints are not yet massed together, but, at this period of the day, they make visits in the town independently. No sooner is Sant Ubaldo's party in order, than the Cero, with his Image upon it, is moved round quickly at least three times, revolving as nearly as possible on its own axis. This apparently is done (for all the world as if either Cero or Saint were some living thing) by way of salutation or blessing to the house he has been temporarily lodged in, or any other notable one. I could not help remarking that the gyration, repeated very many times throughout the day, is always withershins: that is, left about, or opposite to the way of the sun ; though the official course of the Ceri, when massed together for their great Procession through the city, is (unlike that of the ecclesi- astics) from south round by west to north, and so east ; that is with the sun, or in continuation of his right-handed path. After the first house has been duly honoured, the Cero dashes off to another close by, where the same salutation takes place. A great number of houses are similarly visited, the journeys between being made at a high speed, the captain shouting and waving his sword. Indeed all the people shout constantly all manner of diverse advice, which always culminates in the loud and unanimous cry, " Via, via ! " as the Cero starts off from one halting-place to another. Upon passing each of the houses entitled to the favour (which I am told can be secured by presenting a tub of wine), the Saint on his Cero is rapidly turned round and round withershins, generally three times, but in some cases only once.^ This turning round is a very cumbrous manoeuvre, as the whole team must circle round with the ungainly Barella, which, when moved crosswise in a moderately narrow ■' An excessive importance must not be attributed to the threefold turn. The number is variable ; and I believe it occasionally amounts to four. The Ceremonies. 1 1 street, occupies a great part of its width. In 1895 at least one house received the particular honour of a bow from the Saint, or from the Cero, the fore-end of the Barella being inclined downwards. And the people at the windows of several houses where the Cero stopped threw down green twigs and some flowers. After many tumultuous rushes interrupted only by these compliments, the crew make a prolonged halt and drink white wine; then renew their hurried and vociferous progress till indeed a large part of the town has received their visit. At last this Cero of Sant Ubaldo is carefully deposited in the Via Savelli della Porta, the old "Via delle Fonti." Here are set up in order the three Ceri, after their wild and independent rushes through the town. Sant Antonio stands in rear, San Giorgio next, and Sant Ubaldo in front, all facing towards the crossing of the Via Dante. The guy-ropes are fastened to opportune window bars, and thus are the Ceri secured from falling sideways. The urchins climb about them, slap the hollow structures with their hands, whistle loudly, and show all signs of intense enjoyment. During a considerable interval of time the bearers are to refresh themselves with the third meal of the day. This, as well as the first, appears to be much less formally taken than the important Pranzo, or mid-day meal. The Ceraioli now march about the streets in several bands, singing songs which do not sound very solemn. The next event of importance wears a much graver aspect than the boisterous scenes just witnessed, and sets the mind wondering again and again as to the origin of the whole celebration. Whatever festivities may take place, this anniversary is still the Eve or Vigil of Ubaldo, Saint and Pastor, as well as Hero. The present Bishop attends Vespers at the Cathedral, and afterwards, towards seven in the evening, will proceed through the town. A large picture of the Saint is brought up the steep streets, from some other church, to the vicinity of the high-perched Cathe- 1 2 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. dral, and put into a frame, ready to take an honourable post in the intended Ecclesiastical Procession. This Procession has to skirt the great central square of Gubbio, called the Piazza della Signoria, one of the most quaintly striking in Italy. The northern end of it is bounded by the handsome fourteenth-century Palazzo dei Consoh, whose steps to-day are crowded with people, as the big bell fills the air with magnificent tone. The bell itself is worth remark. It is rung by swinging nearly, but not quite, oven Though Gubbio does not use the potent English mechanism of a rope on a wheel, it disdains for the great bell the feeble and almost universal Italian method of Chiming and Striking. For a party of men, high up in the Palace Tower, side by side with the bell itself, and holding on to safety ropes above, press with their feet great wooden butts attached to the beam of the bell, swinging it with admirable energy and judgment to a regular cadence. This great bell is rung only lave times in the year. It costs thirty lire to ring. A num- ber of ringers are needed to relieve each other. The tower itself is not considered very secure. Forty years ago two ringers were killed on the same day; one being crushed across his middle, and the other having his skull broken. At the end of the Piazza, opposite the Palazzo, stands the Municipio.-^ Tall houses, limiting the open space on the eastern side, along which the solemn Ecclesiastics proceed, only emphasize the wide landscape of valley and mountain commanded from a low wall to the westward. Nothing im- pedes our view into the Middle Ages but their own dimness. I watched with interest the slow passage of the Episcopal Procession. First came ^ men walking two and two, in white, with black capes over. These are the attendants of the dead; doubtless a burial association. They were fol- 1 The site is designated Palazzo Pretorio on Tei's plan, which Lucarelli prints ; " Memorie e Guida Storica di Gubbio " (1888). ^ In 1895. ("f" '^9^ "° special note was taken. The procession, however, appeared rather smaller.) Number III. Part of the Ecclesiastical Procession, at Gubbio, 15 May, 1896. The Ceremonies. 13 lowed by the Society of Santa Croce, wearing blue capes. Next came some more with black ; after them Ecclesiastics and Scholars of a seminary; and then were seen several men wearing brown capes, and carrying the framed picture of Sant Ubaldo. The Canons of the Cathedral succeeded the picture, and were immediately followed by the Bishop and his attendants. A halt for a moment or two was made, apparently for the Bishop to bless the Palazzo or those it held, after which the cortege made its slow way northward, soon to turn down-hill to the west, and then south and east again on its way round the most consider- able part of the town. When the Ecclesiastics have vanished into the Via dei Consoli, there is plenty of time for a visitor to pass in the opposite direction and reach again that point in the Via delle Fonti where tower the three Ceri. The boys still play round them, shifting every now and then the guy-ropes, or each other, as the safety of the Saints seems to demand. A considerable crowd has collected, anxious to view the important though fugitive ceremony of Episcopal blessing that will take place close by. In Gubbio all are kind and friendly to visitors, and the spectator is warned to get well forward, when the Church Procession is perceived (by a glance through side-alleys) to be approaching the spot along a lower road. Suddenly all the three Ceri are raised by their bearers, and, with the usual speed, carried southward along the Via delle Fonti to its junction at right angles with the Via Dante, close to the Arco Dante. It is said by some, that in the days of the great Ubaldo, the triumphal carriages of his devoted Eugubines stood at this very point to receive his blessing, after their victory over eleven hostile cities.^ 1 It is desirable at this point to draw the reader's attention to the Stations of the ancient Iguvine Lustration. Probably these cannot be now identi6ed. But the Via delle Fonti may quite possibly have to do with the Station FONTULI. (See Appendix.) 1 4 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. While, then, the Church Procession makes its slow ascent of the Via Dante towards this place, all three Ceri are carried forward to meet it, and held ready for a precipitate dash down-hill to the right. Many of the crowd have already gone down the Via Dante, so as to be well ahead when the rush comes. At the actual meeting of the two strangely associated and strangely diverse Processions a noteworthy rite takes place. First, the bearers of the Church picture of Sant Ubaldo in its frame cause it to oscillate by way of greeting, a compliment instantaneously returned by each of the Ceri. It is interesting to observe the faces of the Clergy. Some wear an unmoved and devout expression, others look round to their left with a glance of amusement or of hardly- concealed contempt. The Bishop himself now raises the sacred object he holds. A speculative mind might wonder whether the latest successor of Ubaldo is, after all, thus keeping up some ancient and transfigured custom, and un- intentionally offering bread to Ceres. However, Blessing, Greeting, Sacrifice, Lustration, or whatever primeval cere- mony be here perceptible, it occupies to-day but a few seconds. Down-hill dash the three Ceri, a great multitude running pell-mell with them, and the Church Procession standing politely on one side to make room. The little figure of Sant Ubaldo himself, about two feet six inches high, mounted far aloft on his strange pedestal, his robes fluttering in the wind, madly traverses the old streets of his city Gubbio, on a level with the first or second storey windows of the great grey houses. Even the harsh smile of a cynic would relax to some gentler expression, at this curious example of constancy in the affections of the changeful human race. If you accompany the Saints, you must travel at high speed for a considerable distance, before the Ceraioli halt for a draught from the wine-tub. At an open space called the "Giardino Pubblico," where the hill -side slopes off gradually into the plain, an addition is made to the cortege. The Ceremonies. 15 For here the First Captain takes over command of the whole body. He is now on horseback, and attended by a trum- peter also mounted. Two of the city bandsmen, on foot, join here also (at least in 1895). These four new-comers now constitute the head of the enlarged Procession. Next comes the Second Captain, marching on foot, with his sword drawn, and followed by two Hatchet-bearers. After them come the Ceri, in due order, with their crowds of bearers and attendants. The whole move northward and then eastward at a wild and most exhilarating speed, halting only at the point where the Via dei Consoli debouches on to the great Piazza. Here a considerable pause is made, and accentuated by the ceasing of the great bell's voice. The Piazza is now full of people. The windows of the houses on the east side, the steps, nay, the very roof of the Palazzo, support a vast number of on-lookers. The city band, which is excellent, plays music close to the Municipio.^ Presently expectation ceases and realisation begins. There is a busy stir in the throng, which moment- arily divides like water cleft by a fast ship's stem. Through it rush the impetuous leaders, and the companies of the Ceraioli carrying their unwieldly burdens. This time a revolution is made not on the axis of each Cero ; it embraces most of the Piazza. The turn is, however, as before, withershins, or against the sun. The Procession moves as a whole, Sant Ubaldo being followed closely by San Giorgio and Sant Antonio. The scene is most vivacious, and obviously both intensely popular and also semi-official. Lucarelli, the accomplished historian of Gubbio, in his very short account of the "Ceri,"^ observes "?« presenza dei magistrati comunali^ e d' una moltitudine di popolo plau- ' In i8g6 this was also reinforced by a military band. 2 " Memorie e Guida Storica di Gubbio " (1888), p. 137. ' I was informed at Gubbio, that though the Primo Capiiano furnishes at least one of the tavole, the Commune makes an annual subvention of 500 lire for the general cost of the festival. This would be rather under ;^20 sterling ; and the music alone must be an expensive affair. 1 6 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. dente." There is in the collection of pictures at the Municipio, one which gives a very fair notion of these three great swaying pedestals careering through the crowd on that spacious and picturesque square. Several circuits completed, away rushes the Procession helter-skelter up the Via degli UfEzi, and turns thence sharply to the left, encountering a slope as steep as that up which the Genoese populace with amazing vigour urged cannon in 1746, to the confusion of their Austrian foes. And here, it must be confessed, even our Eugubine Ceraioli are forced into a mere walk. These sturdy patriots would indeed be entitled to proclaim a modern miracle in honour of their guardian Saints did they succeed in carrying them at the double up this arduous path. Here is made the third pause for rest and wine.^ Issuing from the fine old gateway that fronts the acclivity of Monte Ingino, the Ceri must be brought to a horizontal posture, which in fact had to be done before, where any obstacle so low as a stately arch opposed them. Sant Ubaldo in 1895 very nearly collapsed earlier in the day, sustaining a considerable blow at a similar obstruction. In 1896 one of the Ceraioli bearing Sant Antonio, slipped down near the Giardino Pubblico ; and this Cero, in the resulting confusion, fell to the ground. Sant Antonio was borne up Monte Ingino, on that occasion, headless. Soon after quitting the Piazza, the horsemen disappeared. From the gateway the Saints are carried in near succes- sion, though now in somewhat less close array, up the steep ascent, the labour being eased by windings in the road. The attendant crowd breaks up : a part escorting with unwearied fidelity the three Ceri, while a part scatters itself over the rugged face of the tiny mountain. Thus is presented a 1 I learned upon inquiry that three stopping-places are always observed, and always the same. They are (i) at the Palazzo Ferranti, by the corner of Via Cairoli and Via Reposati ; (2) just before entering the Piazza Grande ; and (3) at the Porta Ingino. The Ceremonies. 17 beautiful picture. The town and the plain are quickly left below, and the distant hills rise higher into view. But the eye is irresistibly and perpetually drawn from that grand and eternal background to these three slender structures that creep up the long winding road, attended by their little throng; and any one must heartily admire, not only the weirdness of the evening scene, but the brave efforts still made now and then by the Ceraioli to break into a run, which they do chiefly at the sharper turns of the track. The goal is the Monastery of Sant Ubaldo, situated on the height. Upon reaching it, the Cero and Image of that Saint are carried within the court, and all gates closed, while he makes three passages round the inside, and thus completes his official journey for this season. The other two Saints have to wait outside during the process ; but when it is over, and while Ubaldo's Cero is lowered for the Image to be detached, the gates are reopened, San Giorgio and Sant Antonio admitted, their three circuits executed, and the crowd rested. The entrance to the Church is from this court ; and the Sant Ubaldo effigy is at once taken into the building and temporarily set up on one or two benches. The genuine affection inspired by this Saint, Hero, or even Idol of Gubbio, becomes again strikingly apparent to any one who enters his Church on such an occasion. Bearers in their uniform, and others, come eagerly up to the Image, and passionately kiss the edge of the robe. They also go into the choir behind the altar, over which on the 15 th of May is exposed in its long glass urn or coffin the miraculous body of Ubaldo, preserved at the monastery. It is clothed in Episcopal robes. If a moment before all has been bustle, excitement, and hilarity, all is now cool, quiet, and calm in the Sanctuary. Many people kiss the little pictures of the Saint affixed to the back of the altar below the coffin. I was told that the figures of the three Saints are taken down the hill again, and preserved at some Churches or other in Gubbio. The Ceri themselves remain in the B 1 8 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. monastery till next required. A chamber or store-room opening from the courtyard receives and shelters them for the year. It is marked by a tablet in the monastery wall, from whose inscription it would seem that these " CEREI " are here actually in custody of the civic authorities. Descending the hill quietly, the visitor must admire a most lovely scene. Illuminations everywhere, even far out upon the plain. Bells perpetually ringing, and their sound coming up softly from the town. In 1896, as I came down the winding road, I carefully counted over fifty bonfires or other conspicuous illuminations on the plain and distant hills, which must have been lighted almost simultaneously. And I was told by an Englishman temporarily resident at Gubbio, that over thirty had been seen the previous day, Ascension Day. On the day of the Ceri the Procession is timed to take twenty minutes only in climbing the hill, and to reach the monastery by 7 P.M., though it may not always be there quite punctually. I noticed the fires, both in 1895 and 1896, not very long after that time. Soon after the Ceri, a fair is held at Gubbio, which lasts, I am told, for several days. The principal objects brought into the streets to be exposed for sale, so far as I noticed, were cheap articles of clothing and crockery. Cattle of various sorts were later brought to a space of ground near the railway station. But I did not observe that the actual day of the Ceri was thus used, or that the business of the fair had then properly begun. The 17th seems to be the first day for humdrum transactions. II SANT UBALDO OF GUBBIO The observer of a celebration so strange, so vivacious, and so enthusiastic as that witnessed to-day, cannot fail to think over what he has seen, and to seek for its explanation. His inquiry will probably be : " Who was this great Ubaldo ? Why is his popular celebration joyous on the day of his Vigil ? Why is it distinct from the services of the Church ? And why do the People still show such enthusiasm in its exact observance ? " The reply that he was once a good Bishop, a courageous Counsellor, and is now the Patron Saint of the town, is to us in England hardly sufficient to explain so unusual a custom. We ask a little further information about this Patron and his City. Concerning Sant Ubaldo himself, the most authoritative treatise doubtless is the long account of him given in the " Acta Sanctorum," ^ which comprises a careful edition of his life and deeds, based on very early histories (including that of Tebaldo, his own successor in the Episcopacy), and furnished with numerous annotations. From this it appears that Ubaldo, born about 1086, of a gentle family in Gubbio,^ was dedicated from childhood to the study of theology and the service of God. This engagement he faithfully observed 1 (Maii, lom. iii., 1680, p. 628, etc.) ^ The " Gloria Postuma," appended to this Life, contains (cap. vii.) an account of the Eugubine family of the Baldassini. One of the most striking passages printed in the genealogy is a description of the Saint's great-great-grandfather, Alfonso Armanni, a distinguished military officer, who at the age of ninety was remarkable for his upright carriage, straight as a rush, and still wore the sword. He was very sparing in his diet, and lived to 105. 20 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. when he grew up, conceiving himself thus debarred from marriage and from the possession of worldly wealth. As he emerged from youth to manhood his staid conduct was noticed, and in due time he became Prior of the Cathedral Society. Certain faults and disorders of the Canons dis- tressed him, and he took measures to regulate their disci- pline. A terrible fire, which afQicted Gubbio and destroyed the Priory, was turned by Ubaldo, with God's help, into a blessing for the Church, which, upon restoration, was richer than before. When the See of Perugia became vacant, Ubaldo was elected to the Episcopacy; but going on foot to Rome, he besought the Pope to absolve him of that cure, obtained his petition, and was thus reserved by Divine ordinance for the Bishopric of his own native city. Even- tually, on the death of Bishop Stefano, the Eugubine Clergy not agreeing on a successor, several of them went with Ubaldo to Rome for assistance in this case. The Pope, receiving Divine instructions, appointed Ubaldo, who pre- sently adorned that high office of Bishop with discretion, simplicity, austerity, and affability. The historian relates, as an instance of his clemency, the sentence he gave in the case of a builder who, when the Bishop remonstrated with him as to a trespass on the Episcopal vineyard, not only disobeyed, but violently threw him down into a heap of mortar. The indignant people destroyed the builder's own house. Ubaldo benignly calmed their desire for further vengeance ; and when the offender was brought before him, finding him contrite, and abjectly willing to submit to any sentence whatever, the Bishop rose from his seat, approached the prostrate culprit, and said, "Give me a kiss, my son, and may the Lord Almighty remit this and all thy other sins."i On another occasion the Blessed Ubaldo heard of a ' This event is commemorated among the Saint's characteristics, though in slightly varying terms. See Cahier's " Caract^ristiques des Saints dans I'Art Populaire" (Paris, 1867), vol. i. p. 344. Sant Ubaldo of Gubbio. 1 1 dreadful tumult among the citizens.^ He hurried to the place. Finding that he could not allay the strife, he forthwith pressed into the throng of combatants, and, amid their swords and their showers of staves, he cast himself, as if mortally wounded, to the ground. The people concluding he was killed, and each accounting him- self guilty, threw down their arms, and tore their hair with grief Men and women alike hastened to join the affrighted train of mourners for the Father they accounted dead. Loud cries of sorrow and self-condemnation rose to the sky; but when the man of God saw that by this device he had stilled the battle, he gently arose, beckoned with his hand, and showed that he was not suffering from any wound at all. "And thus," says the chronicler, " though the Bishop risked death for the people, it came about both that the people lived and the Bishop did not perish." The Life gives at some length descriptions of several wondrous cures variously performed by the Blessed Ubaldo, or through his intercession. He obtained the cure of a dying monk, in celebrating Mass and offering prayer for him. His touch cured a case of bhndness, which when the servant of God himself perceived, he strenuously for- bade the patient to disclose it during his life : an injunction disobeyed many times by the man, who spread the tale abroad. At the consecration of a church, Ubaldo's vest- ment was seized by a paralytic woman, instructed thereto by God, and she was immediately healed, and arose from her small carriage. A long paragraph relates the recovery of another blind man who, advised by a dream, set out for Gubbio to gain his sight from Bishop Ubaldo. He was led by his guide past a cherry-tree, where two men were gathering fruit. ^ In the notes to this account in the " Acta Sanctorum," a suggestion is mentioned that the sedition had a Ghibelline origin, the city being at that time Guelphic. 2 2 Elevation and Procession of the Cert. He called to them for some cherries ; and upon their reply, " Climb up as we do, and gather for yourself," he groaned, and cried in distress on Ubaldo. Immediately he received his sight, and in his joy exclaimed to those in the tree, " Eat you of these cherries ; as for me, I am refreshed by the grace of Divine propitiation." When he reached Gubbio and told his story, Ubaldo admonished him to ascribe this favour to no goodness of his, but to that of God. And he adjured the man, that so long as he himself lived with mankind in this common life,^ he must never mention the matter. So, when the servant of God went to his Lord, he who had been blind made openly known how the Lord had given light to him by the Blessed Ubaldo. Interesting as are these legends of the Saint's life, they do not at once appear so relevant to our inquiry as the short account of the war against eleven cities.^ The odds of forty to one are considerable. But the chronicler tells us that this was almost the superiority of the foe. For three days the man of God made Procession round his city, offering devout prayer to God for the people. On the day of battle itself, the Saint added prudent counsels to his exhortations that the people should confidently trust in Heaven. Fortified with his blessing they went forth to fight, while the Bishop mounted to the roof of the monas- tery, a high position from which he could watch his people. The Same who overthrew the Amalekites before Israel at the prayer of Moses, hearing now the supplications of Ubaldo, caused the enemies of the Eugubines to fly before them; for at the first onset they turned back, and flung down their arms. ' " Quamdiu in hac communi vita ipse cum hominibus viveret." ^ Lucarelli puts the date about 1154, and supplies the names of the cities, as follows : — Perugia, Spoleto, Fabriano, Asisi, Citta di Castello, Cagli, Bettona, Urbino, and Sassoferrato ; completing in a footnote the number eleven, by adding the contingents of the Counts of Fossato and Valmarcola. ("Memorie e Guida Storica di Gubbio" (1888), p. 51, where a suggested reference of the ' ' Ceri "to this famous victory is mentioned. ) Sunt Ubaldo of Gubbio. 23 After noticing the wonderful cure of a priest's swollen hand (which again Ubaldo forbade the patient to relate), the biographer alleges a visit to Gubbio of the Emperor Frederick,^ on whom the enemies of the city, using prayers and gifts, pressed its destruction. But God Almighty brought about goodwill between Frederick and Ubaldo, who went forth to meet him.^ The Emperor, besides granting the requests of the Bishop on behalf of his people, loaded him with rich gifts, and falling on his knees, asked and received his blessing. The biographer tells us that this Saint of the Lord had to undergo chastening trials and troubles, which should fit him for heaven. Among them he specially mentions two fractures of the leg, and one dislocation or rupture of the shoulder. We are informed that Ubaldo never complained, nor did the most trifling murmur escape his lips ; but he gloried with Paul in his infirmities, and became therein the stronger and more devout. From chapter iii. of the account in the " Acta Sanctorum," and the annotations thereto, it appears that after a sickness of two years, Ubaldo died on the night that followed Whitsunday, isth-i6th May 1160. On Saturday, the vigil or eve, the citizens, male and female, collected at the episcopal dwelling, by the leading of the Divine Spirit. There they lit candles, and watched devoutly for the glorious departure of so great a Father. All through the Saturday and Sunday they watched with reverence, sought to kiss his feet or his hands, commended themselves to his prayers, and implored his forgiveness for any wrong ^ Barbarossa. ^ Lucarelli, citing and comparing numerous other authorities, says that the Consuls went with Ubaldo on this mission ; that it occurred in 1155, the year of Barbarossa's coronation ; that Gubbio soon declared for the Ghibelline party ; and considers that Ubaldo himself was not very unfavourable to it. It must be borne in mind that about this period the consular government was introduced ; and we know not exactly when the first Consuls were elected in Gubbio. The earliest in Lucarelli's list (p. 158) are dated of 1163, holding ofBce under authority given by Frederick Barbarossa {cf. Lucarelli, p. 46, &c.). The political power of the bishops which had been enormous, was declining. 24 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. they had ever done him. When he died and was laid out in the Church, bishops, clergy, abbots, monks, people from far and near of both sexes and all ages, thronged to his corpse. "And," says the chronicle, "as in life he had been regarded by all, so is it fitting that in death he should by all be adored." Messages were sent by the citizens to the country people, then at war with them, offering them safe conduct to attend the funeral. The occasion was used fqr pacifying old quarrels between the Civic, the Military, and the Noble Orders. The reception of the Saint's spirit in heaven was made manifest in his dead body, which was glorified, even in its seeming powerlessness, by a coruscation^ of miracles. A woman, whose side had long been contracted, came to the funeral couch imploring pity. It happened that the Manual ^ had by oversight not been placed on the hand of the Sacer- dotal corpse. An attendant ran to fetch it, and as soon as it was placed on Ubaldo's hand, he began to heal the infirm, and exorcise the demons. The woman touched the Saint, and immediately stood up perfectly whole. Praises now ascended to the Lord, bells were rung, and the Blessed Ubaldo was acclaimed as a Saint, whose degree of holiness was shown by signs. This miracle was followed by a suc- cession of others. During the four days he remained un- buried, he caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk. He performed many other miracles, and is said to have dispensed health to the sick of all sorts, as if he were some physician sent from heaven. On the fourth day he was entombed, and the election of his successor was the fulfilment of his own prophecy; for Ubaldo had said who this should be, not by way of injunction, but merely as 1 " Ccepit enim divinis coruscare miraculis, qui pannis involutus jacebat humanis ; & coelestium mirabilium ostentare virtutem, qui terreni corporis videbatur amisisse fortitudinem." 2 Lorenzo Giampaoli translates manuale hy gtianto, or glove. "S. Ubaldo" (i886), vol. ii. p. 112. Sunt Ubaldo of Gubbio. 2 5 foretelling it; and so, says the chronicler, he seems to have shone with the spirit of prophecy. Meanwhile the good citizens arranged to keep almost the whole year as a festival, and bring burning candles daily to Sant Ubaldo. They came with song, both men and women, so that Gubbio resounded with voices and shone with lights. Night was turned to day ; darkness was banished ; and the prophecy of Tobias about Jerusalem was verified in Gubbio, for through all by-streets and lanes were praises given to the Lord. The historian closes paragraph 25 with the graphic presentment : "In the mouths of all, Sant Ubaldo is sung, by all voices Sant Ubaldo is proclaimed; and, as if there were no other name that should be spoken, so all keep repeating Sant Ubaldo, Sant Ubaldo." The year was ^ a very jubilee of joy, kindly in productiveness of good things, sweet also in peace and justice. A public dispute of long standing was allayed ; the indigent were cared for, so that instead of begging alms they were themselves begged to receive them, while hospitality was not merely offered to, but forced upon strangers. Hundreds of poor people were fed, and abundantly entertained in the Church. Contribu- tions were sent in from country houses and castles. The Eugubines themselves were, from love of their Saint, ready to give away anything. We are even told that from this sprung the complaisance towards the poor which those citizens call affection.^ The first wonders narrated of the Saint when laid to his holy rest are compared to the acts of a prince entering into his kingdom. He at once cast out multitudinous demons, and expelled all sorts of diseases and infirmities. The names of several persons are given who were relieved of evil spirits. One of those demons had informed the patient herself that if she made her way to Sant Ubaldo she would ' /.«., perhaps the remaining seven months of it. See "Acta Sanctorum," p. 638, annotaia. = "Caritatem." 26 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. be cured. It is remarked that, though the devil is ever a liar and the father of it, yet in this case he told truth to the Saint's glory ; for it happened as the demon had said, and the woman arrived perfectly well, giving thanks to God. A considerable list is also furnished of marvellous cures per- formed by the dead Saint. An appendix, based on a dif- ferent manuscript (pars. 31-34), ascribes to God and to Sant Ubaldo liberation from captivity and shipwreck, as well as healings. In the year 1 191, according to the " Gloria Postuma " treated in the " Acta Sanctorum," the citizens of Gubbio broke into two military forts on the Hill-top ; but, on hearing of the Emperor Henry's consequent wrath, they despatched envoys to him with humble messages. These he was pleased to accept, and favoured the Eugubines not only with his pardon, but with a concession of the Hill itself. This happy event was ascribed by the citizens to the patronage of their Saint, whose Canonization they forth- with sought at the hands of Pope Celestinus III. It was in 1 1 92 solemnly granted in consideration of Ubaldo's religious life, and the many posthumous miracles which the Almighty had seen fit to work by him. His feast was fixed for the 17th Calends of June, that is, the i6th of May. The time and circumstance of Sant Ubaldo's Translation to the Hill-top are doubtful. The annual Procession in honour thereof should take place, according to the "Acta Sanctorum," on the iith of September. One story relates how two young bullocks drew the body on a car to its destined home (1196?). A custom^ is mentioned of following, rather than leading, young oxen on some votive expedition in this region. Legend tells also that an elm-tree sprang up from an ox-goad at the door of what is now Sant Ubaldo's Church, and that a chain, such as might be used to draw the car, hung at the portico.^ It is 1 "Neque huic causae repugnat traditio Eugubinorum de juvencis, veteri et sjepe usitato exemplo ad earn rem adhibitis ; . . ." " Down to recent times, persons who resorted to Sant Ubaldo for exorcism used to have their backs beaten with a chain hanging from the monastery's front. Sunt Ubaldo of Gubbio. 27 supposed that on or close to this site there stood in very early times, if not a Church, at least a small oratory. However that may be, a Church of some sort, new or old, appears to have received both the body of the Saint and the ministra- tions of a priest nominated by the Cathedral Canons. The authority of this society was ousted in 15 13, in fulfil- ment of a vow made by Francesco Maria Rovere, Duke of Urbino, and his family, that if God would at Sant Ubaldo's intercession save the life of the sick Pope Julius II., they would introduce and endow some Canons Regular of the Lateran Congregation.^ This change was by no means easily made. The city granted the site ; the monastery was quickly built by aid of subscriptions enjoined by Leo. X., and given from love of the Saint ; and the very name of the Hill was changed from Ingino (which however, is by no means dis- used to-day) to that of Sant Ubaldo. But the Eugubine Canons of San Mariano went up and took possession of the house in 1516, forcibly expelling the Lateran brethren. The citizens sided with the latter after formal deliberation, and went out in a crowd to restore the dispossessed. The San Mariano Canons stood their ground while trying to make terms; and a military demonstration from Urbino was needed to enforce the claims of the Lateran Society. A powerful assistant in the spread of Ubaldo's fame was the vigorous Stefano of Cremona, who, enthusiastically de- voted to Ubaldo, and impelled by veneration of the tokens that seemed here almost to grow^ sought and obtained some office among the Lateranians. He speedily gained an extra- ordinary fame, among other things for learning, adroitness, sobriety, zeal, and sympathetic force, or pity.^ He acquired by a few months' study a full mastery of the cunning de- vices used by demons, also power through sacerdotal ' At this time Gubbio was under dominion of the potent Rovere family. The Duke mentioned is the subject of that noble portrait by Titian in the Uffizi at Florence. Julius II. was his uncle. ^ " Ferme vegetantia." ^ " Miserationem." 28 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. constancy and faith, to overcome all the obstinate forces of the rebellious spirits. It is remarkable that in this part of the history (which is attributed to two volumes designated as "Lycseum Lateranense," 1649), Ubaldo, otherwise Beatus, Episcopus, and Sanctus, becomes Divus, and in one passage ^ is referred to as " Numen " in quotation. To Stefano's energy is largely attributed the awakened interest in Sant Ubaldo, and the rapidly-increased importance of this holy spot. He was moved to write an account of the wonders that were granted at Sant Ubaldo's intercession, and the Life of the Saint himself, said to have been printed at Parma in 1 5 19. His work, which was designed in great measure for the information of foreign pilgrims to this shrine, appears to have lent authority to a tale of a relic, which eventually occupied the attention of a civic commission. For it had been alleged that the Saint himself, while lying dead, had taken off a joint of his own right thumb, and presented it, hidden in the Chirotheca, to a humble German worshipper to comfort his old age. When the man, carrying this into his own country, reached a place in the diocese of Basel, the bells began ringing of themselves, and no one could tell the cause. The bearer of the Chirotheca opening his treasure next day, discovered the thumb-joint of the Saint. This impelled the pious to raise a fine temple, and to found a college of Canons, whereof he who had brought the holy relic became the first director. However, the city of Gubbio, taking note of the wide-spread report that their Saint now lacked a finger of one hand, held an official inquiry in 1593, under the auspices of the Gonfalonier and Consuls, who, assisted by many others, examined the body in all reverence. Their report, which is given at length in the "Acta Sanctorum," states that all the fingers are perfect and in full number;^ that the 1 "Act. Sanct.," p. 643. " Gloriosissimi Numinis " . . . " tanti Numinis." ^ A fresh miracle is bravely surmised by Lorenzo Giampaoli, who remarks that God, to whom all things are possible, may have Himself created anew the lacking joint. See "S. Ubaldo" (1886), vol. ii. p. 120. The same historian, Giampaoli, records another inquiry held in 1779, with results equally satisfac- Sant Ubaldo of Gubbio. 29 body is absolutely intact ; and, indeed, that the nails them- selves are distinct and clear as in life. They further men- tion a birth-mark or mole under the right jaw, saying that it looks as if death had taken place but a few days earlier. The editor of the " Acta Sanctorum," finding that Oliverio, in spite of this evidence, still gave currency to the tale in 1616, anticipates by some excellent remarks a much more sceptical age. For he censures the obstinacy of prejudice and the persistence of tradition, which communities national as well as religious retain even though contrary facts are made good. When driven by truth, says the commentator, from holding the complete fiction, they adhere to a part of it; just as Eugenio, another writer, unable to insist that the story is true of Ubaldo, will have it still concerning his Eugubine successor Tebaldo, neglecting as well the insigni- ficance of San Tebaldo's cultus even in Gubbio, as the great notoriety of San Teobaldo the hermit. The bones of this last-named Saint were much dispersed, and were honoured in various parts of France, while his adoration was observed even in distant Vienna. The inference put forward by the commentator is that the Church consecrated in the diocese of Basel was, like one called San Boldo in Venice, dedicated not to Sant Ubaldo, nor to San Tebaldo of Gubbio, but to San Teobaldo, the hermit of Vicenza.^ Carlo Oliverio, one of the historians referred to, held office as Exorcist at the monastery, and reinforced his Priestly dignity by strength of character and conspicuous accomplishment in that art, which he practised with devoted assiduity. He spent whole nights watching and praying, and overcame the contumacious obstinacy of the most wicked spirits by a firmness excelling iron or even adamant. tory as to the incorruptibility of the Saint's body, but implying that certain antiseptics were introduced at that date into his covering, doubtless as an extra precaution. Ibid., pp. 234-242. ' However this may be, the authority of Stefano is given for many of those miracle-stories that furnish chapters iv., v., and vi. of the "Gloria Postuma," in the "Acta Sanctorum." 30 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. The intercessions of Sant Ubaldo were requested by persons from all parts of Italy ; and hardly one of them went away but was partially or entirely cured. Oliverio himself, it is said, left no stone unturned to bring all persons under the influence of this love, at once Christian, Sacerdotal, and Canonical. There were special benedictions of water, and of oil. Some of the oil which burnt in front of the sacred corpse was taken from the lamp and distributed. People came in crowds to Gubbio for relief from various hurts, including incantations, fascinations, and sorceries. The Exorcist went by request about ^ the whole territory of Umbria and Ancona, though he did not comply with all the numerous requests he received from a distance. His blameless char- acter was recognised by the citizens of Gubbio, who made him a Patrician; and this example was followed by the monks, who appointed him director of their house. Accord- ing to the "Acta Sanctorum," he was assisted by Elisabella Brantaleone, a devout matron of Perugia, in compiling the "Life and Miracles of Sant Ubaldo" (1623), followed soon by the work of the Eugubine Eugenio. The last-named also is by the "Acta Sanctorum " given as the authority for much which follows. Among the various wonders recounted in the fourth chapter of the " Gloria Postuma " is the refusal of the Saint on one occasion to be re-clad, as was customary on the first day of his annual festival.^ For one arm remained rigid, until a certain priest, who was conscious of having done something wrong, quitted the place, when the corpse sub- mitted to the others. Since that time a delicate garment had always remained, covering the whole body but the face, hands, and feet ; and nothing was changed, with exception, among other details, of the linen over the throat, which was good for curing many infirmities.^ 1 "Lustrabat." " In England, precisely at Whitsuntide, must new clothes be worn by the living. ^ In 1896 I was shown, in Gubbio, a fine linen cap, which was treasured by Sant Ubaldo of Gubbio. 3 1 A large proportion of the wonders recounted consist of Exorcisms, or the delivery of persons possessed of a devil. In one such case a mother was taking her daughter to Assisi, but was stopped on the road by a person habited as a Franciscan, who said, "At Assisi the possessed are not liberated; take her to Sant Ubaldo; there she will be restored; " and so pointing the way with his finger, he dis- appeared. She went thither, and the cure was immediate. Some have considered that the apparition was S. Francis himself, who thus yielded the honour to Sant Ubaldo. Again, it is recorded that a nun was so cruelly vexed by three demons that she would be carried through the air as far as thirty cubits and more, and sometimes cast into the fountain of the convent. When these demons knew they were to be brought to Sant Ubaldo, they obstinately declared they had no greater enemy ; which saying confirmed in their purpose those who intended the unhappy girl should go. She was freed from them on the road, but to confirm and complete the cure she was taken to the Saint himself Many more cases are recounted than can be here set down. In several of these, physical ailments which had been caused by demo- niac possession were cured by Sant Ubaldo's expulsion of the spirits. Sometimes, again, the continued affliction of devils is itself distinctly attributed to wrong-doing, or to default in confessing, as with the Eugubine citizen who had recurrent fits of frenzy till he confessed his crimes ; and with the woman to whom the Mother of God herself ap- peared, enjoining her to visit Sant Ubaldo and fully confess to the Fathers ; which done, she was freed. Great numbers of evil spirits were sometimes exorcised at once through Sant Ubaldo. Thus he cast from one person 2999, one out of three thousand being left by God's pleasure to try the virtue of the patient. Another woman one of the inhabitants, and supposed to possess a great virtue, having been on the head of this miraculous body. I was assured that even as far away as Piedmont such articles are highly esteemed. 32 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. was freed from thirteen thousand at the Saint's intercession. But even this large number was exceeded by the four hun- dred thousand devils expelled by his aid from one person in four days. On another occasion it took twelve days of adjuration to free a Venetian nun from the seven principal spirits of whom she had been long possessed.^ The month of May 1596 was distinguished by the cleansing of about twenty-two possessed persons. One of these was a woman who had seen spectres and heard dreadful voices. Another was a ten-year-old lad, so violent that several strong men could not hold him. He ran naked about the roads, dug a grave for himself in the ground, terrified the wayfarers, and wallowed like a hog in the mire. But the demons that pos- sessed him submitted to the power of Sant Ubaldo's touch, and were at last compelled to come out. Again, the illus- trious lady Lucretia Bufalini obtained great relief by wading barefoot into the small stream called Sant Ubaldo's,^ below the hill, and then submitting to the Exorcisms. Not finding the cure fully complete, she attended the Vigil of the Saint in 1596, and obtained entire relief for herself and some of her attendants, who had suffered likewise. A special cir- cumstance narrated of this cure is the anointing with oil taken from the Saint's lamp,* which had effect like an emetic. The lady on one occasion sent a girl with a platter to fetch some of this oil. On returning with it to her mis- tress, she let fall the vessel which, though made of pottery, did not break upon the stone floor, but even retained the oil unspilt. We now reach a different class of miracles, namely those by which, upon invocation of the Saint, persons are saved from dire perils. Mariotti Rosellini, while a prisoner, was thrice 1 Paras. 27, 28, 29. ^ I do not know of any stream called by this name to-day. I was told that the people still consider the water of the well in Ubaldo's monastery on Monte Ingino to have beneficial influences. ' This oil is still often asked for, as I am informed. Sant Ubaldo of Gubbio. 33 hanged, and each time released from death by aid of Sant Ubaldo. Eventually freed from his chains themselves, he brought, as a testimonial offering to his liberator, a little wax statue. A tree which Agnello Brugnori was felling came down upon him, but as he called on Sant Ubaldo he was unhurt. Giovanni Ercolani was stubbing the roots of a tree on Sant Ubaldo's hillside, when one of them came out unex- pectedly, and he was precipitated backwards; but, calling on the Saint, he felt one of his feet held up, though there was no one else there.^ Giovanni Marchello, a furrier of Gubbio, while working at his craft in the torrent at the foot of the hill, was carried away by the rush of yesterday's flood ; but calling on Sant Ubaldo, he beheld an old man, who drew him out of danger by the hair. In IS 14 a woman was boiling water to wash clothes, when her httle son fell into it : she invoked the Saint, and pulled out the child unhurt. A soldier in battle was so severely wounded by a spear that the surgeons could not extract the iron ; but, by aid of a vow and invocation, the man drew it forth with his own hand. Sebastiano Boldrini, attacked by enemies at night, fled up the chimney of his house, and, caUing on the Saint, he was drawn up out of it by the hair and saved. A woman named Simonia of Gubbio, who went to a well to draw water, fell in herself, the iron axle of the wheel having been broken. When pulled out, she attributed her escape from death to the Virgin Mother of God and to Sant Ubaldo, who, on her commending herself to them, had held up her chin. Having said this, she became dumb. Stefano (whose authority is cited for this story), administered Exorcisms, and extracted from a demon the confession that he had broken the iron so as to cast the woman down the well, and that he now ^ A famous tree-miracle is recorded of St. Martin, who, during a series of attacks made by him upon the ancient worship, was himself once challenged by the Pagans to stand under one of the sacred trees, where they should place him for its fall. He, under Divine inspiration, agreed, made the sign of the cross, and it fell on the contrary side. See Butler's "Lives of the Saints" (Duffy), Dublin, vol. xi. pp. 191, 192. C 34 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. was compelled to come out by the merits of Sant Ubaldo. A certain Penone Lombardo was saved once from injury or death in a well, once from perishing under the ruins of a wall which fell on him, and again from decapitation. Various cases are enumerated where persons escaped from thieves, or from the enemy in war, and other dangers similar to those before mentioned. Cures of blind and dumb people are recounted. The most astonishing case no doubt is that of a Perugian family. Six sons, all both blind, deaf, and dumb, received their several senses by their father's vow. A long catalogue of benefits is exhibited, which includes several more cases of misfortunes relieved by expulsion of demons. In some it is said Sant Ubaldo himself appeared, but in the majority no such allegation is made. A wonder on a large scale is the, liberation by three holy persons, including Sant Ubaldo, of 400 people who had been made prisoners at sea by the Turks. Another legend, both picturesque and dramatic, is that of a young heiress who was buried in a subterranean passage by her guardian. As she heard the stone fall she called on Sant Ubaldo; and unhurt she beheld an aged man, whose mere approach drove away the serpents and other poisonous creatures that beset her. After eight days' incarceration her cries were heard by some hunters, who let down a rope. Faint from want of food, she could not help them by adjusting it, but the old man lent his aid, and she was safely drawn from the cavern. It was con- cluded that the aged one was Sant Ubaldo. The Saint on three occasions asserted his protectorship of Gubbio. In 1517, when the surrounding country was ravaged by war and slaughter,^ the city passed that critical time without injury. Duke Valentino had sent Michaelette to seize Gubbio. At seven miles from it this commander heard a threatening voice behind him, which ordered him to 1 At this period Pope Leo X. was contesting the Dukedom with the expelled Francesco Maria della Rovere. Sant Ubaldo of Gubbio. 35 retire. He obeyed ; and it is said to be impossible to divine to whom that voice belonged unless to Sant Ubaldo. Again, an officer encamped near Mondolfo was planning an expedi- tion to Gubbio. On mentioning this to some of his sub- ordinates, he was advised not to carry it out ; " for," said one, " that city has a Defender too strong for you, on the Hill that overhangs it." The other laughed at what he considered a foolish fear; but the same day he was seriously wounded in a skirmish, and compelled to abandon the project. On another occasion Braccio di Montone hoped to reduce the place by aid of traitors within. He gained entrance to the city, and many of the inhabitants fled on to the Hill. But reaching the spring called Lavelli, they saw Sant Ubaldo, who promising the retirement of the foe, encouraged them to return ; at the same time he made the sign of the cross toward the city. On reaching it, they found the enemy in full flight, as if pursued by a large army. Braccio himself had foretold that the city would be his unless the aged man of the Mountain forbade. Some Ubaldo legends akin to these are, however, told also of other places. Civitella was in 1557 besieged by Charles Vni. of France. One day the inhabitants determined on a sortie for next morning; and upon inquiry as to who would be the Saint of that day, it was found to be Ubaldo. They commended themselves accordingly to his care ; and in the morning found the King had ordered the siege to be raised. Bastia, a fortress near Perugia, having vigorously withstood a siege by the Spaniards, its defenders, expecting to be slaughtered at last, invoked the aid of Sant Ubaldo, and obtained their lives. In the time of Duke Valentino, a number of women were sent out of Montecchio during a siege. They were perceived and approached by a troop of cavalry. They called on Sant Ubaldo for protection, and the horses, though urged with the spur, were driven back- wards, and thus taught their riders how much virtue was in the Saint. 36 Elevation and Procession of the Cerz. Up to this point I do not think there is a single deed re- corded in the "Acta Sanctorum" of a merely vengeful character. But several such cases are now given, where Divine resent- ment confounded those who insulted the Saint, or attempted to limit his cultus and his jurisdiction. Once a man ap- proached and touched the body with a wand, saying, " This body seems to be in no way different from any other corpse." Hardly had he reached the foot of the Hill, when he fell to the ground trembling, and expired. A soldier belonging to a small garrison on the Hill, holding two lances in his hand, shook them against the two^ trees which grew before the Church door, and were said to have sprung from the ox-goads used at the Saint's translation. The custodian remonstrated ; but the soldier repeated the stroke with one of his lances. He was seized by a violent and increasing pain in the arms, and died miserably without giving any sign of repentance. A certain Bolognese, hear- ing the praises of Ubaldo, said, " You do well to praise him ; he would have served as cook for San Petronio." ^ Such an agony suddenly seized him, that he supposed himself to be dying. Advised to ask complaisance of the Saint he had insulted, he fell on his knees, and was immediately raised up. A countryman of Gualdo ^ being warned by a citizen of Gubbio that he should not plough on Sant Ubaldo's day, replied that Sant Ubaldo had no rights beyond the river, and that the people of Gualdo were not bound to the same ' "Stabant . . . ulmi duse." — "Gloria Postuma," para. 48. Compare "gemina ulmus," ibid., para. 6. Thinking that there might be some trace still of these miraculous trees in popular tradition, and remembering how very widespread in Italy is the custom of preserving trees (though specially the ilex) at the front of churches, I made some inquiry as to this point. There are indeed trees growing close outside the monastery, and flanking the road to it ; but I found no information bearing on the miraculous trees of the history. '^ San Petronio is patron of Bologna. ^ i.e. Gualdo-Tadino. The Tadinates were among those peoples ' ' exter- minated," or legally expelled, at the Lustration of Iguvium in ancient times. (See Appendix.) Sant Ubaldo of Gudbio. 37 observance as those of Gubbio. His contempt was avenged ; for one of his oxen died the same night. Again, a woman of Pergola, who was weeding a cornfield on the Saint's day, declared that he had no concern beyond the mountains. That night she died suddenly. For a similar reply, a woman of the Montone district, who used the day for baking, found on drawing the bread that it was black and offensive like carrion, so that even the beasts would not eat it. A man of Perugia was going hunting on the feast of the Saint before attending mass. When one remonstrated with him, he exclaimed, " What have I to do with San Ribaldo ? " And he met with an accident which deprived him of his hand. The Saint controlled the weather. He preserved from rain on one occasion a plot of ground belonging to a poor woman, who, with a vow, offered him a request to save it from a storm, which threatened and burst upon all the land about it. Again, at a country place called Bosco, near Perugia, which had suffered for several years from a recurrent hailstorm, the inhabitants undertook to furnish an annual number of masses in honour of Sant Ubaldo, and thereafter suffered no harm. Another story recounts the recovery of some cattle by his aid. The final four paragraphs of chapter vi. include a number of instances where Sant Ubaldo released prisoners, assisted births, and allayed other discomforts. In several of these cases he is thought to have appeared, once as a Canon Regular, twice as an old man ; and, according to the death- bed declaration of a certain Angelo Gambocci of Gubbio, he frequently, in company with the most Blessed Virgin, appeared and helped him in the struggle against evil spirits. Again, it is alleged that the oil from the Saint's lamp has relieved many from pains and infirmities. The reader is perhaps wearied by so long an abstract of the Saint's manifold miracles. But no view of the powers attributed to this sacred personage would be complete with- out different instances of the very varied operations he is 38 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. credited with. If we examine the catalogue, we shall find Ubaldo to have been, and perhaps still to be, reputed not merely as the nominal Patron of Gubbio, but as a Miracle- worker upon the Hill, at the Stream, a Protector and Healer of the People, a Saviour of the State, powerful over flocks and weather, a Terror to foes of Gubbio and to all evil spirits. Ill ANALYSIS OF THE FOREGOING MATERIALS It is no part of my purpose to discuss at length the pro- babiUty of these stories. But I would remark that, though it is easy to attribute Ubaldo's selection for the Bishopric of Gubbio to the recommendations of his character and his friends, as well as to the good sense of the Pope, rather than to a special interposition from Heaven, yet the ecclesi- astical historian plainly implies the latter. Again, since Ubaldo is declared to have been the descendant of Alfonso Armanni, and relative of one Baldassino who, ambitiously raising a corps of volunteers, followed Barbarossa into Ger- many, since Ubaldo was himself the military adviser as well as the popular pastor of his native city, and the in- genious pacifier of a civil tumult, we might readily assume that he had a character capable, judicious, and generous, containing, indeed, something of the Statesman and the Soldier along with the devotion of the Saint. But the "Acta Sanctorum," which certainly expresses admiration for the man, is not content with his human faculties, perceiving a more wonderful influence at work in the defeat of the eleven cities and the negotiations with Frederick. Further, although we might consider some of the enumerated miracles susceptible of medical explanation, on the simple assumption that many persons held to be in possession of demons were really suffering from fits of hysteria, of epilepsy, or of mad- ness, whose symptoms subsided from time to time, or were allayed in some measure by hypnotism or by faith in the cure, yet the official history attributes their alleviation in 40 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. many cases to the Exorcism of evil spirits in the Saint's name. Going further still, modern thinkers may be disposed to reject at any rate, as unworthy of belief, most of the later stories told on the authority of the professed Exor- cists Stefano and Oliverio, and other persons, who devoutly developed the cultus then, and cannot be interrogated now. But the great difficulty of satisfactorily weighing even modern allegations of astounding events (itself a hun- dredfold less obstinate than the same problem as to the dubious particulars of bygone marvels), need not disturb us. For our inquiry is not, Did such wonders ever take place? but rather. What concerning the Saint has been said to take place ? And what light does this throw on the curious Elevation and Procession of the Ceri ? The latter part of the double question is much more difficult to answer than the former, whereof indeed the chief materials for reply are already detailed. I trust, however, that, not- withstanding the refractoriness of the subject, I need not yet take leave of the reader, though the few suggestions I shall have to offer towards a solution of the whole matter are by no means presented as conclusive. Let us first sum up the facts and statements now before us, and then inter- pret, if we can, those Ceri. What are the characteristic qualities attributed to Sant Ubaldo ? He is ecclesiastically a Saint. He practically fulfils, according to his biographers, all the requirements of the Church for sainthood in any age. For he has doubtless been accepted as having in life eminently pos- sessed the great virtues both of moral and theological categories ; as having exhibited miracles performed through him even before his death ; and if not technically a martyr, as having still suffered afflictions which should make him " a pearl in the diadem of the celestial kingdom. "i Other miracles, immediately after death, are said to have glorified his bier, and to have continued as a distinction to his • " Acta Sanctorum," p. 635. Analysis of the Foregoing Materials, 41 shrine. And finally, he was canonized by the Pope. His patronage is given to the i6th of May, and to Gubbio. His operations are so much connected with the neighbour- hood of his shrine, that Monte Ingino may be simply called his residence. It is worth remark that the chronicler, upon announcing the death of the Saint, slightly changes his phraseology. Ubaldo living was a channel for God's miraculous good- ness; but in heaven he appears to become himself a miracle -worker. We must not indeed exaggerate the extent or the purport of these changed expressions. The new phrases are not by any means maintained throughout. But Ubaldo's departure from this common life certainly seems to be treated as the entrance into his real principality.^ This view is harmonious with the posthumous utilisation of Saints' merits and the general teaching of the Latin Church. It accords with the human inclination, particularly marked in Italy, towards hero-worship or apotheosis of great men. It also explains the strange jubilation of the populace after the death of their beloved friend and pastor. We might have thought this rather an occasion for a year's sorrow and mourning than for a year's rejoicing ; but the Eugubines may easily have considered, or been taught, that in death their own Ubaldo had ascended to higher gloiy, and attained still greater power for good. Many centuries before Ubaldo's time the Church had made sumptuous the martyrs' festivals, in rivalry of Pagan ban- quets ; and, as says Dean Milman, " By a noble metaphor, the day of the martyrs' death was considered that of their birth to immortality." ^ ^ Some of the expressions alluded to are the following : — " Quasi potentis- simus Princeps adepto principatu, expellare coepit dsemonum multitudinem ; " "Claudis reddidit gressum ; " " Operatus est etiam multas alias virtutes et miracula." The general supremacy of God, the Lord, is, however, by no means contradicted. We find later on, " Quje Deus per B. Ubaldum facie- bat," and other such phrases in abundance. ' History of Christianity," bk. iv. chap. ii. 2 tc 1 42 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. It must be particularly noted that the energy of this Saint is engaged against evil spirits.^ Whether they possess the heart of him who neglects confession or afflict the miserable woman at the well, whether they induce distressing ailments of the body or of the mind, whether they pervade Umbria and the Picene districts, or again in their myriads besiege one single soul, Sant Ubaldo is their foe and master ; and though his operations are by no means confined to the immediate neighbourhood, Ubaldo appears the supernatural Protector, Sanctifier, and Wonder-worker of Gubbio. Worthy is the Umbrian Delphi of so potent a Genius. Surely no one visits that strangely beautiful region without drawing long breaths of refreshment. Not only do the lofty hills and wide valleys exhilarate the soul with sensa- tions of grandeur and of space : there is an atmosphere also of most spacious time. Indeed, from Orvieto to Perugia, from Assisi to Gubbio, from Urbino almost to the edge of hazy Trasimene, we seem to inhale the shrewd air of racy centuries : drier than the breezes of Venetian Lagoons, and, if fresher, more grateful than those harsh gusts that sweep round the Duomo of Florence.^ Even upon a slight acquaint- ance with aged Umbria, its stalwart buildings, its active, kind, intelligent people, its bravely ascetic and often very beautiful pictures, one is urged by some curious pathos in the whole to take off one's hat and bow silently to the silent past. So it is, in noticing the tales of Ubaldo's own life ; all is spacious, generous, yet quaint, conservative, antique. You might suppose that the Middle Age, with its igno- rant subserviency to an organization then unduly powerful, would in the story of a local Saint Protector exhibit at least one trait of commonness, of ungenerous conduct, or ^ Cahier's " Caracteristiques des Saints dans I'Art Populaire" (Paris, 1867), attributes to Sant Ubaldo the characteristic of healing a possessed subject {p. 702); and credits him with a patronage "pour les poss^des" (p. 633). ^ A Florentine tale says, indeed, that the wind carried the Evil One from afar to visit the Duomo, where he has found his business so protracted, that his fretting courser awaits him still outside. Analysts of the Foregoing Materials. 43 of ludicrous conceit, unrecognised as such and naively admired by partial chroniclers. But very few instances of vengeance are related to have occurred even after the Saint's death. What aspect have these? We must appreciate the implied mediaeval opinion, that a Protector is unworthy of the name who can himself be insulted with impunity. And among the really grotesque acts con- nected with Ubaldo's lofty position, are the punishments of those who invaded his authority, his tree, and his festival. Even here, however, the hurts alleged are not mischievous or wanton, like the acts of elves or demons. They are merely defensive of his dignity or of his people. His spirit operates in general beneficially, and sometimes mate- rially, by means for instance of a chip of stone,^ oil from the lamp, linen from the throat and head of his dead corpse. Whether recognised as the Saint in bodily form, or as the aged man of the Mountain; whether speaking aloud from the Unseen World, or again granting his subtle aid to the monastic Exorcist, he ever comforts the faint- hearted, relieves the sufferer, saves the oppressed, and mysteriously turns back the Enemy, spiritual as well as corporeal, from his beloved people of Gubbio. Sometimes great offence arises between Roman Catholics and other Christians on the subject of Saint-invocation, the former being charged by the latter with something indis- tinguishable from polytheism. After all, this seems to be more a question of words than of facts. The plain mind finds a difficulty in very fine distinctions. It cannot see much practical difference between a Saint Protector upon invoking whom a miracle occurs, and a local deity or demigod, who is righteous, who defends his people, and who, when asked, grants a favour. The subordination of such personages to a Supreme God, nay, even the derivation of their authority and power from Him, may be theoretically unquestioned by the worshipper; just as a ' "Acta Sanctorum," p. 651. 44 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. prince, who is benefactor and defender of his own country, and maintains the state of a monarch, may be acknowledged by lawyers and officials, and dimly understood even by the vulgar, to be in the last resort one of many lieges in a vast Empire. The tremendous power assumed to be exercised by evil or rebel spirits (whom it is accounted wicked- ness to invoke) indicates the might of Sant Ubaldo, at least the equal of angels and the overmastering enemy of devils. Whatever metaphysical distinction be made be- tween the requests properly addressed to him and those properly addressed to God, the history itself gives, among many cases of invocation, some instances of vows and of commendations, as well as of direct petitions offered to Sant Ubaldo, unrebuked, and followed by aid or relief.^ The mere fact that he is a Christian, not a Pagan spirit, a Christian, not a Pagan wonder-worker, cannot in the eye of reason reduce him at any rate below the rank of subordinate deities or demigods in Pagan systems. One or two of Ubaldo's posthumous miracles must be classed along with those mediaeval tales mentioned by Grimm, which 'relate that images would drop a finger-ring or a shoe to those who worshipped before them. Grimm will have it that these are genuine traits of heathen antiquity.^ Though Ubaldo's gift of his thumb-joint be discredited by the ecclesiastical authorities, that story was nevertheless told ; while his gift of the glove, and the refusal of his body to be re-clothed in presence of the errant minister, seem to be approved. These have precisely the character of the diffe- rent tales told about Thorgerthr's figure, except in so far as any moral purport appears. Though the moral residuum is wanting in most stories of "demigods," "heroes," "genii," yet, apart from this, there is a marked resemblance, at least, between the attributes of saintly wonder-workers ' Cf. "Acta Sanctorum," "Vita," Appendix, para. 33, and " Gloria Postuma," para. 25, 38, 41, 45, 50, 51. ^ Grimm's " Teutonic Mythology " (Stallybrass), vol. i. p. 114, note. Analysis of the Foregoing Materials. 45 and those miraculous spirits of antiquity.^ It is need- less to dwell on the biographer's use of the adjective '* Divus" or on the phrase " Numen." The former occurs several times.^ The latter^ is employed in a document which (on quite other grounds) the commentator disapproves. The question need not depend on any severe interpretation of words used either carelessly or in a conventional sense, though " Divus," as applied to this Saint, singularly accords with the remarkable deeds related of Ubaldo after his phy- sical death. The deeds of the Saint, as represented in the narratives, and presumably accepted by mediaeval and later opinion, seem then to have constituted him in the popular mind a potent Eugubine spirit, occasionally appearing in human form alive, whose body remained incorruptible at his shrine on Monte Ingino, a great Miracle-worker and Answerer of prayer, and an overpowering Enemy to evil spirits. As re- gards Gubbio itself, the designation "Divus Prcesul"^ satis- factorily denotes his position ; and even general adoration of him is, as we saw above, expressly declared to have been not unfitting upon his death. ^ He seems to be hardly dis- tinguishable from a local or popular demigod, except by his holy character and natural human birth. We find, therefore, that, besides the noble characteristics of his life, which may be admitted as fairly historical, Ubaldo has had allotted to him attributes quite sufficient to account for his high estima- tion or adoration in Gubbio. In recalling the main features of the modern Elevation ^ The varied and protean methods of commingling divine with human faculties in the supernatural persons of Paganism are noticed in Grimm's "Teutonic Mythology." (See especially, in Stallybrass's edition, 1882, vol. i. pp. 340-344. 383. 384-) 2 See "Gloria Postuma," para. 13, 14, 20. The abbreviation D. occurs frequently in the same part of the book. 2 " Gloriosissimi Numinis " and "Meritis seu precibus tanti Numinis." * "Divum Prsesulem." See "Act. Sanct., Glor. Post.," para. 20 (citing Rosino of the Lateranian Lycseum). '' "Act. Sanct., Vita S. Ubaldi,-" cap. iii. para. 21. 46 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. and Procession of the Ceri, the first point to note is its distinctness from the Church observances. As regards time, the Saint seems to anticipate by at least a portion of his celebration the day of his ecclesiastical feast ;^ while, as regards place, the civic and clerical Processions take opposite directions in making their circuits through the town, and only meet at one point. No Priest accompanies the Ceri, though these structures carry figures of three Christian Saints. The only Sacerdotal function observed in the whole performance, unless we so account the Bishop's presence with the clergy, and grace said, at the social Pranzo del Cero, is the curious blessing by the Bishop when the Churchmen pass the throng, and the Ceri start on their final career. Still another point of difference is the speed. No contrast could be more strange than that between the solemn steps of the Ecclesiastics and the frantic dash of the Ceraioli. The impression thus created is one of some surprise at a dual commemoration of the same Saint. It is true, the Ceri are not actually discountenanced. The Bishop sits, or even presides, at the Tavola; elevates the Host in presence of the Ceri and their attendants ; the two Pro- cessions greet each other ; the goal or home of the Ceri is the Christian Monastery of Sant Ubaldo upon his Hill. But the spectator's remark is inevitable that, though coun- tenanced by the Church, the Elevation and Procession of the Ceri are no part of her own celebrations. Another noteworthy feature of the observance lies in the number Three, and I do not propose to embark on a voyage so vain as the explanation of it. No doubt the world is quite full of examples where this mysterious number seems engraven on the mind and heart of man. From the most ^ It is possible that, by counting the Saint's feast-day to commence at Vespers, the second part of the day's work falls within the feast-day as ob- served in Italy. (See the observations in the "Acta Sanctorum," Mail 3, as to this very day, May 15-16, where the case of S. Francis of Siena is under review.) But the " tavole" and the first circuits of the Ceri through all parts of the town, are marked features of the 15th itself, before Vespers. Number IV. A Gkoup of Ceraioli at Gubbio ; after the Pranzo : 15 May, 1896. Analysis of the Foregoing Materials. 47 abstruse doctrines of theology, to the meanest arts of witchcraft, or the irresponsible maxims of luck, the number Three has a potency all its own. Nevertheless, the marked prominence and particular application of it, in this festival, demand attention. There are three Ceri. One bears the little figure of Sant Ubaldo, who leads when the three are assembled. San Giorgio, the mounted knight, patron of traders ; and Sant Antonio (with fire in his hand), patron of countrymen, complete a trio inevitably reminding us of the divine and semi-divine triads which were so common and so variously constituted in ancient Egypt. For almost every town or locality in that country might be said to have its own selection of three among a host of known gods and demi-gods.^ The old religion of the Hindus exhibits, again, a Trinity or a Triad, which is curiously multiplied ^ by eleven, giving a total of thirty-three gods. And Grimm tells us that three divinities, to be jointly worshipped, were a feature of German heathenism.^ Here in Umbria even the mighty Sant Ubaldo is assisted, on this day at least,* by the services of two subordinates, each better known now to the great world than he is himself, though possessing powers here perhaps less large than his own.^ Again, the number Three, for the most part, is observed in the strange turnings of the Ceri at those places to which particular attention is paid ; for they generally move round three times. And I was told that the Ceraioli 1 Cf. Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii. pp. 512-515. 2 Monier Williams, "Hinduism" (1877), p. 25. ' Vol. i. p. 109. Cf. also his remarks on triads of heroes, ibid., p. 395. * Apropos of this day's place in the calendar, it may be noted by the way that the Saint died at Pentecost, a season which is followed in the next week by Trinity Sunday. ^ The particular Triad, however, seen on the Saint's day, is composed otherwise than the Triad once invoked, according to the "Gloria Postuma," on behalf of 400 captives, to whose eyes they appeared. (See para. 45.) But that host doubtless consisted of travellers from various districts; and it is expressly stated that they invoked the Saints they specially affected : the Duke of Urbino naming the Virgin of Loreto, S. Ubaldo, and S. Francesco. 48 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri. partook of three successive meals at different hours of the day, which, according to proper form, should be taken in their different companies. The division into three com- panies corresponds with the three guilds concerned, and with the Triad of Saints. The combined Procession halts three times regularly. Another feature is the division of the whole celebration into two parts, the Ceri making first their independent visits, and then remaining for some time at rest in the street before executing the final Procession. Naturally this, as well as the three meals themselves, may have reference merely to the needs of the bearers or Ceraioli for food and rest. But I expect to show that a parallel for this division exists elsewhere. We must also bear in mind the captains, as well as hatchet-bearers and musicians ; and the conspicuous revolutions withershins. > But the most unusual characteristic is the Cero itself. In popular speech it gives its name to the day. It is remarkable in form and height, like some portable two- storeyed obelisk. It is made of wood, and decorated with tendrilled arabesque, exhibiting also, in one case at least, a small human face, and a small crossbar with a tiny orb upon it. In its course through the city, the Cero, or the Saint whose image it bears, is at some houses saluted with a shower of green twigs and flowers. It is not drawn by horses, but carried by a multitude of devoted bearers.^ Whether at rest or in movement, both before and after its elevation, the Cero is, among the inhabitants as well as to strangers, manifestly an object of the greatest interest. The names Iguvium ^ or Eugubium for the city, and Ingino for the hill, cannot fail to attract the philologist. Notwith- standing a suspicion that the Umbrian people may be 1 This may be due either to the steepness of the streets in Gubbio and of the road up Monte Ingino, or to some feeling that horsed carriages would be inappropriate and unworthy of the burden. ^ Some other forms, among many, are Ikuvium, Agobbio. See Moroni's " Dizionario," article "Gubbio." Analysis of the Foregoing Materials 49 Celtic, and as much estranged from the Teuton stock as one of their ancient ceremonies shows they were hostile to their neighbours the Tuscans,^ I must still point out the resemblance, possibly a mere coincidence, possibly a relation- ship, of Iguvium, Ingino, to the heroic Northern names Ing, Ingo, Inguio, Ingvingar, Inginolt, Ingvi, and Ingwina of Grimm,^ and to the German Ingsevones of Tacitus.^ ^ See Appendix. ^ "Teutonic Mythology" (Stallybrass's edition, 1882), vol. i. pp. 345-349- ' " Germania," 2. IV THE WOODEN CERO OF THE MIDDLE AGES, AND ITS PARENTAGE In suggesting an explanation for the Cero, we have indeed no easy task. Although to the most superficial student of religious and other popular customs that human tendency must be well known, whereby mere accessories of state or of worship attain a dignity out of all proportion to the functions they are credited with, and although artificial light was obviously important to the hidden nocturnal worship of early Christians ; yet it is rather difficult to satisfy ourselves that a process of mere glorification explains the Cero ; and still harder to understand upon any such interpretation why the Saint himself should be perched upon this object. The word Cero has been used with a special signification (which would be apt enough in the present case) to represent an object of coloured wood, made for a great taper, as an offering on S. John's Day in the Church of that Saint at Florence. Certain Ceri were used for lights in celebrating San Francesco of Siena.^ And it appears that many other saints have received the same attention : the Ceri brought to their shrines having been often decorated with ribbons and other ornaments. Such a use in honour of Saints is even crystal- lised into the Italian proverb, " avere un Cero per ogni Santo," which means, "to pay court indiscriminately to every one." Again, the catafalque of a deceased Pope is glorified by four great candelabra. Their form is that of an obelisk, divided at about half its height into an upper and a lower part, and furnished with a square pedestal. If 1 "Acta Sanctorum," Maii, torn. iii. p. 659. 50 Number V. Small Models of the Ceri, made by Giuseppe Magni, AND PLACED IN THE MUNICIPAL MUSEUM, GUBBIO. The Wooden Cero of the Middle Ages 5 1 the candles themselves were removed, and the candelabrum placed upon a barella, it would fairly resemble those three Ceri which are used at Gubbio, not now as candelabra, but as pedestals for the Saints.'^ It is extremely doubtful whether the Christian Church itself tolerated before the third, or even the fourth century, any ceremonial use of candles, torches, or lamps. But martyrs and saints, already in the fifth century, received the honour of special lighted candles ; and funerals were marked by their employment as early as the fourth. In one use at least the Cero was connected with a more important service. The Cero Pasquale is a candle that burns for Eastertide in Itahan churches, and stands at the Gospel end of the high Altar. This is no mere mediaeval custom. In the Benediction of the Paschal Light we seem to encounter one of those passages of religion which, traversing the dark ages, are lost for a space, to reappear in the glimmers of the far-off past. In the sixth century it was regarded, whether justly or not, as a very ancient rite, and some hymn of Prudentius (who flourished in the fourth and fifth) has been supposed, though not without controversy, to illustrate the antiquity of the Cereus Paschalis, which was solemnly blessed first in the greater churches, and afterwards more generally. In the Middle Ages Ceri were constructed from the oblations of the faithful, who would seem to have been also divided into districts, to furnish each a Cero for several holy persons. The Cereus Paschalis had a small tablet fastened to it, in the nature of a calendar, giving the year of the Holy Incarnation, age of the moon, Dominican letter, golden number, year of the living Pope and of the King, and other details, according to ancient custom. This object was possibly related to the five incense-cones we read of, and to the five egg- shaped knobs, arranged roughly in the form of a cross, and 1 See the drawing in Bernard Picart's " Ceremonies et Coutumes " (Amsterdam, 1723), torn, ii., facing page 160. 52 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri attached nowadays to the Paschal Candle in Italy. It was thus anciently the most important light in the church, and also the register of astronomical and social facts. With the passion for symbolism, which survived into the Middle Ages, to confuse all analysis and to obscure history, this Paschal Candlestick, and its benediction on Holy Saturday, have been supposed to represent a double idea, and to recall at once the Pillar of Fire which nightly shone to lead the Israelites through the desert, and also the risen Saviour Himself.^ The antique use of lamps and tapers in various non- Christian observances, the fame of the Jewish candlestick, the survival of Fire-rites to modern times in rural customs, hardly even now distinguishable from Paganism,^ compel us to surmise some connection between the sacred candle of to- day and prehistoric fire ceremonies. In special connection with our own problem, and with considerations to be offered in a later chapter, I will quote a sentence from Grimm : ^ — " There can be no doubt that for some time after the con- version, the people continued to light candles and offer 1 Many other significations attached to candles, tapers, and wax are given by Hone (" Ancient Mysteries," 1823, p. 83) ; and by Brand (" Popular Anti- quities," Ellis's edition, 1890, vol. i. pp. 43, 45). A great amount of infor- mation on this curious subject, Vifell 'worthy of prolonged investigation, is brought together in the article "Cereus" of Ducange, "Glossarium Medise et Infimse Latinitatis" (1883). Compare also Fanfani's "Voca- bolario" (Florence, 1891), "Cero" ; and a long article on "Lights, Ceremo- nial use of," in Smith's "Dictionary of Christian Antiquities" (1880); and Moroni's " Dizionario di Erudizione Storico-ecclesiastica," article " Cereo Pasquale." Whether on account of some ancient tradition, or simply from association with the estimation of the material, or, again (less probably), from the mere plasticity of the wax, this medium has, according to vulgar belief, been chosen to form little images used in necromancy. (See Brand, vol. i. p. 313 ; and compare vol. iii. p. 54; also Grimm, vol. iii. pp. 1091-1093; iv. 162S, 1629; and Davenport] Adams' "Witch, Warlock, and Magician" (1889), pp. 109, 114, 214, 224, 225.) ^ For example, those mentioned by Grimm, vol. i. p. 43, vol. ii. 603, &c.; Brand, vol. i. p. 303. Cf. Frazer's "Golden Bough" (1890), vol. ii. p. 246, &c. ' Vol. ii. p. 649. Nimher VI. Catafalque of a deceased Pope (from Picart). The Wooden Cero of the Middle Ages 53 small sacrifices under particular holy trees, as even to this day they hang wreaths upon them, and lead the ring- dance under them." Whatever the mystical origin of the name "February," whether Februa herself were or were not the first personage honoured by ceremonies of candle-burning in that month, there are excellent grounds for the opinion that an old Pagan custom was converted or consecrated to the service of the Church by way of adoption at "Candlemas." To Pope Sergius I., in the seventh century, has been imputed the credit of making the change. But it is doubtful whether before his time candles were not distributed and carried in Church processions at this season. However, Pope Bene- dict XIV., in the eighteenth century, regarded as almost heretical any other explanation than that the custom had been introduced in order to assimilate the Christian Festival of the Purification to an old Pagan feast. It has, further, been sug- gested that even the Festival of the' Purification itself was founded to supply the place of the abolished heathen festi- vities, whose loss had been felt by the populace.^ Without entering upon the discussion of that deeper question, it ought to be at least noticed that we find in February a rather suggestive analogy with our problem of May. In each case there would seem to have been some application of that wide method noticed hereafter, which we may perhaps call " Gregorian." In each case the recognition of this method will, I think, kindle a torch whose doubtful light may faintly illumine obscure ages. It is difficult to know how far modern modes of thought may have suggested current explanations, and how far popular talk is nowadays to be relied on as reflecting purely traditional opinion. But I will set down the results 1 See Brand's " Popular Antiquities" (Bohn), vol. i. p. 44 ; Smith's "Dic- tionary of Christian Antiquities " (1880), article " Mary." The writer of that article, while himself perceiving a commemorative and symbolic origin for the observances, gives some authorities for the view of adaptation. 54 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri of inquiry made among residents and also visitors then in Gubbio. One idea was that the Ceri were used as hollow cases for wax. According to another view, they were anciently warlike trophies or emblems. Harmonious with this was an opinion also expressed, that such trophies had a general character formerly common to others used else- where. That they still commemorate an ancient triumph is one of the traditions put forward by the inhabitants, among whom I also found one suggestion, that before Ubaldo's time they bore on their tops some unknown objects of Pagan worship. Lucarelli's history ^ inclines, as before remarked, to the view that the observance itself arose with the victory of the Eugubines in 1154. The "Polimetro" mentioned in our account of the Ceremonies gives no decided interpreta- tion. But Professor Alessandro Reggiani, head of the Ginnasio and Technical School of Gubbio, who most kindly gave me in conversation the benefit of his study and thought upon Eugubine history, attributes to the Ceri a Pagan source. He thinks that they replace the antique pedestals which supported figures of gods in the temples, and were carried into the fields for an annual Lustration; and also that these took their very name from Ceres (to an agricultural people the most important of an old triad),^ a view, by the way, which has some parallel in the protective boundary-stones of antiquity, called Hermse by the Greeks. After the establishment of Christianity, some kindred objects bore a slightly different, though still protective, character. Before Ubaldo's days there were perpetual local struggles, especially with Perugia. Gubbio itself was then divided into districts or regions, whereof the chief or most warlike were named Ingino, San Giorgio, and Sant Antonio. Each of these had a war-standard, comparable in function with the wondrous Carroccio or great car, so common, and held so sacred, in the Middle Ages. The ensigns used for the •^ Meraorie, p. 137. ^ Ceres, Bacchus, Apennine Jove. The Wooden Cero of the Middle Ages 55 various districts of Gubbio were not, he maintains, actually cars, but were of the nature of the high Antenna or Albero, ordinarily the central feature of any such Carroccio. Upon these structures were borne aloft, as representative of the three principal quarters, the figures of San Francesco,'^ San Giorgio, Sant Antonio. Now one of Ubaldo's great feats was performed in the struggle against Perugia, or rather against the league of eleven cities, whereof Perugia was one. Ubaldo advised the Eugubines to issue in two bodies from opposite ends of the town, and attack the allies on both flanks. The manceuvre was crowned with a famous success. And after Ubaldo's death, his memory and power were accounted so great in Gubbio, that this Saint was even- tually placed, instead of San Francesco, upon the Cero or Albero of the Ingino region. Whatever were the origin of these Alberi, there seems to be no inherent objection to this view of their use in the Middle Ages. And it is easy to imagine, some guild specially interesting itself in the standard of that region which it happened to be most concerned with; so that the Muratori, for instance, may easily have taken over, if they did not always possess, responsibility for the Cero of Sant Ubaldo, or of the Ingino quarter, and have been careful that, so far as it was concerned, the Summer Festival of Gubbio suffered no loss of pomp. The service of the other two Ceri, which supported the figures of Holy Protectors for Merchants and for Countrymen, would, in accordance with mediaeval ideas, be equally appropriate to guilds formed in connection with these several pursuits, or composed of resi- dents in particular regions. A very picturesque and suggestive description of the Antenna, and- indeed of the entire Carroccio used at Siena in time of war, is given in the Biography of " Catharine of Siena," by Josephine Butler.^ That writer, who cites ^ Not, of course, San Francesco d'Assisi, who lived later even than Sant Ubaldo. ^ 1894, PP- 51. 52- 56 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri Tommasi's " Historia di Siena," says that the Antenna " rose from the centre of the car to a great height, upon which floated the standard of the republic, with its device of a golden lion, not rampant, but marching forward ; a fitting device, ' for these intrepid artisans were never known to flee.' Lower down, about the middle of the Antenna, a Christ upon the Cross, with outspread arms, seems to bless the army. A kind of platform in the front of the car was reserved for the most valiant soldiers, told off for its defence ; behind was another plat- form for the trumpeters and musicians. An act of re- ligious consecration and worship was celebrated upon the car before it left the city, and white-robed priests accom- panied it to the battle-field. ... It was looked upon with superstitious reverence, and by a law of the republic a lamp was caused to burn night and day before the car which bore the destinies of the people. ..." The elaborate semi- religious, semi-military nature of this object is, in the pas- sage I have quoted from, conspicuously brought out; and its potency in the eyes of the people is compared with the awe felt by the Hebrews for their ark. Among the pictures that hang in the passage connecting the Pitti with the Uffizi at Florence are several, probably belonging to the seventeenth century, which illustrate the displays of that era in Italy.^ We cannot, indeed, recog- nise in these representations of civic pageants and entertain- ments at Siena and at Florence the actual likeness of our Eugubine Cero ; but among the objects represented in pro- cession there are certain large hearse-like cars, surmounted by curious devices; and also, in the Florentine pageants, huge branched candelabra and other large candles, some borne by one man, others on a barella by two. Considerable light on the subject of our inquiry is shed by descriptions of the anciently gorgeous festival of San Gio- vanni at Florence, where both Ceri and Cars were conspicuous ^ The pictures are numbered 147, 1032, 1041, and others. The Wooden Cero of the Middle Ages 57 objects. An interesting account of this festival is contained in " L'Osservatore Fiorentino," ^ whose chief authority there- on is Goro Dati, a writer that flourished about 1400. The towers called Ceri, there used, were displayed on the Piazza dei Signori. They seem to have had a good deal in common with those we have observed in Gubbio. They were car- ried, some on little cars, and some by bearers. They were made of timber, paper, and wax, decorated in gold and colours, but hollow; and men stood within them to turn them round.2 With them, or upon them, were armed men, mounted or on foot, and sometimes girls dancing. On the top there were carved figures of animals and birds, various sorts of trees, fruits, and other delightful objects. The quotation states that these Ceri, whose appearance was that of golden towers, were a tribute paid by the most ancient Floren- tine dominions to San Giovanni.^ They were set up in the church next day, and so remained through the year. After them came vast quantities of large wax tapers [cerotti grandi), from ten to a hundred pounds weight, ahght, and carried by the country folk who offered them. And yet another magnificent Cero followed, carried on a richly-decorated car, drawn by two oxen and escorted by a great number of gentlemen of the Mint and others, with small wax torches 1 Vol. vi. (1821), p. 3, &c. ^ George Eliot devotes a thoughtful paragraph to these " towers," which, according to her, " having their origin perhaps in a confused combination of the tower-shaped triumphal car which the Romans borrowed from the Etrus- cans, with a kind of hyperbole for the all-efficacious wax taper, were also called Ceri." — "Romola," chap. viii. ' In a cautious footnote the editor of the " Osservatore Fiorentino " indicates how obscure was the origin of the custom. In the seventh century, when the Lombard kingdom accepted the religious protection of S. John the Baptist, Florence was but a small place. Becoming a centre for the govern- ment of nobles, and then of bishops, it was here that the splendid annual donations were brought to the official Saint Protector by subject communes in the neighbourhood. These tributes were continued when Florence became a great mercantile state, and the diverse communes were in the thirteenth century still represented by their gifts and their own banners, in the pompous fashion of that period. 58 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri of one pound weight in their hands. The procession in- cluded, among many other individuals, the Priors and the Colleges with their officers, the " Potesta, Capitano, ed Esecu- tore," attended by pompous retinue and loud music. The day was observed in the city with great jubilation, feasting, and dancing. Our author quotes again'- a passage from Montaigne, present at that festival in 1580, when all seemed to be done in honour of the Grand Duke. He remarks specially on a curious procession of ragged boys with broken-down horses, a silver cup, and torn banners, who paid no respect what- ever to the great man, and whose performance was a joke. He refers to a four-sided pyramid of wood on a car, support- ing on various steps or stages a number of children attired as angels and saints, and at the very top one representing San Giovanni himself^ A remarkable sentence is that where the famous French visitor speaks of the free ad- mission, for this day, of the Contadini into the Grand Ducal Palace, and the unlimited diversion which was allowed them therein.^ Here he believes to be visible the shadow of lost liberty, which the people thus refreshed from year to year. The " Osservatore " alludes to buffooneries practised about Y 15 14 on the 22nd of June, two days before the actual feast of San Giovanni : buffooneries which he compares to those Fools' Feasts,* that found not only tolerance, but encourage- ment, at the hands of the clergy themselves. Notwithstand- 1 " Osservatore," vol. vi. p. 8, &c. ^ If this be the Carro della Zecca, another authority, spealiing of an earlier period, tells us that on the top of this was a man of inferior sort representing San Giovanni (some having even alleged that the character was supported by a liberated criminal). This personage had ten lire, and also a luncheon, given him from the windows of a house. He ate and drank what he liked, and threw the remains, with the glass, to the crowd below. (" Le Feste di S. Giovanni in Firenze," per G. A. (Florence, 1877), pp. 20, 21.) " Indeed, according to a footnote in the " Osservatore," the people danced there both on the Vigil, and also after luncheon on the Festival day itself. ■' Fools' Feasts have been held at the beginning of January. But the 1st of May, like the better known ist of April, has been used in England as a day for "making fools " of people. Compare Brand, vol. i. pp. 15, 135, 219. The Wooden Cero of the Middle Ages 59 ing these features, which might perhaps be accounted symptoms of decay, the festival appears to have survived in sufficient vigour to be "reformed" in 1766. However, the grandeur of San Giovanni's feast has now passed away. The cars and other curious objects were destroyed amid the troubles that marked the early part of the present century. But at Gubbio still survives a little of the grotesque civic dignity which doubtless many Summer Festivals once pos- sessed, but which an inevitable intellectual change has lightly condemned as puerility or superstition. A careful history of the San Giovanni festivities at Florence was printed by the "Tipografia dell' Arte della Stampa" in that town in 1 877.^ The author traces back these festivities to 1084. Citing Villani and Borghini, he enumerates in detail various tributes in kind, levied, according to him, by Florentines upon their conquered possessions, for the benefit of their church of San Giovanni. Among these, the Castello di Monte Catini had to offer annually for the festival a rich Cero, with the figure of the castle — a liability of similar sort being borne by three other places. The writer states that in 1336 there was wax offered to the weight of 3657 pounds. A curious point to observe is that the historians often men- tion the Cero along with a Carro or other striking feature of the procession. The former seems, at least in 1370, to have been generally the gift or tribute of a Commune, while that of a Nobleman or Family was frequently not a Cero but a Palio, or piece of rich stuff for a canopy.^ We must suppose that the Wax, or indeed the Cero, was rather the religious gift; the Car, Castle, or Banner being even- tually regarded as a token of political subjection, and annually paraded in company with others of the same sort at the great local festival of the summer, 1 "Le Feste di San Giovanni," by G. A. 2 See the list quoted from a Register in the State Archives, and printed by Cesare Guasti (" Le Feste di San Giovanni Batista in Firenze " (Florence, 1884), pp. 17, 18). 6o Elevation and Procession of the Ceri With just hesitation, Brand ^ assigns to the celebrations of S. John's or Midsummer Eve the " Aid stok image . . . Quhilk has been usit mony one yeir bigone, With priestis and freris, into processioun Siclyke as Bal was borne through Babilon." Its annual perambulation of Edinburgh in old days he quotes from Sir David Lyndesay; and he says plainly he cannot rank it in any other class. Nor will the reader be disinclined to this view, if he associate with it (and with the Florentine Summer structures) another ceremony given just afterwards by Brand, which (also without a certain classification) he inserts in his chapter on Midsummer Eve. This is a custom which formerly prevailed at Dunkirk and Douay " on a certain holiday in the year," to build up an immense figure of basketwork and canvas, to the height of forty or fifty feet, painted and dressed to represent a huge giant, but containing a number of living men within it, who raised the same, and caused it to move from place to place?- The authority he cites, Dr. Milner, says we have here a plain trace of Druidical sacrifices. He also mentions a popular tradition, which is indeed most suggestive as to the genesis or pro- pagation of tales that concern religious victory and defeat. For the story says that the figure represents a Pagan Giant, who used to devour the inhabitants of these places, until he was killed by the patron Saint of the same. If the kaleido- scopic forms of symbolism and metaphor can be seriously admitted as decorating or enshrining historical truth, this is so only on condition that we translate the terms as well as we now can into those of common-sense. And the tale may be an episode in the long struggle between religions, when Christianity overcame its predecessor in Flanders : a view put forward plainly enough in the passage referred to. ' Or his editor, Ellis, " Popular Antiquities," Bohn's edition, vol. i. p. 328. 2 Probably that of 7th July at Douay. Cf. "The Golden Bough," vol. ii. p. 280. The Wooden Cera of the Middle Ages 6i Teutonic and Gallic customs seem to furnish an actual bridge, connecting these doubtful objects with very early times. The gods, whose images were carried over the fields to give fertility, were not gazed on by the people ; for the images were covered. The passage where Grimm ^ draws a parallel between such Pagan processions and those of the later Carroccio, alludes to Tacitus' description of the car that enclosed and hid the Earth-goddess. The Langobardi, the Reudigni, Angli, and others are the tribes named in this connection by Tacitus. The Latin writer, in his account of those ceremonies, mentions the consecrated vehicle, drawn by yoked cows, the ablution of the goddess and chariot in a secret lake, the swallowing up of the slaves that attend her thither, but (apparently against our com- parison) the actual seclusion of weapons during the festivi- ties. This last feature,^ however, coupled with the mention of the " Castum Nemus " on her island home, indicates for the Northern worship of the Earth-goddess more than a mere vestige of tree-worship. Tree-worship, or the cultus of the divinity that commands vegetation, is traceable in many religions. And I try to show in another part of this essay that a recognition of this fact directly elucidates the study of the Ceri. Whether I am right or not, Grimm, who in the passage named does not specially mention tree-worship, says that even the Karrdschen of mediaeval poetry, with Saracen gods in them, and the Carroccio of the Lombard cities, seem to be nothing but a late reminiscence of the primitive gods' waggons of heathenism ; and remarks that the Roman, Greek, and Indian gods too were not without such carriages.^ The 1 Grimm's "Teutonic Mythology" (Stallybrass), vol. i. pp. io6, 107. 2 The words are : " Non bellum ineunt, non armatsumunt ; clausum omne lerrum ; pax et quies tunc . . ." &c.— " Germania," 40. 3 In another place Grimm remarks on the distinction between the most ancient and dignified of the Greek gods who rode in waggons or chariots, and the gods represented as exercising horsemanship at a late stage of Teutonic mythology. He evidently considers that in earlier times the Teutonic gods also drove rather than rode (vol. i. pp. 327-329- Cf. also ibid., p. 336). 62 Elevation and Processioit of the Ceri covering or obscuring of the image, so that the people saw not its exact form, is a point relevant to our inquiry. For, not only does it explain reasonably, by some simple and ancient integument, the gifts of stuff for canopies at Florence, but it perhaps associates, even by its hiding of detail, the sacred images of old with the Antenna of the Carroccio itself, with the gigantic portable Cero of Gubbio, and finally with the acknowledged May emblems to be con- sidered presently. Bearing in mind the extraordinary readiness of the human intellect to explain custom by story, and to enliven unques- tioned observances by the notion of honouring individuals, we may interpret the enthusiasm wherewith the historians of the "Acta Sanctorum,"seeing before them an extant festival, dwell on the recorded illuminations, and on the immense expendi- ture of candles in the year of Sant Ubaldo's death. Those historians seem equally ready to accept the multifarious miracles of Ubaldo, the peaceful influence of the Saint in life and death, and the profuse jubilation of his mourners. But we may fairly look at the festival as a whole, and con- sider whether to the death of that noble Bishop we need trace all the striking features of a summer festival not very unhke that of San Giovanni at Florence. It is true that one of the traditions in Gubbio indicates that formerly the Ceri were used as hollow cases for a quantity of wax. Nor do I see any reason to doubt this. Grimm, though not in reference to the Ceri, expresses the view that small Lares of heathen worship passed over into little home-sprites of box- wood, and in the guise of sport may have been tolerated by Christian sentiment. He cites an authority for these having been perhaps also made of any soft substance, clay, wax, or flour-paste.^ Wax dolls were long ago put into the card- board or papier-macM Ceri at Florence, to the amusement of the children.^ Fire has, we know, been strangely associ- ' Grimm, vol. i. p. 501, and note. 2 Cf. " Le Feste," &c., by G. A. (1877), P- 19- The Wooden Cero of the Middle Ages 63 ated not only with the mediaeval form of Christianity, but with other and older religions. Wax was an appropriate offering for a great ecclesiastical festival, especially for one so near the season of the Summer Fires,^ when the offices of the Church might desirably outshine the brilliancy of Pagan worship. And the practice of honouring saints by gift of torches has been already alluded to. The existing name Cero seems to recall some such use. And though we may assign to this curious object another origin than this, it is quite reasonable to suppose that at Gubbio in the Middle Ages the structure we encounter as a Cero was actually employed as a torch-tribute or as a wax-tribute. It matters not greatly whether it was or could be lighted, or whether it was only accounted and reputed as a repre- sentation or receptacle of the fuel offered by the devout. Upon the whole, it is possible enough that the Ceri of Gubbio had long ago the nature of the Antenna or Albero (constituting, or else supporting, the insignia, the dignity, or even the potent protective amulet of special regions, villages, countries, or tribes) ; and that they were produced and paraded, as at Florence, in annual procession on an important day of festival and of tribute-paying, when the great mass of people were assembled together. Maybe the ' Respecting these fires, which are well known, Grimm has the following remark : " Easter Fires, Mayday Fires, Midsummer Fires, with their numerous ceremonies, carry us back to heathen sacrifices " (vol. i. p. 43). See also his valuable and abundant information on the great subjects of Need Fire, New Fire, Beltein and other fires, in vol. ii. pp. 601-630. The truth as to Summer Fires has been subjected to the confusions of symbolism. A quotation from the Homily "De Festo Sancti Johannis Baptistae " is given by Brand, and runs thus : "Also the people made biases of fyre, for that they shulde be scene farre, and specyally in the nyght, in token of St. Johan's having been seen from far in the spirit by Jeremiah " ("Popular Antiquities," vol. i. pp. 299, 300). Dr. Milner says these fires allude to the Precursor's character of " bearing witness to the light," and of his being himself a "bright and shining light" {ibid., pp. 304, 305). It is in the interest of knowledge to be much regretted that the effort to unite by means of symbolism the rude remains of a barbarous religion with the noble conceptions of a polite one, should lead so far from truth and approach so near to absurdity. Gallic Councils forbade a similar fire -custom {ibid., p. 303). 64 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri Church, in the day of her might, had adopted and tried to sanctify these Ceri, possibly even conferred upon them that name. At any rate, it would be natural enough for the people in course of years, under the influence of the Church, animated by the memory of Ubaldo's triumphs, or enthralled by the increasing fame of his posthumous miracles, to accord him not only the chief honour of the great summer procession, but even a position surmounting the principal Cero. On the other hand, it would be some- what difficult to see any full explanation of the whole ceremony I have before described, if we accounted the Ceri of Gubbio to be in origin only torches (which they do not much resemble) bearing saints' figures aloft where the flames should be. Probably several stone obelisks in Rome, now surmounted by crosses, were never constructed to support that particular emblem. The policy at Gubbio was most likely parallel or analogous to that at Rome. It is not irrational, then, to surmise that we have here both the antique military standard, and the ecclesiastical idea of a wax gift, combined in one object ; and that the principal Cero has exchanged any device, or possibly flame, that anciently crowned it, for the figure of some saint, and finally for that of Ubaldo, the latest potent Miracle- worker, and now the acknowledged Protector of Gubbio. If this be so, a similar explanation may be suggested for the other two Ceri, as formerly representing two important regions, and now supported by two societies or guilds ; while the uncertain seniority of the figureheads, San Giorgio^ and Sant Antonio,^ who are at Gubbio placed behind their junior, Sant Ubaldo, may possibly indicate a still earlier Triad of special Protectors, consisting of these two and another leader, equal if not superior to their own great dignity among saints.^ The foregoing considerations are ^ Fourth century. ' Third and fourth centuries, ifCoR Hermit (questionable). ^ One change, analogous to that suggested, certainly occurred in the ecclesiastical protectorship of Gubbio, the martyrs SS. Mariano and Giacomo The Wooden Cero of the Middle Ages 65 submitted to the reader certainly in no spirit of assertion. The facts before us, though very striking, are meagre. I can only trust that they, and the views suggested, may be of some little use towards elucidating a very difficult subject. One curious feature of the Ceri ceremonies must by no means be overlooked. The "First Captain," who is mounted, and wears a black dress-coat and cocked-hat, is the virtual commander of the day. He regulates the procession. He is responsible for the important Pranzo of Ubaldo. Though, in modern times, he claims no other control or jurisdiction beyond the corps of Ceraioli and the general order of the proceedings, yet he evidently receives the greatest consideration from all inhabitants of the place. His office looks like the contemporary relic of an ancient command. His title of Captain itself arouses doubts. For the word was of old used with various meanings. Does he, for instance, merely represent the Captain of a mediaeval guild ? Upon inquiry at Gubbio, one finds that he is indeed technically Captain of the society of " Muratori " and " Scarpellini." Each year, on the day of the Ceri, the lot is drawn for the Captaincy of the next ensuing year, which fact would seem to bear trace of a twelve months' tour of duty. But, from the authority he now exercises over the great Procession, and indeed over the secular proceedings of the day, it may be surmised, though less confidently, that he combines with Captaincy of the Society of Masons the more striking functions of the ancient Capitano del Popolo. In 1258, soon after Gubbio had adopted the democratic or republican form of government then generally fashionable, such an office was established. The Capitano del Popolo had the duty of protecting the people from the aggression of the nobles, of leading the militia in war-time, and of quelling tumults ; (cf. Giampaoli, ii. 46) having sometime relinquished that honour in favour of Sant Ubaldo. Compare also the change at Nola from S. Felix to S. Paulinus (see Trede, " Heidentum in der romischen Kirche," i. 48). E 66 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri his functions being comparable to those of a Roman tribune. As such, it would not surprise us to find him controlling the populace, and even organising the Procession, at a season of so much excitement as that we are considering. One may, however, suspect that the First Captain at Gubbio to- day adds to one, or even to both, of these offices (if he do indeed represent them) the more remarkable dignity of still a third. There was at Gubbio in old days an ofScial who enjoyed the station and title of Contestabile or Constable. Though exceeding the power of our own antique Petty Constables, and perhaps in nature, though not in extent, even that of a Lord High Constable under the Kings of England or France, the authority of the Eugubine Constable was singular for the extremely short period of its exercise. And here the office certainly approaches the present Captaincy of our observances. For it was precisely at the Festival of Sant Ubaldo that this great personage wielded power. On the I2th or 13th of May in each year he was elected, and held his office for twelve days. He must be of gentle birth. He exercised a sort of military dictator- ship for that short period, assuming even the administra- tion of justice. Lucarelli, using some older authority, says "diventava insomma un vero sovrano assoluto."^ The account quoted by Giampaoli,^ of the gorgeous Ubaldo festival of 1761, says that the fair began as usual on the 14th of May, lasting till the 26th.* And it is quite plain from that history how powerful and how important had this intercalated office remained even to a date so near our own times. It was abolished in 1808, though revived temporarily a few years later. But it seems per- missible to find to-day in the lesser glories of the Primo Capitano, a rough parallel with the grandeur of an official ' "Memorie," p. 48, note. " "Sant Ubaldo," vol. ii. pp. 230, &c. ^ In that year of special celebration, " isoliti ceri" were carried to Ubaldo's Church on the l6th. Heavy rain on the 15th caused a great Procession to be deferred. See Giampaoli, ibid., pp. 231, 232. The Wooden Cero of the Middle Ages 67 who, like some responsible Lord of Misrule, received in by- gone times large powers of government at this special season of jubilation, active trade, and much concourse of people. The strangeness of the office, whether or not it still survive in this form, indicated a very extraordinary custom. And one is tempted to look still further afield, as one won- ders whether the conservative and enthusiastic Eugubines treasured here some local or tribal usage, too strong for the constitution-makers of the Middle Ages to replace, and therefore favoured by authority, like the revelry and even buffoonery noticed in the Florentine festival.^ At any rate, a sword-girt chief still holds considerable sway in Gubbio each 15 th of May, and he still has the assist- ance of a second Captain, who perhaps corresponds to a certain alfiere, or ensign, mentioned by Lucarelli in his account of the Contestabile. Concioli alludes to a guard of twenty-five soldiers, who kept order during the Ubaldo festivities.^ Lastly, in connection with the Captain and his special command of the organized Ceraioli, reference should be made to those great bodies of men enrolled in a semi- military fashion at Florence in May-time during the thir- teenth and fourteenth centuries at least. Their function was to direct or create festivity and amusement in the several regions they belonged to, and these are said to ' In England, Shrove-tide and Christmas appear to have afforded examples of somewhat analogous intercalary government. The English evidence of the custom, hovfever, is almost confined to the farces played by learned societies (see Brand, vol. i. pp. 65, ^o, 71, 497, &c.). Where absurdity and dramatic nonsense are acknowledged, much caution must be used in the interpretation of the mock ceremonies, which may have sometimes a less direct ancestry than the serious pomp of churches and kingdoms, or the enduring festivals of rustics. Bearing this in mind, one instance of a practice formerly observed at the Inner Temple must be mentioned in connection with our subject. Brand quotes it from Dugdale's " Origines Judiciales." "Supper ended, the Constable-Marshall presented himself with drums afore |him, mounted upon a scaffold borne by four men, and goeth three times round about the harthe crying out aloud, ' a lord, a lord,' &c." (" Popular Antiquities," vol. i. p. 499). This was a farcical Lord of Misrule. ^ " Statuta civitatis Eugubii " (1685), Liber i., Rubrica iii. 68 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri have come sometimes to actual battle with each other. Among them were mock Emperors, Kings, or Dukes ;^ and one cannot help suspecting that here again we have a hint at some ancient liberty lost, or even some nationality ostensibly obliterated, though annually revived and re- called by permission of the authorities.^ That tireless collector, Brand,^ gleans from a pamphlet the suggestion or statement, uncorroborated though it be, that our English ancestors held an anniversary assembly on May-day ; and that the " Column of May " (whence our May-pole) was the great Standard of Justice * in the Ey-Commons, or Fields of May. Here it was that the people, if they saw cause, deposed their Governors, their Barons, and their Kings. Be this as it may, the Diet, or Tag, of the German Empire used to meet specially in spring-time for general business, legislation, conclusion of alliances, proscription ' Cf. "'Le Feste di San Giovanni in Firenze," per G. A., p. 13. ' Martial shows, and even mock battles, have distinguished many a northern May-day (see Brand, vol. i. pp. 215-229, and 244-246, also 257, 258). Again, the " Marching Watch," an extra levy of two thousand besides the ordinary watch, used to be organised in London for S. John Baptist's Eve and S. Peter's Eve, probably to prevent disorders. A kindred muster was made at Nottingham, wherein the watchmen wore garlands like imperial crowns (ibid., pp. 326-329). Notwithstanding all this quasi-military organisa- tion, an English poem, also quoted by Brand in reference to the Maypole, calls it "the rod of peace," and will curiously remind the reader of the reconciliation which Ubaldo's death (in May) is said to have effected between town and country. For one stanza runs thus : — " The lords of castles, manners, townes, and towers, Rejoic'd when they beheld the farmers flourish, And would come downe unto the summer bowers To see the country gallants dance the morrice." The poem as a whole, while ridiculing the notion that an idolatry was here perpetuated, singularly supports the view put forward in this essay (see Brand, vol. i. pp. 239, 240). ' Vol. i. p. 245. ' * The most curious idol in the whole world, I daresay, was that Dumb Borsholder, also mentioned by Brand (vol. i. pp. 220, 22 1 ), which acted as an Officer of Justice with a small authority over fifteen houses in Chart. It was made of wood, about three feet long, with an iron ring at the top, four at its sides, and a spike below to fix it into the ground. Its name was answered at roll-call by its keeper in the Court Leet of Twyford. The Wooden Cera of the Middle Ages 69 of rebels, and confirmation of fiefs; the autumn session being merely administrative and financial. The writer on this subject in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica"! seeks its origin in the National Assembly, which was a common insti- tution of the Teutonic race. Whencesoever the old Etrus- cans and Umbrians may have severally sprung, the season of the year, the features recorded of the Florentine festival, and those still visible in the Eugubine, suggest that in the modern display at Gubbio we have, under fantastic guise, the remains of an old free tribal or national gathering, where the wooden column, now called the Cero, was held in especial honour. Brand's collection includes a few quotations ^ from writers who regarded the Lord of Misrule as merely the head and chief of Saturnalian or Bacchanalian revels. I cannot think that, had the works of Faber, of Grimm, of Max Miiller, of Tylor, and of Frazer, been already written in the last cen- tury, the philosophic views of custom which Brand's preface discloses * would have been limited to the Papal or to the ancient Roman forms of religion. It is indeed useless, wrong, and very conceited to propound what anybody " would " have said had " he known " what " we know." But I think one great excellence of Brand's work, edited and extended by Ellis, consists in the impartiality of the collection. And I do not find in it either a statement which actually proves, or an opinion which really damages the views I suggest, while many of the plain facts throw great light upon our problem. So far, however, as we have yet inquired, it would seem that objects like these Ceri, associated in the Middle Ages with the ideas of wax tributes and of military ensigns, still lack a definite parentage, which would fully harmonise these two notions and also account for the peculiarities of the annual observance. ^ Vol. vii. (1877), g. 199. "^ At pp. 500, 501 of vol. i. * Ibid., pp. ix-xv. V MAY AND SUMMER TREE-FESTIVALS Strangely enough, when we pass from the mediaeval aspect of these Ceri to consider present country observances of indefinite antiquity, the comparison of our festival with these becomes still more striking and suggestive, even if less sure, than the parallel we find with Florentine proces- sions. In that great city of the Renaissance the very spirit of gorgeous display may easily have obliterated or altered valuable traces of continuity. At any rate, the reader will, I believe, agree with me in thinking very remarkable a few features common to the festival of the Ceri and some per- sistent rural ceremonies. It seems correct to say generally ^ that, about the middle of May, a custom exists in many places of parading through towns and villages a May-pole, or even a figure of a Man clothed with green boughs, who in some way is supposed to benefit his fellow-creatures. Our own British " Jack-in-the- Green," so rare now as to be almost forgotten, is an in- stance of the observance become quite grotesque, and to the peasants themselves generally devoid of definite mean- ing. These customs indeed are not, and were not, confined to May, but in many countries were followed in various forms at various seasons of the year. May, Whitsuntide, and Midsummer were, however, especially marked out by nature for a cultus nearly connected with the annual growth of vegetation, and were adopted by mankind for ceremonies related to Sympathetic Magic. ^ In these paragraphs I have drawn upon the large stores of exact informa- tion scientifically digested in Mr. Frazer's " Golden Bough " (London, 1890). 70 May and Summer Tree-Festivals 7 1 A tree itself was anciently regarded sometimes as the body, sometimes as merely the home of the tree-spirit, whose manifold powers for good it was sought to enlist. For the tree-spirits gave rain and sunshine, made the crops to grow, caused herds to multiply, and blessed women with offspring. Among some nations the wellbeing of cattle is peculiarly under the power of good and evil tree-spirits, which are represented annually by trees or images. And the cutting of a May-tree, which is then set up in the village, brings home to the inhabitants the blessings of the spirit. In some places the village May-tree is actually planted before every dwelling, or carried from door to door, so that every household may receive its share of these blessings. On the Thursday before Whitsunday the Russian villagers cut down a young birch-tree which they dress in woman's clothes or deck with ribbons; after this they feast, and then take it home to the village with song and dance. It is set up in one of the houses as an honoured guest, remaining till Whitsunday. It is then thrown into a stream, probably as a rain - charm. About Zabern, in Alsace, a man in a white shirt, his face blackened, goes about with a large May- tree before him, the others of the band carrying smaller ones. In Sweden, on the eve of May-day, lads go about carrying branches of twigs, and preceded by the village fiddler. They collect gifts, and sing May-songs that pray for fine weather, plentiful harvest, and worldly and spiritual blessings. In England the May-pole was sometimes renewed annually, but often became a permanent structure. In Cornwall the people went out of the towns on May-eve, cut down a tall elm, brought it with rejoicings into the town, fitted a taper pole to the end of it, painted it, set it up in a public place, and on holidays dressed it with garlands, ensigns, or streamers. This May-pole seems to have been annually renewed, the fresh one being drawn home by twenty or forty yoke of oxen. There are, among popular customs, various instances 7 2 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri where the tree-spirit is regarded as detached from the tree itself, and clothed in human form. For it is sometimes represented by a doll or puppet, sometimes by a living person, in each case stationed beside a tree or bough. At some places in this country, children go about asking for pence, with small imitations of May-poles, as well as a finely- dressed doll, called the Lady of the May. At Thann, in Alsace, a girl carries a small May-tree, which is gay with garlands and ribbons. Her companions collect gifts from door to door, singing — " Little May Rose, turn round three times, Let us look at you round and round," &c. The produce of the year is supposed to depend on the gifts these children receive. In Brie, Isle de France, a May-tree is set up in the village, its top crowned with flowers; lower down it is trimmed with leaves and twigs, and at the foot with huge green branches. The girls dance round it, and a lad, wrapt in leaves and called Father May, is led about. In Carinthia, St. George's Day, 24th of April, is the occasion for a dual representation of the tree-spirit, an actual tree being carried in the procession, whereof one important personage is the man called the " Green George," ^ a lad clothed from head to foot in green birch branches. At the close of the ceremonies an effigy of the " Green George " is thrown into the water, and indeed it is not an unknown occurrence for the lad himself to be so treated, in order to insure rain. In some places the cattle are crowned, and driven from their stalls to the song — " Green George we bring, Green George we accompany ; May he feed our herds well, If not, to the water with him." 1 The song used at Helstone on "Furry" or " Faddy " day, an obvious May-day song, contains an allusion to S. George ; but whether this be merely suggested by his patronage of England, or in some more direct manner con- May and Summer Tree-Festivals 7 3 But not only is the tree-spirit represented here in simple vegetable form, and there in vegetable and human form simul- taneously ; he sometimes drops all representation by a tree bough, or flower, and remains in the state of a living person. Thus in the Pinsk district of Russia on Whit-Monday a girl is enveloped in a mass of foliage (birch and maple) and carried through the village. In a district of Little Russia, a "poplar," represented by a girl with flowers in her hair, is taken round. The " Pinxterblooem " ^ in Holland was a little girl decked with flowers and sitting in a waggon, with whom poor women went about begging. In North Brabant, on the occasion of a similar custom, a song is sung — " Whitsuntide flower, Turn yourself once round." At Ruhla, in Thuringia, when the trees begin to grow green in spring, the " Little Leaf Man " appears. The children on a Sunday go into the woods, choose one of their playmates, and twine branches about him till only his shoes peep out. Holes are made in the leafy mantle for him to see through, and two children lead this Little Leaf Man so that he may not fall. They take him, with song and dance, from house to house, asking for gifts of food. Our English Jack-in-the- Green, a chimney-sweeper, is encased in a pyramidal-shaped frame of wickerwork, covered with holly and ivy, and sur- mounted by a crown of flowers and ribbons. He dances on May-day at the head of a troop of chimney-sweepers, who collect pence.^ Thackeray has immortalised this waning custom by an allusion in " Vanity Fair," where he likens nected with that S. George whose figure occupies one of the May Ceri at Gubbio, is not apparent. I suspect the former ; but the coincidence should be noted. The "Furry" song is given in full by Brand in his "Popular Antiquities " (Bohn), vol. i. p. 224 ; and compare also p. 237. 1 " Whitsuntide flower." ^ Chimney-sweepers appear to have almost appropriated in London the guidance of May festivals. Compare Brand's " Popular Antiquities " (Bohn), vol. i. pp. 218, 231. 74 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri Miss Swartz, with her variegated finery, to " a she chimney- sweep on May-day." In some parts of France a young fellow, encased in a wicker framework covered with leaves, is led about. In Frickthal, Aargau, a similar framework is called the Whitsuntide Basket, and a lad clothed in it suddenly appears in the village at the hour of Vespers : he takes his station at the village well, and his own party de- fends him from all attempts by boys of neighbouring villages to carry off this basket. Near Ertigen, in Wiirtemberg, a midsummer frame of wickerwork, covered with sprigs of fir, and enclosing a masker called the Lazy Man, is of conical or pyramidal form, and is ten or twelve feet high. The man rings a bell as he goes, and is attended by a suite of persons dressed in character, as a Footman, a Colonel, a Doctor, the Devil, an Angel. They halt before every house. Each of them speaks except the Lazy Man, who is silent. They hold a feast on the proceeds of their collection. Near Pilsen, in Bohemia, at Whitsuntide, a sword-girt king, with a rush-decked hat, and his retinue, including a Frog-Slayer, who carries a rusty sword, take possession of a conical hut formed of green branches. In all these cases we shall have small difficulty in concluding with Mr. Frazer that the chief person is equivalent to the May-tree, May-bough, or May- doll. They are representatives of the beneficent spirit of vegetation, or, as I would rather say, at least appearing in vegetation, who in some cases becomes actually a May- queen, May-king, or a Ruler of vegetation, possessing creative powers. The person representing this character is often encased in a branch-covered framework of wood, disguised in a tall birch-bark cap adorned with flowers, or in a pyramid of poplar branches surmounted by a flowery crown. Very remarkable among these observances is the repeated occurrence of the conical or pyramidal covering of green branches, as well as the occasional ducking in water, or other almost obvious water-charm. One of the most candidly rude Rogations in existence is May and Summer Tree-Festivals 75 surely that quoted by NorthalP from Hasted's "History of Kent." The young men of certain neighbourhoods are there said to enter the orchards with great noise, encircle each tree, and pronounce these words : — " Stand fast root ; bear well top ; God send us a youling sop ! Every twig, apple big ; Every bow, apple enow." The youths expect a reward of money or drink, and anathe- matise those who refuse, as well as their trees. Here, apparently, not the tree, but some god who can command both rain and its resultant fruit is adored. The case is suggestive. For the dancing round, the noise, the rain- petition, the visitation of trees at this season, are apparently connected with the instances we have mentioned, while the spirit invoked (though the tree itself is adjured), seems to be, whether universal, external, or else inherent in the tree, a deity attentive to vegetation. As regards the conical or pyramidal form remarked on, the same design may be hazardously traced in the central garlands of the May-pole, depicted in the frontispiece to Brand's "Popular Antiquities."^ He quotes also a poem of the seventeenth century, which, in a stanza addressed to the May-poles themselves, says — " What fell malignant spirit was there found To cast your tall pyramides to ground ? " * Again, he mentions, among many notable details of May festivities, a pyramid head-dress of silver-plate, decorated with ribbons and flowers, and worn by milkmaids at that season.* Though these instances of May customs present to the ^ "English Folk Rhymes" (1892), pp. 201, 202. Also Brand, vol. i. p. 207. 2 Bohn's edition (1890), vol. i. ' Ibid., p. 240. * Ibid., p. 217 ; and compare p. 231. 76 Elevation and Processioti of the Ceri mind a possible explanation of our May Ceri, we could not be satisfied with the striking superficial likeness un- less there were reasonable grounds for explaining it by a common origin. Tree -worship was prevalent in ancient Greece and Rome. Indeed, the fig-tree in the Forum, and the sacred cornel-tree on the slope of the Palatine Hill, were salient examples of this cultus, growing as they did in the very metropolis of the Empire. One of the great annual ceremonies at Rome took place in a wood or sacred grove in honour of Dea Dia.'^ Various authorities are given by Marini,^ showing that in the eighth and ninth centuries the destruction of tree-worship remained an object of serious, concern to the Church.^ The Saxons and Frisians venerated sacred groves till the tenth or eleventh century.* That tree-worship in Italy survived far into Christian times seems evident from a letter of Gregory the Great to Agnellus, Bishop of Terracina,^ though, long before, had Christian metaphor opposed the tree of Calvary to that of Eden.^ Again, in the fourteenth century, when Lithuania became Christian, tree-worship was found a prominent part of the native religion. In reference to the present practice of it, not merely as a trace or vestige, like those we have instanced among rustic customs, but as a more or less serious observance, a host of examples are collected by Tylor and by Frazer, which prove that in the Malay Penin- sula, India, Southern Asia, Java, Africa, and America, the worship of trees, or of their spirits, is still followed. The alleged oflFering of human sacrifices in a sacred grove at ' Supposed by the learned Marini to have been Ceres. See "Gli atti e Monument! de' Fratelli Arvali" (Rome, 1795), pp. xxvii. &c., p. II, 139, &c. ^ "Fratelli Arvali," pp. 20, 21, note. 2 See also Tylor's "Primitive Culture" (1871), vol. ii. p. 208. ■* Grimm, vol. i. pp. 73, 74. ' This letter appears on folio 402, col. ii., of "Gregorii Opera" (Paris, 1518). * "Lignoque vulnus quod per lignum hominibus inflictum est curare." Gregory (the Thaumaturge) of Neocssarea, " Theophania." See the Paris edition of his works (1621), p. 35. The Greek noun used is i.i\av. May and Summer Tree-Festivals yj Kumassi, received some corroboration when our troops dis- covered innumerable skulls and bones among the trees ; and at Bantama, under the Fetish-tree, an actual sacrificial bowl, full of coagulated blood, whether human or not. Slatin Pasha, while governor-general of Darfur, noticed that the Bedeyet, surrounded as they are by Moslems, still pray beneath an enormous heglik-tree to an unknown God, though their sacrifices of animals are offered upon hill- tops. The illustration given in his book^ brings home to the mind the persistency of this ancient and widespread cultus of the tree. Remarking on the probability that all Aryan peoples, including the Greeks and Romans, once practised forms of tree-worship, and explaining the rarity of allusion to it in regular literature by the vulgarity and rusticity whereto it had early sunk, Mr. Frazer cites the Plataean Daedala and other great festivals, as clear prototypes of some modern merrymakings. A little reflection will incline us towards the strong arguments he there advances ; for contempla- tion of instances numerous and widespread, over the most diverse regions of Europe itself, persuades us to sup- pose for them, as well as for those on other continents, an antique and powerful religious origin.^ An observer of the Eugubine festival may therefore be allowed to suggest that we have here too a relic of such ancient country worship. The Cero of Ubaldo, modified very likely by a hundred changes in civil and religious ideas (which, with all their apparent strength, have no per- manence comparable to that of unreasoned custom), this most modern Cero appears — when ? On one day of the year about the middle of May. It is a high structure, and of such local importance that it actually gives its name to the day. It is made of wood. It has a remarkable shape, 1 "Fire and Sword in the Sudan" (1896), pp. 114-116. ' Much valuable learning on the subject of ancient tree-worship is contained ill Botticher's " Der Baumkultus der Hellenen " (Berlin, 1856). 78 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri not far removed from a double pyramid. It is decorated with arabesque painting. A small human face is visible in the painting which decorates the principal Cero. There is a cross - bar, as there was upon Druidical consecrated trees.^ The structure is paraded through the streets by a band of stalwart youths. It is furnished with several guy-ropes, carried by other runners, thus reminding us of the guy-ropes or streamers used for the May-pole. It is frequently turned round and round. It visits a number of houses, some of whose inhabitants greet it with green sprigs. Water is thrown over it when it is first raised.^ It is the subject of universal attraction in the place. It is finally carried with great labour to the top of the hill behind the town, and there preserved till next year. I venture to surmise that whatever befell this quaint device, first in prehistoric times, and then during the long centuries of the so-called Classical, Dark, and Middle Ages — how multi- farious soever the uses, the traditions, the dignities, or even the indignities, the benedictions, and the adaptations of its unknown history have been, we probably have before us, in the persistent Eugubine Cero of the summer-time, a nineteenth-century tree-image, closely related to the May- pole and to Jack-in-the-Green. 1 Cf. Doane's " Bible Myths," p. 346. ^ This is expressly alluded to in the poem I have mentioned. The Prima Cafitano of 1896 told me indeed, on inquiry, that the water was thrown merely to make the wood swell in the joints and prevent accident. He also said that the hatchet carried officially in front is only intended to be at hand in case repairs are wanted. However, as regards the water at least, I prefer even to this reasonable explanation the opinion of Professor Reggiani, who thinks he sees here a trace of an old rain-charm. Grimm (vol. ii. pp. 593-596) enumerates not only the certain rain-charms of Slavs and of modern Greeks, but also two very clear instances of the practice at Whitsuntide, one from Bavaria, the other from Austria. And we have seen above several traces of it in summer customs. As to the hatchet, it may of course represent the felling axe if the Cero represents the tree : its very usefulness, like that of the water thrown, contributing to its survival. The odd covering of the hatchet with a cloth is quite in harmony with the dislike of exhibiting an instrument guilty of offence against a sacred thing, however necessary it was. (See Conclusion hereafter.) May and Summer Tree- Festivals 79 One detail we have remarked on, possibly of small moment, but not to be neglected, is the visitation of particular houses by the Ceri in special compliment to them. In this we find a fair parallel with a former custom of Herefordshire, in England, where the visits of dancing Mayers have been made an occasion for marking the popularity of individuals. Branches would be fixed upon the doors of the estimable, but nettles or other noxious weeds upon those of the un- popular.'- The very appearance of the Cero, too, little as we might expect it after the modifications that have probably taken place, has some traceable correspondence, not only with the pyramidal forms we have noticed, but also with that violent description which Stubbs the Puritan gives of the Cor- nish " Male poole." He says : " (This stinckyng idoll rather), which is covered all over with flowers and hearbes, bounde rounde aboute with stringes, from the top to the bottome, and sometime painted with variable colours." In his de- scription of the celebration occur also the phrases : " With handkerchiefes and flagges streamyng on the toppe; " and again : " To leape and daunce aboute it, as the Heathen people did at the dedication of their idolles, whereof this is a perfect patterne, or rather the thyng itself." ^ It is appropriate to notice here a custom still practised at Nola, which bears some resemblance both to the Elevation and Procession of the Ceri at Gubbio, and also to the old San Giovanni festival at Florence, with its turning towers ; apparently connecting these with the antique rites just alluded to. Herr Trede devotes a whole chapter of his book^ to the great festival held here in the height of summer,* when immense " Lilies " are brought upon the ' See Brand, vol. i. p. 229. ^ See the quotation given at length by Brand, vol. i. p. 325. " "Das Heidentum in der romischen Kirche" (Gotha, 1890), vol. iii. pp. 183, &c. * Mr. Frazer insists on the essential identity of Summer-tree customs vfith May-tree customs (see his vol. i. pp. 268, 269). 8o Elevation and Procession of the Ceri Piazza and made to dance ; the ecclesiastical day being the festival of S. Paulinus, who was bishop here early in the fifth century. The night before the festival is, accord- ing to Herr Trede, who witnessed the celebration, marked by scenes of revelry, drinking, and dancing. Indeed, his account gives an impression of popular hilarity at least equal to that observable at Gubbio in May, joined with much greater licence.^ In both places a fair is held at or close to the festival time. The " Lily " paraded at Nola on the day itself is a light structure of wood surrounding a central mast. It is square at the bottom, so that ten men can stand at each side, but this form merges into a circular one higher up. The whole fabric runs aloft to seven storeys, all covered with light and bright-coloured papier-mache. The storeys are constructed on Corinthian pillars, gaily- robed saints occupying the spaces between. Arabesque and mosaic decorate the architraves and frieze. Radiant angels are visible also; and one of the structures at least is surmounted by a life-size Madonna in a star-spangled blue robe, her head decorated with twelve stars.^ The rear of the edifice is simply adorned with myrtle and little gold- coloured flags. In height like some church tower, it over- tops the houses. Eight such " Lilies " are built in honour of S. PauUnus.* Eight guilds of the town compete annually in the construction of these obelisks, and , distinguish their several arts by trade devices. The shoemakers' Lily has a shoe ; the bakers' a loaf like that baked in Pompeian ovens; and the clogmakers each year build a ship to com- ^ Cf. "Das Heidentum," vol. i. p. 45, vol. iii. p. 185. " In the chapter called " Funfzehnhundert Jahre," Herr Trede, dealing with the large hagiology disclosed in S. Paulinus' own poems, remarks that they contain no mention whatever of Madonna-cultus ; also that among all the monuments he built, not one church to S. Mary is to be found. This Madonna, therefore, would seem to be a figure introduced after the time of Paulinus. ^ This Saint's popular attributes include, among others, church-building and gardening. See Cahier's " Caract6ristiques des Saints," pp. 190, 335, 492. May and Summer Tree- Festivals 8 1 memorate a saintly exploit.^ Legend says that at the approach of S. Paulinus the , population went to meet him with turrets of flowers. Herr Trede asked the inhabitants of Nola what the towers had to do with the festivities. The reply was, "These Lilies make procession and dance," a saying which was explained by the event. Soon after 8 A.M. there was great noise of fireworks. Amid the smoke one of the Lilies moved forward to the Cathedral square. Forty red-clothed men carried it, ten of a side, marching in time to the music fur- nished by persons who occupied the lowest storey of the fabric. Immediately another Lily, which had been con- structed on the Piazza itself, also began to move, with its own musicians. The sound of a timbrel heralded the approach of a third tower, with S. Michael perched on its top. The other two, which had come to rest, moved towards this one, seeming to greet their comrade ; and now began the dance. The music plays a tarantella tune, whereon the bearers make their towers gently rise and fall. At the same time these are turned about ; two go round the third, and the colossi move forward and backward. The author here cites Tournefort's "Voyage du Levant," i. 135, to show that there is a custom in modern Greece of making the saints dance, accompanied by pipes and drums. Before each of the towers goes a director who guides the bearers ; the reliefs of bearers step to a dancing measure. A fresh tower appears, and is vociferously greeted by the people who throng the market, windows, and balconies. At last all the eight Lilies and the Ship have arrived. The Ship carries the statue of the Saint, as well as Musicians, and a Captain dressed as a Turk. Fresh dancing of the towers follows; and, as among the Tarantella-dancers of Southern Italy, an exit and re-entrance of dancers are observed. Loudly sound drum, timbrel, and the roar of 1 As to sundry German ship-processions on land, see Grimm, vol. i. pp. 257-265. 82 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri the crowds, while within the Cathedral is proceeding the festival Mass in honour of S. Paulinus. The dance ends, an hour passes, the Towers and Ship are set up as pristine custom enjoins; the weary bearers, whose exertions are surprising, have an hour's rest and their feast. After this begins the second part of the festival, which impresses Herr Trede's mind with its startling heathenish- ness. The bearers of the first Lily lay their hands and arms on each others' shoulders, and a circular dance ^ begins, in a method which was almost universal at the lively festivals of Greek or Roman gods, being also on other occasions the expression of glee. The movement of the upper body, and rhythmical step, so important in the Greek dance, are per- ceptible also at Nola.^ In the midst of the dancers stands a man beating time with the thyrsus in his right hand. Wild and wilder sounds the dull tone of the tambourine. There is soon formed a second circle of dancers inside the larger one. The bearers of the other Lilies gradually join the dance, and everywhere sounds the demoniac drum of Bacchus and Cybele worship. Quicker sound the measures of the Tarantella. A spirit of frenzy, which Herr Trede calls Bacchic, seizes the crowd, who join the dancers, form- ing fresh rows ; ^ and a wild mirth of Maenads rings out in honour of Bromios, the tumultuous Bacchus. The author (who can hardly mean, I suppose, that he actually distinguished these names as spoken by any one in the performance), refers to Euripides' chorus of Bacchantes, and says that it became before his eyes a living picture, and that in this festivity he recognised the echo of the old cry, " Evoe, Bacche ! " Then dully sounds a bell. A priestly procession issues from the Cathedral, with a silver Cross at its head. The Bacchic cheer is hushed ; the crowd ^ " Reigentanz." ^ Our author quotes Homer, Od. viii. 260, &c. He refers also to ancient frescoes from tombs at Psestum ; to Virgil's description of Elysium, Mn. vi. 643 ; and again to Ovid, Fasti, vi. 330, describing a feast of the gods. 3 "Reigen." May and Sutnmer Tree- Festivals 8 o opens for the white-robed clergy to pass; and at last appears the silver bust of S. Paulinus, greeted by flowers thrown from the balconies. Heads are uncovered and knees bent. Music ceases. The Phrygian drum is silent. As soon as Cross, Saint, and Procession have vanished down the street, out bursts again the Bromios cry : and it seems to the visitors as if they heard the pristine " Evoe, Evoe !" The dance goes on madly again with the nine bands, the bearers, and the festival-makers. There is a great explosion of fireworks, as a signal for the end of the celebration. The husbandmen's Tower moves first, then the others, last the Ship ; and in such procession the " Lilies " depart further into the town. It is unfortunate that our author does not observe what was the final destination of these highly-interesting objects. Probably Herr Trede is right in comparing this festival with Bacchic scenes represented on Greek vases found at Nola, and in recognising here some festival connected with the worship of the god. This would, however, quite accord with the view that the structures represent in gigantic form the turning image of the tree-spirit. For this or a very similar object may well have been used there in honour of the famous Tree- and Wine-god when his cultus became confirmed, just as to-day it is locally thought to mark the festivlal of Paulinus, the Gardener, Saint, and Bishop of Nola. It would be mere repetition to emphasize those several points wherein the reader will easily trace resemblance either to the ceremonies of the Ceri at Gubbio or to the old Floren- tine festival. The lofty structure of wood, its foliage and other decorations, its bearers, its turning movement, and its feigned vitality, its association with a guild, its designation by means of a device, or indeed of a saint's figure, its marked separation from the ecclesiastical procession, the fireworks and revelry associated with it, division of the observance into two parts, the number three (recognisable in the first part), an ancient system of stationing the towers in the 84 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri interval/ the special season of the year,^ and perhaps some minor features, are points of several kinship to the Eugubine or the Florentine festival, or both; while some among the chief of them survive as characteristic marks of those May- day festivities we are willing to regard as remains of Tree-worship. Reviewing then the observations made on the mediaeval wooden Cero and on Tree-worship, we are almost obliged to conclude that the Cero of Gubbio is a relic left over from the ancient and widespread cultus of the Tree-spirit, or the Spirit of Growth appearing in Vegetation. The form of the Cero, notwithstanding such modifications as it may well have sus- tained under other systems prior to the Christian, suggests that the Spirit or Genius thus venerated of old was but rudely conceived by the mind of the worshipper. Like this obelisk indeed, and like our May-poles, the Idea itself was probably arrested by the preaching of some other and more advanced religion, at a stage anterior to any full develop- ment of anthropomorphic character. Considering the per- sistency wherewith May-poles, Summer-fires, and other remains of Pagan superstition have endured to modern times, it might seem needless to ask how they have managed to do so, and how the Cero can have come even info the service of a Christian Saint. The general procedure to which I attribute this conversion is remarkable and well known. But lest I may have in this case assumed too much, I will shortly sketch in the following chapter the reasoning I consider applicable to the Eugubine Cero. ^ "Die Tiirme und das Schiff erhalten auf dem Markte ihre durch uraltes Herkommen bestimmte Aufstellung" (Trede, iii. p. 189). ^ S. Ubaldo, Gubbio, May 15, 16; S. Paulinus, Nola, June 22; S.John Baptist, Florence, June 24. VI THE GREGORIAN METHOD The worship of Bacchus just alluded to illuminates, by a striking comparison, the connection of the wooden Cero with Tree-worship. Bacchus, Dionysus, furnishes a salient example of the transition from old popular divinities of Nature to the anthropomorphic Gods of civilised Greece. Though Dionysus was known, under his appellation "Den- drites," as a representative tree-spirit, and particularly as patron of the Vine, we may hesitate to say whether his orgiastic worship was primarily understood to wake the God regarded as personal, or to magically move the Chthonic Power regarded as vegetable. The latter idea, being more simply connected with the growth of trees and herbs, may well have been the earlier of the two. All inquiry tends to show that obstinate customs are even perpetuated, if modified, under the sanction of advancing thought. The soul of man has apparently humanised observances which the succession of seasons and the course of Nature first suggested. The idea of God pervades, includes, and con- tinues, but does not quite explain them. A kindred obscurity hangs over a few ancient delineations, likenesses of the divine Dionysus, where he appears to be a wooden pillar with grave human face. A long garment hides, or suggests, a figure without limbs. Small sprouting tree - branches denote his special attributes.^ Here, in this monstrous shape, we have represented one of the most striking *per- ' See a series of illustrations in Botticher's " Baumkultus" (1856) ; also par- ticularly xvi. §4, of that work. Compare Frazer's "Golden Bough," vol. i. pp. 320, &c. Bbtticher gives some examples also of actual statues of gods placed in and near holy trees. 85 86 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri sonages of all mythology. The miraculous ship-voyage of Dionysus, his descent to Hades by the fathomless lake, return with his mother to upper day (an episode reckoned as sym- bolical of future life and triumph over death), besides further mythic traits, are conceptions humane and tragical, nobly contrasting with the licentious and savage features that marked his worship and disgraced his name. The very confusion of these lineaments in the case of a great Chthonic Power, whose voice was listened for at Delphi as well as that of the beautiful Sun-god Apollo, brings Dionysus into suggestive connection with our subject. For Greek worship was already well advanced in anthropomorphism, while the remoter tribes of Italy and the North were most likely still conciliating, with periodical human sacrifices, the more or less vague spirits of this world. Dionysus is said to have come late into the regular category of the Greek gods; and he gathered up the attri- butes of various country divinities that lingered on in Hellenic districts. Art seems to have, in some examples, either deli- berately modified or else actually arrested in transitu the idea of this potent tree-spirit. We have found some reason to group together the wooden Cero, the Antenna of the Carrocio, the hidden gods' images of Teutonic races, and those Tree-emblems with human attendants which, in spring and summer at least, still repre- sent the Spirit of Vegetation. It may well be asked, But why were the Teutonic gods' images hidden ? Dionysus suggests the answer. They had as yet no precise human figure, or were, like him, in transition. In the change from a turret of branches, a tree stem, a wooden post, or some other unsightly and rude object, to the image of a man, there must be a stage where the anthropomorphic idea is not com- pletely accepted. Though Mr. Frazer declares that, in the case of the old animal and plant gods, the human attri- butes are always the kernel of the conception,^ he distinctly ' " The Golden Bough," vol. i. p. 327. The Gregorian Method 87 points out that these gods " tend to become purely anthro- pomorphic." ^ In this process, there must be a period of hesitation, where the heart of the faithful clings to the old vagueness, where his affection for the ancient magical tree forbids him to revere instead the precise image of the miraculous man. In such a state of things, and to such rustic folk, the ancient leaders of thought may at first have hesitated to present the strong Nature-spirit in the refined glory of a Praxitelean statue. The divine personages who, to the elegaiit or heroic mind, could manage horses, shoot arrows, or even seek a seat on Olympus, might to the simple devotee, or the country magician, appear strangely indecent in any garb that disguised the earthly tree-trunk, the sacri- ficial block, or other perverse form he was accustomed to. Long robes, like those of Dionysus, were in such case a palliation of unorthodoxy on both sides. The anthropomor- phic reformer degraded the likeness of his more humane god, so that it might resemble the " aid stok image " of popular worship ; the country worshipper, " moving with the times," allowed the tree-emblem, which clumsily localised his in- definite genius, to be rendered further ambiguous by some covering. Without embarking on the discussion of Mr. Jevons' con- ' For the purpose of our inquiry it is quite needless to speculate as to the ultimate germ of the Spirit idea. Whether trees, ancestors, or emblems were first worshipped {cf. "The Attis," Grant Allen, 1892, pp. 30-125); whencesoever first came those garments, masks, strings, and other decorations and gifts wherewith the Greeks themselves distinguished their sacred trees (cf. " Bbtticher," pp. 37-44, 49-58, 80-92, loo-iio, and 254-297); whether the god-post or god-pillar preceded or followed the popular estimation of the tree ; these highly interesting doubts do not affect the observation that the Vegeta- tion-customs of field and forest obscure, even if they do not confine, every vista of Aryan religion. Indeed Biitticher concludes his exhaustive treatise with the proposition that, in the pre-Christian adoration of the gods, the first and last, the original and final feature, constant through every stage of image- worship, was the worship of the tree (ibid., p. 535). Though it is uncertain whether the case for a primeval Aryan ancestor-worship can be made good, this is in fact immaterial. If it anticipated tree-worship, then the latter re- duced it to an extremely sublimated form, hardly if at all distinguishable from the vague propitiation of Nature-spirits. 88 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri clusions,'^ we must accept the proposition that the early Italian Gods were not so quickly personified as the Greek. And we are perfectly justified in assuming that, long after Rome felt the influence of Greek mythology, the spirits of Italian country places remained more significant of primitive Aryan ideas, and less advanced in anthropomorphism, than the greatest divinities of the Metropolis, whom Mr. Jevons calls "but Greek gods borrowed." The career of religious emblems owes much to compromises, under the general accommodation of symbolism. A compromise of this sort was indicated in anthropomorphic Greece by miscellaneous articles, and more particularly by masks or Oscilla, attached to holy trees. Whether of these last we may admit a remi- niscence in the tiny grotesque face seen among the painted arabesques of Ubaldo's Cero, and whether or not the little cross-bar be a relic of some torch or spear bound to tree or pillar, and whether these objects, votive or not, be pos- sibly traceable in the last resort to the goods and chattels of human beings who died in sacrifice, I apprehend that the Eugubine Cero, and also the Lombard Antenna, claimed some antique reverence arrested at a stage of development even more primitive than that given to the clothed god-pillar Dionysus. Italian tribes, being more backward than the Greek, would naturally represent, down to a later period of history, their still indefinite, and scarcely personified divini- ties, if in any visible form, then in a rude one. The visible forms that did resemble man were probably at one time the actual mortal men, who shared with animals and vegetables the honour of being sacrificed as and to the god himself Among the important results of Mr. Frazer's compre- hensive and most able study, is the nearly conclusive proof of the varied forms into which the early Aryan mind would project its gods. Man, animal, corn, from moment to moment become either god or sacrifice. But of those 1 " Plutarch's Romane Questions," Holland, edited by Jevons, 1892, pp. xviii-xxxiv. The Gregorian Method 89 spirits, rather protean than pantheistic, the chief enduring representatives (unless we can so regard the succession of kings, who are also priests and gods), seem to be trees, whose wood may retain some sacredness from one season to another, but knows little indeed of the carver's chisel, while the mistletoe parasite itself is strangely thought to contain and preserve the very spirit of life on behalf of the oak it grows upon. Such changeful gods, or idols, if they can really so be called, the Christian Church, in its early contempt for idolatry, could not so easily over- come, or indeed seize, as it could images of more precisely human shape. And analogy would lead us to expect that the Church (which has later even countenanced within its own organization images of human form), might at first use, most where the idols were comparatively shapeless, some plan of conciliation akin to that perceptible in the older religion of Dionysus. A distinct personal representa- tion with limbs and features may fall, while some semi- magical and easily-renewed tree-emblem may by symbolism or service be preserved, carrying over to the new propa- ganda its own old popularity. It is very much the custom nowadays to regard changes in religion and in other departments of human thought as the natural results of natural processes. Whatever be the final dictuni of Science or of Philosophy as to the historical Development of the Organism, or the Realisation of the Idea, it is pretty certain that the assimilation by a younger religion of some characteristics closely associated with an older one has not always been an unconscious Process, but sometimes a clearly-understood and quite deliberate Act. The history of Catholicism is a conspicuous instance in point. To trace, if it were indeed possible, the real develop- ment of the early Church through the great Obscure of the first, second, and third centuries, would apparently be in large measure an exercise in translation, where the common tongue of symbolism would furnish a halting interpreter 90 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri between confused and reformed ideals. But a little later, when the Church becomes powerful in the world, the pro- cess is plainer to the modern eye. The fact that so many of her sacred edifices occupy the sites, and employ the materials of Pagan temples, typifies or exemplifies the general principle of assimilation.^ One of her greatest masters, Gregory the Great, the very Napoleon of the Roman See, who, about the end of the sixth century, de- spatched a famous mission to Anglia, acknowledges and distinctly enjoins the plan. In his epistle to the Abbot Mellitus, for the direction of Augustine in the conduct of his mission to Anglia, Gregory strangely amplifies (or modi- fies) the plain injunctions he gave to King Ethelbert himself as to the destruction of idol-worship. He propounds to the Abbot in very distinct terms a method of engrafting the worship of the Church, by means of martyr- celebrations, upon the existing customs of the people. Gregory says : " After the departure of that our congregation which accom- panies thee, we have been anxious for you, having heard no news as to the prosperity of your journey. However, when Almighty God shall have brought you to the most reverend man, our brother Bishop Augustinus, tell him how long I have been anxious and thoughtful concerning the Angli, considering indeed that very little destruction of idols' temples should be made among that people. But let the idols themselves that are in them be destroyed, water blessed and sprinkled in those temples, altars constructed, and relics deposited. For, if the same temples are well built, it is needful that they be changed from the worship of demons to the allegiance of the true God ; so that, when the people do not see their temples destroyed, they may cast out error from their heart, and knowing and adoring the true God, they may gather together the more readily at the accustomed places. And since it is the habit to kill 1 A concise designation of the method occurs in Brand, vol. i. p. 136. It is, I believe, widely acknowledged, but its indirect results hardly appreciated. The Gregorian Method 91 many oxen in sacrifice to demons, therefore as to these also some alteration of observance ought to be made ; so that (the people) may for themselves make booths from branches of trees about those churches which are changed from the temples, and may observe a solemnity with religious feasts on the day of dedication or birth of the holy martyrs whose relics are there deposited, and may not now offer the animals as sacrifice to the Devil, but may slay the animals to the praise of God in their own eating, and from their own fulness render thanks to the Giver of all things; so that, whilst in external matters some joys are preserved to them, they may more easily come into accord with the joys that are within. For it is no doubt impossible to separate at once all things from rude minds, because he who strives to reach the highest point is raised by steps or paces, but not by leaps. Thus to the people of Israel in Egypt the Lord revealed Himself indeed ; howbeit for them He kept, in His own worship, those uses of sacrifices which they by custom offered to the Devil ; so that He commanded them to offer animals in His sacrifice, (prescribing) how far changing them, they should leave out some part of the sacrifice, retain some; so that although the animals were the same they had been accustomed to offer, yet to God they should offer them in sacrifice, not to idols, (and) now they should not be those very sacrifices. " These things then it is needful that thy affection say to the aforesaid brother, so that he, being at present placed there, may weigh carefully how he ought to regulate all things." ^ The southern countries in Gregory's time were probably a good deal more familiar with Christian doctrine (whatever its purity) than were our remote islands, already partially 1 This is numbered 7 1 in the printed Latin copy of the Epistles in the works of Gregory the Great, before referred to. It is, however, obviously the same alluded to by Neander as L. xi. Ep. 76. (See Neander's "Church History," Torrey's translation, 1891, vol. v. p. 20, and note. 92 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri converted though these were. But we cannot doubt that the same method, distinctly enjoined for Anglia, was entertained as useful generally. Before the reign of the great Pope, his namesake, Bishop Gregory, the "Wonder-worker" of the third century, had approved precisely this policy. To the country people, on account of the pleasures they enjoyed at Pagan festivals, he granted leave to pursue enjoyments in celebrating the memory of holy martyrs, hoping that in course of time they would return of their own accord to a better and more regular course of life. And yet another Gregory, he of Nyssa,^ in the fourth century commended the Wonder-worker for thus changing the Pagan festivals into Christian holidays. An historical statement from the fourth century to the same effect is quoted by Milman, where the words of Augustine^ of Hippo are suggestive as to the fact that our " day of the Ceri " is the Vigil, or day before the actual day of the Saint — "diesque festos, post eos, quos relinquebant, alios in honorem sanctorum martyrum vel non simili sacrilegio, quamvis simili luxu celebrarent." From this it would seem that the day following that of a Pagan deity might be observed in rivalry of him. Observers of festivals are struck by a characteristic which would naturally result from the method of Gregory. This is the secular jubilation, which, exhibiting no spiritual aspect whatever, attends saintly seasons. Feasting and the liberal use of wine must not be to-day confounded with the ortho- dox rites of the Church. Indeed, we can hardly recognise anything of the sort in any official Ritual, unless it be trace- able in extremely conventional Species, regarded and received with the utmost reverence, and so entirely withdrawn from every aspect of revelry, that on the contrary their presence 1 See " Vita et encomium S. CJregorii Thaumaturgi Episcopi NeocEesariensis, per S. Gregorium Nyssfe Episcopum," in Gallandius' " Bibliotheca." ^ Book iv. ch. ii. S. Augustine evidently did not approve of the method he recorded. See this Epistle XXIX., in Migne's " Patrologise Cursus"; also Epistle XXII.; and Lib. VI. cap. ii. of the "Confessions"; also Milman, op. cit. Number VII. From a Wood-cut, given at the Monastery May, 1896, With the Motto : — " Per intercessione di S. Ubaldo, liberatemi Signore dall' insidie del Demonio e da ogni altro male. Amen. " The Gregorian Method 93 instils decorum and quietude. But eating, drinking, and dancing are important features of some Italian festivals ; and our own Yule-tide exhibits the same. Apparently these are countenanced still as appropriate, if not indeed characteristic, elements of the feast after a thousand years, on that same principle perhaps which Gregory enunciated, that rude minds cannot at once have all things torn from them. As a matter of fact, the toleration of booths made from tree-branches afforded very obvious means for perpetuating sylvan rites ; ^ and the encouragement to slay beasts at the anniversary of ecclesiastical saints was a plain invitation to associate with their names agreeable orgies of old standing. It is among rites of this class, tolerated but not incorporated into the Church's service, quasi-sanctified and not obhterated by her policy, that the Eugubine Ceri most likely have their true place. The Gregorian method was to grant much to the persistency of human observance, so as to cast widely the net. If, then, the people of Gubbio were as strong, as enthusiastic, and as conservative in old days as they are now, if, when Umbria accepted Christianity, these obelisks seemed themselves convertible to the service of Church- men, then an earnest Gregorian Bishop would perhaps have blessed the Cero, precisely as so many Bishops of Gubbio have annually done, considering that its Elevation and Pro- cession were no longer dangerous when divorced from any distinct worship of demons. No little confusion, and no little distress, have arisen in Christendom by reason of this striking method. The Pagan world itself would seem to have seized the idea, and to have employed a reciprocal diplomacy, seeking to perpetuate its own observances by leave of the dominant Christianity, or even concealed under its form. Among the causes of 1 That for the actual worship of trees themselves, which apparently survived even in clear form to at least the sixth century in Italy, Gregory enter- tained an orthodox hostility, is shown by the letter addressed to Agnellus, mentioned above, in the chapter on Tree-worship. 94 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri this confusion, one probably was the conversion of heathen priests to the service of the newer worship, while the igno- rance or carelessness of the orthodox suffered the rites of the Church to be disordered. The irregularity due to such an approach between old and new worship is said to have drawn a lament from Boniface, and in later ages stirred the wrath of the Puritans, who naturally regarded with indigna- tion many of those antique customs which nowadays we consider picturesque and calmly attempt to classify.^ One of the most curious phenomena of Witchcraft, that dark receptacle for the waste and ignoble products of Paganism, was the claim made by (or imputed to) the witches to hold their conventions in a Church, as if some pristine haunt must still be frequented though consecrated, or else the actual virtue of a Christian holy place were relied on for the efficacy of rites acknowledged to be devilish. A curious instance of survival within the very pre- cincts, though kept alive under the guise of contempt, is recorded from the sixteenth century.^ A " blocke," apparently of wood, or at least of some inflammable material, used sometimes to stand within a church, and actually upon the altar. It was held to represent Satan. On Ascension Day, amid the chanting of music, it was drawn up with ropes, high above the roof, thrown amid fire, and beaten by boys with sticks, wafers and cakes being cast down to please the children; and the whole remarkable ceremony, which was regarded as a jest, was finished by streams of water being poured on the assembly. ' See Grimm's "Teutonic Mythology" (Stallybrass), vol. i. pp. 92, 102; Ennemoser's "History of Magic" (Bohn), vol. ii. p. 92; Brand, vol. i. passim, vol. iii. 46 ; Davenport Adams' " Witch, Warlock, and Magician " (1889), pp. 208, 319. Cf. Hone's "Ancient Mysteries," 1823, pp. 156, &c., and notes. The occasional dignity of the Mystery -plays was nearly obliterated by their frequent buffoonery. They have been explained, with much reason, by the same competition for popularity with Pagan customs we have just noticed. ^ See Brand, vol. i. pp. 208, 209, quoting a long passage from Barnaby Googe's translation of " Naogeorgius." The Gregorian Method 95 I cannot doubt that this was a perpetuation of some local ceremony, and of some local stock-idol. It bears very strong traces of a May or early Summer custom. The boys with sticks, the fire, the cereal food, the water, and the principal object itself, representing Satan, irresistibly bring to mind the ceremonies of bounds-beating, new fire, sacrificial meal or cake, water-charm, and the rude wooden idols of antiquity. Its annual destruction at Ascension simply meant that annually it had again to appear. The object-lesson perpetuated the custom itself. That detest- able personages may find a place in the symbolism of more solemn ceremonies seems to be indicated by the "Judas" candle which forms a specially important feature along with the Paschal and other candles in some old church- warden's accounts.-^ Our concern is with a ceremony more cheerful than these last, and in recent centuries at least, far removed from sus- picion of tainting the serious service of the Church. Looking at the practical application of the Gregorian method to any such thing as the Cero, it is obvious that, whatever its remote origin, this wooden pillar might, as a vehicle for wax, and under a convenient name, come to be actually a contribution to the Church's grandeur. And when in the twelfth century to the good and wise patron of Gubbio was assigned the middle of May for his festival — not, by the way, his birth-day, but his death-day on earth — the policy indicated by Gregory would have attained some notable result in this region, by the Cero becoming Sant Ubaldo's pedestal on the Vigil of the Saint's own day. As regards the qualifications of Ubaldo himself to replace any gods, demigods, or spirits, whose worship in Gubbio may have survived the conversion to Christianity, the immense 1 See Brand, vol. i. p. 48. " The Evening Office of the Holy Week " (1760) is quoted by Hone in reference to the "Apostle" candles used at "Tene- brse." Though the general effect and symbolism are alluded to, the " Judas " is not in that passage specially named. See " Ancient Mysteries," p. 78. 96 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri number of diverse miracles ascribed to him after death must have dealt these a very severe blow. To Ubaldo indeed was intrusted a peculiarly potent weapon against heathen deities. The Church generally considered the worship of Pagan gods as the worship of devils (following or extending the principle of the Apostle in i Cor. x. 20), while Ubaldo became, as I would again remind the reader, a great Exorcist. Hence May festivities, and indeed the Fair itself, if one already existed, would in time come to be associated rather with the name of the Christian Protector, whose feast took place 'at that season, than with any discredited demons whom his own special cultus expelled. It appears, then, at least probable that the Saint's figure on the Eugubine Cero, the divine emblem on the Sienese Carroccio, and the holy personages so liberally distri- buted over the Lilies of Nola, mark a late period of that great tendency to anthropomorphism which was never fully developed in those objects themselves. The tendency was, I suggest, caught up at an early stage by other religions that came from more advanced countries. And Christianity, which most fully of them all reconciled the old ideas of God and Man with the virtues demanded by philosophers and moralists, itself fell back here, as else- where, into a compromise not quite worthy of its aspirations. A modern Eugubine might address the Saint-crowned Ceri, after their elevation, almost in the words of the Roman : — " Sed patrii servate Lares : aluistis et idem, Cursarem vestros cum tener ante pedes. Neu pudeat prisco vos esse e stipite factos Sic veteris sedes incoluistis avi." ' ^ TibuUus, Liber i. x. 15, &c. VII THE TRIAD OF THE IGUVINE LUSTRATION Is there any evidence that this singular May observ- ance did in fact exist in Gubbio in pre-Christian times? I do not know of any direct evidence to show that an object Uke the modern Cero was brought out for an annual festival in May, although the various foregoing con- siderations, along with the impression produced on the mind by the characteristics of its form and conduct in the festival of to-day, establish a strong probability that it has survived from primitive Tree-god worship, in the form of a popular custom, through all the ages of polite religion. We will not pretend to explore those regions of difficult speculation where this wooden obelisk might be associated with the conventional idols of Baal or of Asherah. But we may here recall the fact, that among the Phoenicians these two deities of Nature were represented by obelisks or posts, the former of stone, the latter of wood, and must bear in mind that the ancient Phoenicians had great influence upon the coasts of Greece, which country again planted in Italy much of its own civilisation. If in later times the Emperor Elagabalus forced upon Rome the worship of the Sun, and associated with it the degraded rites of his Syrian Baalpeor, it would indeed be hazardous to credit that importation of re- ligions with any very lasting effect on local customs. However, the violent fanaticism of Elagabalus had some method. And the Emperor-priest, who actually sought to wed the hideous idol of Emesa to the Palladium of Rome, perhaps realised, in a way we cannot now, the chaos of decayed faiths which prevailed early in the third century, 97 G 98 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri and knew better than we do what signs of kinship and what prospects of union there were among them. It is, of course, not impossible that actual Asherah-worship may have been known of old in ItaHan districts ; and if so, the name, some- what modified, may be connected with the modern pronun- ciation of Cera or Cero. The opinion that in remote ages, before the Etruscan incursions, the older Umbrians occupied Adriatic as well as Tyrrhenian shores, and may then have encountered the Pelasgi, might lead some to suppose an introduction of Eastern religion from thence, even into the city, Iguvium. But I cannot offer any proof for such a surmise; and, as to the chance of a fresh cultus coming into Umbria through Etruria, this seems hardly to agree ■with the few data we have. For, whatever be the family relationship between gods and goddesses of hostile nations, we do find from the Eugubine Tables that the local popular Triad, with the designation " Cerfus," was vehemently in- voked, in a very precise Ritual, to afflict and expel the "Tusci." However, it is certainly desirable to notice shortly the chief evidence which exists respecting the actual ceremonies of old Iguvium. Ceremonies of a popular kind may indeed exist without the support of civil or religious authority. And if no mention whatever of any custom like that we are concerned with should appear from ancient religious docu- ments, the denial of its contemporary existence on that ground would be most illogical. On the other hand, if any such documents mention rites that in some features but distantly resemble the ceremonies in question, or if they disclose any simple machinery, under whose form the Cero may possibly have had a prototype, we must not con- clude from this that the Cero is certainly to be recognised there. In the case of Gubbio itself, some, though few, such documents remain. On the grounds just stated, and after careful consideration, I cannot offer the present chapter as a conclusive verification a. posteriori of a priori reasoning. The Triad of the Jguvine Lustration 99 But, having already shown a probability that these Ceri sur- vive in recognisable form from a state of society far ruder than that of cities, it is proper to ask what, if any, evidence in either direction is forthcoming. An important class of evidence, though very hazardous and conjectural in its bearing on our Ceri, is afforded by those Eugubine Tables of bronze discovered at or within a stone's-throw of modern Gubbio in 1444. Upon some of them, usually known as I. b., VI. b., and VII. a., are inscribed directions for the Lustration of the people of Iguvium.^ The Tables as a whole appear to have contained the acts of a corporation of twelve priests, called the Attidian Brother- hood. The cultus was not of one deity alone, but of a pan- theon, which shows traces of some worship indigenous to the district, and not effaced by the Romans — a feature we may well compare with the noteworthy survival of the Ceri at the same place into our age, which professes its very ignorance of their meaning. The Tables contain numerous details of liturgy, but no rules as to the essential and pro- bably traditional operation of slaying the sacrifices. They mention, in general terms, objects to be produced by per- sons concerned in them, and particularly by the Adfertor, or furnisher of the sacrifices, who had to direct them. It must be said at once that nothing plainly resembling the modern Cero is described in the Ritual. As to chronology, M. Br^al, taking into consideration not merely the obscure calligraphy of some Tables, but also the ^ See M. Breal's work, " Les Tables Eugubines" (Paris, 1875), containing a transcription of the Umbrian originals, with a Latin translation, as well as voluminous notes and introduction ; compare also an article by the same writer in the "Revue des Deux iVIondes" for 1st of November 1875 ; and further, differing somewhat, Herr BUcheler's ' ' Iguvinse de Lustrando Populo Legis Interpretatio" (Bonn, 1876) ; and his " Umbrica" (Bonn, 1883). I accept the authority of Br^al and Concioli ("Statuta civitatis Eugubii," 1685, "hono- rifica et brevis descriptio ") as to the place of discovery. For a conflicting story, see Moroni's " Dizionario," where he deals with Scheggia and Monte Petrara under the heading " Gubbio." I oo Elevation and Procession of the Ceri forms of the Latin alphabet adopted in others, concludes that these remarkable religious documents are actually copies of still more ancient ones, and that the copies them- selves date back to the second and first centuries B.C. Since, however, the inscriptions occur in a provincial city, M. Br6al will not push his orthographical argument to any pedantic conclusion, but allows to Tables VI. and VII. some date in the Augustan era, when old observances were again revived. He considers the Tables as evidences of a religion at that time decaying. It is probable that the Umbrians were nearly the earliest race of civilised Italians, and that they learned writing from their more powerful and advanced neighbours the Etruscans. We may see, later on, some ground for assigning to their theology a Sabine complexion : Mars and Sancus, or Sancius, being indicated in their Ritual. My suggestion, based on the comparisons we noticed in the last three chapters, is that a character and a custom have survived the influences of many conspicuous powers, Etruscan, Sabine, Imperial, and Ecclesiastical. The Tables VI. and VII. describe two ceremonies, each preceded by inspection of birds. The first is the Expiation of the Fisian Hill and of the City or State of Iguvium itself, while the second is the Lustration of the Iguvine People. The first, or local Expiation, consists in a series of sacrifices offered near the three gates of the city, and at two other spots, thought by Br6al to be sacred groves.^ The sacrifices include oxen, swine, sheep, lambs (the animals being always three of one sort or other), also cereals and sour wine ; and the ceremonies appear to include some obscure manipula- tion of crockery, and various other rites, besides a number of long and very precise prayers. M. Br^al thinks there is a purification of fire perceptible among the observances, and remarks that the text, assuming the reader to be ^ This is doubtful. Compare Bucheler's view of the word "Vocucom," which he correlates with "focus." See "Umbrica" (1883), pp. 79, 80. Numbey VIII. Monte Ingino, from the Plain, The Monastery may be discerned on the sky line, to the right of, and a little below, the summit, whereon stands the ruin of some old tower, or fort, called Rocca di Sant Ubaldo. In the foreground is a decayed Mausoleum. The Triad of the Iguvine Lustration loi well acquainted with the subject, tells very little about that. The second ceremony, or Lustration of the People, not, he thinks, necessarily connected with the first,i consists in a circular procession about the people of Iguvium, three times performed in relation to certain stations, and a series of sacrifices offered in the suburbs or neighbourhood of the city. The affinity between these rites and the processions at Rogation-time for beating of bounds, recently familiar in England, must be a matter of remark to any one who re- flects at all. But our problem is confined to Gubbio, to Iguvium. At the Lustration strangers were commanded thrice to quit the people; though this possibly became a formality or legal fiction. But the passage which perhaps implies a readmission is of doubtful interpretation. The prayer, or Rogation itself, is intolerant, and shows a de- termined appropriation of the national gods or demigods, who are besought not only to bless the Iguvines and all their land, but to afflict and expel the Tadinates, the Tusci, the Narici, and the Japudici. The ceremonial prescribed in connection with the Lustration includes sacrifice of animals. Libations and wine are mentioned, as well as fire, meal, cakes, and other things. Among the prayers are included some of considerable length, and the whole Ritual is evidently one of a most elaborate and minute kind, though the exact purport of the sacrifices and circular processions is not made perfectly clear. Possibly our ignorance of the ancient boundaries and their supernatural guardians is the greatest difficulty in the interpretation of this remarkable Rogation ordinal. 1 The Ritual prescribed in the two cases bears, however, considerable evidence of connection, notwithstanding the differences between the deities invoked and also between the apparent objects of the ceremonies. Certain references are plainly made in the second series of rites to details of the first. (See Table VI. b. 48; VII. a. 5; VII. a. 38.) The subject is much too large to be undertaken here. The reader is referred to Br^al's and Biicheler's texts, translations, and discussions of the Tables. 1 02 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri I have ventured to add as an Appendix the Lustra- tion of the Iguvine People, in an English version based on the important works cited above. If by any who reject the surmised connection of this with the subject of our inquiry, the addition of the Appendix be thought gratui- tous, it may still, I hope, be of use ; for there is, I believe, no English rendering elsewhere of this two-thousand-years- old Rogation. In regard to the first, or Hill and City Expiation Ritual (given on Table VI. a. ; VI. b., I-45), the reader is referred to the books mentioned, or to the Tables themselves preserved at Gubbio, whereof Br^al gives fac- similes. It is too long and too remotely connected with our particular problem to be inserted here. Who were the gods whereto the people of Iguvium looked as their national patrons ? The great divinities of the city, mentioned in the first of the two ceremonies (the Expiation of City and Hill), are Dius Grabovius or Jupiter Grabovius, Trebus Jovius, Mars Grabovius, Fisus Sancius, Vofionus Grabovius, Tefer Jovius, Mars Hodius or Mars Infernus, Hondus Cerfius. These are severally invoked on behalf of the Name and State or City of Iguvium, its Nobles, its Rites, its Men, its Cattle, its Fields, its Fruits, and also for the Fisian Hill or Citadel. We must note inci- dentally that Mars Infernus or Hodius, and Hondus Cerfius of old Iguvium, were invoked on behalf, not only of the State, and its Fields, Men, and Fruits, but also nominally for the People of Iguvium.^ This minute difference, among such long lists of words, has apparently an explanation in ' "Popluper totar liovinar," according to Breal's text and translation, "pro populo civitatis Iguvinse" (pp. xliv., xlv.). I venture to think some slip must have occurred in the French translation of the prayer to Dius Grabovius, where Breal's introduction (p. xxi.) renders as "pour le peuple Iguvien," the phrase that is given in his text and translation (pp. xxxviii., xxxix.), "totaper liovina," "pro civitate Iguvina." This last evidently names the city or state, but not specifically the people. The distinction may seem small. Biicheler notices it ("Umbrica," 1883, p. 79) in reference to another point. I consider it very relevant to the question of lost liberties mentioned above. The Triad of the Iguvine Lustration 103 the names of the Three who at the second or Lustral Ceremony itself are invoked precisely for the People of Iguvium.i In the Lustral Rogation, wherewith we are more closely concerned, three divine persons are invoked together, under the names Cerfus Martius, Praestita Cerfia Cerfi Martii, and Tursa Cerfia Cerfi Martii. It is true that after these three deities are invoked and propitiated, a fourth^ sacrifice, of three heifers, appears to be offered in a temple to a certain Tursa Jovia, who also is invoked for the people. Breal seems to imply, though not quite distinctly,* that he considers Tursa Jovia the same person as Tursa Cerfia. This is very dubious. But in any case there stands out conspicuously that great Triad above named, and specifi- cally adored in the Lustration ceremony. Upon considering the two Rituals together, we are led to think that " Mars " and " Cerfus " were at Iguvium divine titles connected pos- sibly with some ancient Grove celebrations, certainly with the special Protectorship of the People. M. Br^al* discusses the purport of the word Setfus. or Cerfus, and, comparing it with the Oscan word Kerri, trans- 1 During the Lustral ceremony a sacrifice is made also to Fisovius Sancius for the people. But this does not seem to consist of beasts, as in the other sacrifices of that series. Since the crossing of the Sata is mentioned just at this stage, it seems by no means unlikely that the proceedings in some way included the crossing of a stream, in which case the local deity (whosoever he originally was) might thus have to be propitiated for the people during the progress, without his having any regular place in the Lustral observance. Bucheler suggests, however, that Sata was a Sacred Way. (See Appendix and notes. ) A Sabine divinity, Semo, called also Sancus Fidius, was honoured at Rome on the 5th of June, and, under the name Dius Fidius, he was worshipped as a potent god of Nature, and even identified with Mars. (See Ennemoser's " History of Magic," Bohn's edit, vol. ii. p. 67. Cf. Ovid, " Fasti," vi. 213, &c. ; and see alsoKlausen, "De Carmine FratrumArvalium," pp. 66, &c. Compare, as to the crossing of streams, Grimm, vol. ii. pp. 596, 600.) ^ The ceremonies beyond Sata and the sacrifices to Tursa are particularly obscure. It is not at all clear that the order for sacrifice after the chase concerns a fresh one, or is anything more than a special direction as to the sacrifice ordered just before. (See Appendix.) ^ At p. 214. * " Les Tables Eugubines," pp. 159, 185. I04 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri lated as " Genius " by Mommsen/ accepts that meaning, which makes perfect sense with the context. Biicheler ^ and Br^al seem to agree in the view that the Umbrian word Cerfus, Cerfe, would probably be Cerrus, Cerre, in Latin. Indeed, Biicheler used the form Cerre in his own Latin translation of 1876; but Cerfe in 1883. An incidental sug- gestion by Br^al that the name of Ceres herself perhaps stands for Cerres should be mentioned. But we have as yet no certain derivation for Cerfus, nor any sure analogue in Latin. I believe students of the Umbrian dialect would not recognise Latin Cerrus as a derivative from, though it might be a correlative of, the Umbrian Cerfus. Possibly the word Serfus or Cerfus may have come from the ancient root Kri. Cer ( = Kri) is said to be the origin of Cerus, an old masculine form of the feminine Ceres, meaning Creator? There exists, however, besides the suggestion of the two students, no precise Latin word Cerrus, except one un- noticed by either Biicheler or Br6al, meaning a species of oak-tree.* Though this last meaning, if established as the title of the gods or demigods concerned, would at once present us with a Tree Trinity, remarkable in the history of religion, and recalling the Dreieich of Grimm,^ giving indeed to our present view of the whole Cero question, something approaching to practical certainty, yet I do not venture to assert this signification for Cerfus [or Cerrus?\ a matter that cannot well be settled, without further dis- cussion by those who have studied the ancient dialects. ^ As to " Kerri," Mommsen gives several forms, substantival and adjectival. See "Die unteritalischen Dialekte," p. 270. Leipzig, 1850. "^ " Iguv. de Lustr.," pp. 24, 25. Also " Umbrica" (1883), p. 98. ' See Lewis and Short's " Latin Dictionary" (1890), under "Ceres" and " Cerus." * Pliny says the glandiferous Cerrus is unknown in the greater part of Italy. ("Hist. Nat.," xvi. 6.) Bostock and Riley, however, mention in this connec- tion the Quercus Cerrus of Linnseus, which is said to be often met with in Piedmont and the Apennines. ("The Natural History of Pliny," 1892, vol. iii. p. 346 note. ) ° " Teutonic Mythology " (Stallybrass), vol. i. p. 75. The Triad of the Iguvine Lustration 105 Now, whether Cerfus, or Cerrus, were the designation of an Iguvine Genius, at the time when Christianity came into contact with, or rather over-mastered the local religion, it is not difficult to imagine a popular confusion between that word, on the one hand, and the differently derived Latin Cereus (Italian Cerd), on the other. Popular etymology is, I think, quite capable of having confounded these not dis- similar names, if a former god-obelisk became a wax gift or a saint pedestal. The fact that Mars Infernus, or else Mars Hodius, occurs in these ceremonies at all, coupled with the observation that the chief of the Cerfus family in the Lustration itself is not a Mars but a Martius, suggests that in the Lustration we probably have to do with demigods, and that those demi- gods, of the Cerfus family, are ranked as children of Mars Infernus, or of Mars Hodius: precisely the position whereto the supernatural patrons of a beaten religion might be re- duced. The invocation to Prsestita Cerfia, in the Popular Lustration, contains a marked phrase : " After the manner of the favourable Prsestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee have I invoked." Analogous phrases occur elsewhere. Br6al ^ regards them as merely insisting on the precision of the rites. But the words suggest at least the possibility of a mediatory prayer to some divinity not named. However this may be, and apart from all speculation, we certainly encounter in the joint Lustral prayer or Rogation a tutelar Triad, whereof one spirit is Serfus or Cerfus Martius,^ the other two being females called after him, possibly his wives or daughters, and named respectively Przestita and Tursa. Prsestita means Protectress, while Tursa is a Terror to enemies. The idea expressed by this ^ Pp- 7Si 76- Compare Table VI. a. 24 ; b. 8, 15, 27 ; VII. a. 20, 33, 34, 36. The words I have rendered "after the manner of the favourable Prsestita" ffzaj mean " after the manner of Prsestita desiring it;" or even "with trust in &c," instead of "after the manner of &c." In any case, the remark in the text should be made, ^ See Appendix. io6 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri Trinity or Triad should not be lost sight of. The Martius concerned doubtless derives his origin or parentage from that god of the year whose worship was connected with early spring ; and indeed a sacrifice to him near the boundary may have remotely something to do with that ancient custom of expelling devoted youths, which was observed on the occasion of the classical Ver Sacrum. Klausen devotes several pages to the invocation of Mars by the Fratres Arvales; and shows very good cause for the conciliation of the Martial god at a season when peace was needed for the growth of Cereal crops in the fields.^ It must be admitted that the whole of the prayers at Iguvium seem to indicate for the Iguvine Martius a character not distinctively agricultural. In the manifold blessings asked for the Iguvine People, and the curses (perfunctory or not) called down upon strangers, and again in the names of his two relatives (who, ' making common cause with him, and having the same appella- tion, are perhaps two special aspects of him, like the persons of the Hindu Trinity), we recognise a deity or semi-deity of enormous power over man as well as nature. To him a warrior's character, like that of the later classical conception of Mars, would become appropriate. In the Triad (even though the " Tursa Jovia " be a separate and extraneous Tursa), the Iguvines claimed three powerful and closely related guardian semi-divinities, if not actual gods, under the family name of Cerfus. The " Adfertor " with two acolytes (or else wand-bearers) sacrificed to them, and in- voked them, together and separately, for the People, at a season of peculiar solemnity, when a ceremony akin to that of the Roman five-year Lustration was performed ; ^ one boundary, and three conventional points, were visited ; the ^ "De Carm. Fr. Arv.," pp. 48-58. ^ The military aspect of the ceremony at Gubbio is more prominently indicated in the translation of Biicheler than in that of Breal. It is to be noted also that Biicheler finds a virga imperatoria on the shoulder of the officiator, where Breal sees a pratexta lustralis. (See Appendix here- after.) The Triad of the Iguvine Lustration 107 People were purified by a circular procession, and regular proceedings were taken foi* the separation of strangers. There does not appear to be any distinct indication in the Eugubine Tables as to the time of year when this ancient Lustration was performed. But a little assistance may be found in various ceremonies of the Fratres Arvales at Rome. To that association of twelve, the Attidian Brother- hood had much resemblance. Indeed, an observation of M. Br^al's implies that probably the very designation " Frater," in this religious sense, was then peculiar to these two societies,^ in whose liturgies we may have two specimens of one old Italian cultus. The Fratres Arvales occasion- ally celebrated a three-days' festival in honour of Dea Dia (supposed by Marini to be Ceres), which was held some- times on the 17th, 19th, and 20th of May; sometimes on the 27th, 29th, and 30th. Upon the second day of the festival the Master or Superior of the Brotherhood was elected at a meeting in the sacred grove, for the ensuing year, his term of office to commence at the Saturnalia in December. The former series of dates coincides almost exactly with the day of the Ceri at Gubbio in modern times. The lopping or thinning of the grove of Dea Dia, near Rome, was naturally connected with the Arval cultus. Sacrifice of swine was made at this season to expiate the needful offence of using iron upon the sacred trees, though the woodman's duty itself would perhaps be performed at another time of year.^ The other greater sacrifice, called Suovetaurilia, of a Lustral character, was also offered at the great May festival. Lustrations were performed by the Romans at various seasons and for various objects, connected with the fields, the army, the people. Although the suggestion I put 1 "Les Tables Eugubines," p. 218. ^ Marini, vol. i. pp. xxvi. and 308-310. Br&l himself compares the Iguvine Lustration with the ceremonies of the Arval Brotherhood, and considers it probably took place in May. (Les Tables Eugubines, p. 229.) 1 08 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri forward certainly is that a spirit or spirits of vegeta- tion, surviving through the less and more refined religions, Pagan and Christian, are represented by the May Ceri of Gubbio, I cannot adduce actual proof that their Procession represents a specified one among those manifold Lustra- tions. To conclusively prove the connection of any annual modern custom with one observed two thousand years ago, is only less difficult than to trace a genealogy for that time. My attempt is to find what explanation the resistless Pro- gress of Man has been good enough to leave us. It should be therefore remarked that victims of the porcine and bovine species, included, as we well know, in classic Lustral observ- ances, occur in the ancient ceremony of Iguvium ; and also that ho better opportunity for a great Lustration of the People, combined with proceedings for maintaining civic and tribal distinctions (which occurred according to the Eugubine Tables^), could be imagined than a great Fair. Fairs are very permanent institutions. A Fair now begins at Gubbio one or two days after that of the Ceri, and lasts for several. Again, the Patron who with his two counterparts was in- voked in the chief Rogation at Iguvium, was Cerfus Martius. Mars was a vernal god. Further, Rogations or Litanies with the words " Kyrie ^ Eleison " have taken place in the Christian Church at large from very early times ; and, from about the sixth century at least, at a special season very close to Whitsunday and Ascension, at which time of year the day of the Ceri in Gubbio falls. On the number Three we must not indeed base any exclusively Eugubine con- clusions. It is said that some Christian Litanies, or pro- ' See Appendix. ^ The Christian Kyrie was chanted aloud. The Iguvine Ritual prescribed for the priest and acolytes (alone?) a prayer in an undertone, or silently: "Precantor taciti; Cerfe Martie, Prasstita Cerfia Cerfi Martii, Tursa Cerfia Cerfi Martii." (See Appendix.) Grimm cites Augustine's Letters to show a Gothic or Vandal formula, " Sihora armen" = Ki;pie i\irt(Tov. Sihora, he says, can only be Teutonic, and must have been in heathen times used as an epithet for God, derived from Victorious Might. (" Teutonic Mythology," vol. i. p. 27.) The Triad of the Iguvine Lustration 109 cessional Rogations, of Charlemagne's time, also invoked three spirits — Oriel, Raguel, and Tobiel, later condemned as demoniac names. We can easily understand how the three gods of the Cerfus family, long ago invoked at a Pagan Litany, would have fared in Gubbio. They were probably exorcised or rejected as devils, unless their very names could be in some way tolerated or modified. The several villages and parishes nowadays furnish various pilgrimages to Monte Ingino, of a religious character, from Easter to Ascension. Concioli mentions Rogations before Ascension, in the same sentence with, but apparently as distinct from, the Ubaldo processions.^ Even a small bird may tell us news of our Ceri, speaking in the Umbrian language. For Parfa,^ Parra (whether the Owl or the green Woodpecker), was to be asked before the Iguvine Lustration began. The same bird * was considered fortunate in the auguries preparatory to the Expiation of City and Hill, which apparently belonged to a related Ritual; auguries wherein Peicu, Picus, was also consulted. Picus is certainly a Woodpecker. A Woodpecker is in Nor- thern Europe still the Whitsun-fowl. In his quality of Giess- vogel or Rain-fowl (a title which he must, however, share with the Snipe), he comes curiously into contact with the water-charm we almost certainly recognise in that remark- able ceremony which at modern Gubbio distinguishes a season close to Whitsunday. Generically, if not specifically, I suppose, this Rain-fowl, Whitsun-fowl, Woodpecker of the North, is recognisable in Grecian and Italian antiquity as the bird of Mars, who prophesied in a grove, perched on a pillar of wood.* 1 "Statuta civitatis Eugubii" (1685), Lib. i. Rubrica iv. ^ Table VI. b. 51. Breal, pp. xliv., xlv. Bucheler, "Umbrica," p. 92. ' Table VI. a. I. Breal, pp. xxxiv., xxxv. Bucheler, p. 42. * Compare Grimm's "Teutonic Mythology" (Stallybrass, edit. 1883), vol. ii. pp. 673, 674. Pliny gives some details of powers attributed to Picus Martius ; " Hist. Nat.," x. 20, XXV. 10, xxvii. 60. See also Plutarch's " Questions." He is doubtless that very handsome Black Woodpecker with red cap, depicted in I lo Elevation and Procession of the Ceri Upon the whole, a most interesting parallel appears between the precise religious ceremony whose Ritual, engraved on the Eugubine Tables, was probably observed every year in May, and a popular custom which at present takes place in May at Gubbio itself. The reader of the Appendix will already have perceived, among all the elements of difference, a good many salient points in common, some of which have been noticed in our remarks on Tree-worship, and on the Cero in the Middle Ages. Circular processions ; a religious and yet also a martial element traceable; concentration of racial feel- ing in honour of the people's protector or protectors; the number Three occurring in the three Ceri with three Saints to-day, in the three gods or demigods of old Iguvium; the association with a usual season, if not indeed with a cere- mony of " beating the bounds ; " the visitation of three [or four] points for animal sacrifice in the old Lustration ; the halt at three special points in the Procession of the Ceri; liba- tions in the one, a conspicuous use of wine in the other; the carrying in procession of fire or its supposed repre- sentation; the sacrificial meal or dough and the cakes, surviving perhaps universally in the use of special cakes and farinaceous diet at certain seasons, and almost recog- nisable in the compulsory and delicious risotto at the Pranzo del Cero ; ^ and further, the probability that the three ^erf-, Cerf- [or Cerr- ?] divinities were discredited by the system which used the three Ceri ; these comparisons can by no means be overlooked. vol. ii. of "British Birds" (1852), by Rev. F. O. Morris, who says (p. 10), "Picas — A bird that makes holes in trees, supposed to be the Woodpecker. Martins — martial, warlike ; also, belonging to the month of March." ^ It would be rash to suppose that mola salsa or mola sparsa, or any dough or cakes in question, were merely accessory to classical blood-sacrifices. They probably originated in very primitive food -customs, sacrificial or non-sacri- ficial. In " Popular Antiquities," Brand has a remarkable passage on May- day repasts of custards and cakes in Ireland and Scotland. These seem to be connected with the notion of the beginning of summer, and indeed with the actual Beltein day. (See Ellis's (Bohn's) edition, 1890, vol. i. pp. 224-228.) As to certain other seasons marked by somewhat analogous food-customs The Triad of the Iguvine Lustration 1 1 1 Even though the other ceremony alluded to, and given at great length in the Tables, for local Expiation of City and Hill, very likely took place at the same season, perhaps on the same day, yet it is impossible, when reading the two Liturgies, to conclude that they were performed precisely on the same spot. Notwithstanding references made from the Popular to the Local rites, the actual Stations used are different. The ordinal for this popular Lustration affords some internal evidence that the chief Stations mentioned for animal sacrifice were not very far apart. A perusal of Biicheler's work on the subject, and further considera- tion of the materials, justify, I think, an opinion that Fond- lire, Rubine, and Traf Sahata were points that convention- ally represented, in an elaborate magico-religious system the limits of the Iguvine people.^ At these corners of a triangle (or, including Aquilonia, a quadrangle), were in- voked and propitiated national gods, called by the systematic Attidian Brotherhood Cerfus Martins, Praestita Cerfia, and Tursa Cerfia. Upon this view, there becomes apparent through all the precise and prolonged Ritual of the Brotherhood, with its invocations, imprecations, offerings, circuits, and distribu- respecting gruel, fish, and boiled pease, see Grimm's " Teutonic Mythology " (Stallybrass), vol. i. p. 273, vol. ii. p. 618. We are all familiar with pancakes on Shrove-Tuesday, and in the North of England with "frumety" at Yule- tide. The adoption of actual fasts by the Church is an immense subject, relevant no doubt to our inquiry, but much too profound and intricate to be dealt with here. ^ It is quite possible that these stations were (like some former sanctuary crosses at Ripon) situated at a little distance from the buildings of the city, and on opposite sides. In reference to the Expiation rites for City and Hill, Br&l recalls the three sacred gates of Etruscan towns ("Les Tables Eugubines," p. 62). Probably these towns were themselves quadrangular. The topo- graphical statements as to the site of Eugubium in ancient times (see Concioli), at its destruction and reconstruction in the tenth century (Concioli), and later in the Middle Ages ("Acta Sanctorum," p. 641), are extremely confused. If the city crept part way up the hill-side, from an earlier situation on the plain, this contrasted very unfavourably with the lofty strongholds of Fiesole, Cortona, and Perugia. The citadel itself may have been on the extreme summit ; but so complete an original severance of town from fortress seems dubious. 112 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri tions of sacrificial food, a real use to which our Ceri may have been put. Professor Reggiani, as before mentioned, associated his opinion of their prototypes in Pagan times with the idea of god-pedestals, called after the gods, and par- ticularly after the great goddess Ceres. We have already seen some philological rapprochement between Cerfus and Ceres. Even this surmise, interesting though it be, would relate chiefly to the classical age, whereas the gods we have to do with may well have been modified both in name and in attributes by association of the Umbrian with the Sabine religion, and by that process which would inevitably occur if the Attidian Brotherhood itself was, like all other strong religious corporations, a systematizer. If the triangle or quadrangle was a conventional one, it is reasonable to think that temporary marks, at least, would be set up at the important angles not marked by the permanent boundary which is mentioned as at Aquilonia. And the wooden May-obelisks, whether in those times fresh for the day, kept from year to year, or annually renewed and the old ones burnt for new fire,^ would find both their vulgar estimation perpetuated and their sacerdotal employment countenanced, if they were used for posts at the very angles required by this national Ritual. Here the people would regard them with affection and awe (hardly less, indeed, than that felt for their boundary mark itself in " Aquilonia," or than that entertained by Germans for the stationary colossal wooden Irminstil),^ while the ofificiators addressed the unseen Cerfus Triad. Whether or not this actually took place; whether the ' A remark by Breal, at the conclusion of his notes on the local Expiatory ceremony (which apparently preceded, at whatever interval, the popular Lustration), suggests that a purification of the fire took place in the former rite. See " Les Tables Eugubines," p. 163. Grimm gives a curious and very rustic instance of new fire at Whitsuntide (" Teutonic Mythology," vol. ii. p. 610). ^ See Grimm, vol. i. pp. 115-119 ; also pp. 351-362, where he connects this column's name with that of the third in the heroic trio, Inguio, Iscio, Irmino, sons of Tuisco and grandsons of Earth. The passage draws attention to a The Triad of the Iguvine Lustration 113 obelisks, if used at all, were stationary, while the priest, attendants, and some victims, made those remarkable gyra- tions commanded by the text ; or whether, on the other hand, these old May-tree emblems represented on the spot the Lares or the Genii of tribes, and were then with a meaning, though now without any, actually carried round and round on men's shoulders ; it is in either case impossible to pass over the evidence of ancient custom disclosed in the Eugubine Tables, which furnishes some analogy with the Eugubine pro- cessions of to-day.^ Considering the lapse of time, and the religious and social changes that have occurred, even the conservatism of Gubbio could hardly be expected to have retained a long-discredited Ritual in much more detail. Too often do we look on the Roman religion of classic times as a fixed system, behind which it is useless to in- quire. If Rome however, was not " built in a day," neither was Iguvium. A liturgy as precise as any modern ecclesi- astical function may have taken as long to grow. More- over, we have no information which would show so great a conflict between the ancient ceremonies of the Iguvine Attidians and country customs, as that moral antipathy indicated by early Christian documents for heathen rites. Therefore the vague country or tribal spirits would be wel- comed into the cultus of the Arval and Attidian Brotherhoods more readily than even their Virtues would be recognised by a Christian Hagiology. Finally, it must be remarked that the three Saints which to-day occupy the three Ceri have attributes not very remote from those of the Cerfus Triad. Ubaldo has, indeed, as we great confusion among gods and demigods. But the Irminsul seems to have been related to the worship of Hermes and of Mars, or some Teutonic analogue. ^ Compare the view of Grimm as to the adoption by the Church of the , antique use of processions with sacred images (vol. i. pp. 64, 65) ; also the boys' May-day procession and bonfire in Lincolnshire in the eighteenth cen- tury, which have been considered a sacrifice or religious festival connected with some Roman Hermes (see Brand, vol. i. p. 241, note). H 1 1 4 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri saw, attributes of comprehensive range. These do not include Creation, but apparently all further functions of the whole Triad, as well as those of other local divinities, while his military deeds specially recall the name of Martius. George and Anthony, though male, may be compared with the assistant Praestita and Tursa. S. George is the doughty Christian knight (chosen long ago as protector by such potent states as Genoa and England). Praestita was pro- tectress, second only to Martius in the Cerfus Triad. Again, S. Anthony carries a fire-ball in his hand; and whether this be merely associated in vulgar opinion with the cure of "S. Anthony's Fire,"^ it at least suggests earth- quake and tempest furious enough for Tursa. In the foregoing paragraphs I have endeavoured to show, not that the Ceri do represent any ancient emblems actually used at the Lustration, but that a continuous practice from times reckoned primitive may easily have been countenanced and used in the Attidian ceremonies before it rendered its torch-tribute to the Church. Some features of another ob- servance, which Biicheler ^ inclines to place in April or May, which was thus apparently connected, in time at least, with the Popular Lustration, may possibly indicate a still closer relationship between ancient tree-worship and the religion of the Attidians than any we have noticed in the Lustration itself. Br6al's and Biicheler's translations, however, of the very ancient Tables III. and IV. (which contain the ordinal for the sacrifice of a sheep), vary so greatly between them- selves, and even Biicheler's leaves so much still in doubt, that I will not venture beyond one or two observations. It seems from Biicheler's rendering that the proceedings (which he compares to the May ceremonies of the Arval Brethren), included the following characteristics : — (i.) ex- piation of the temple spring ; (ii.) the collegiate appointment ^ Leland says he has been told thai S. Anthony is specially the spirit of the fireplace. (See " Etruscan Roman Remains " (1892), p. 241.) 2 "Umbrica" (1883), pp. 150, 151. The Triad of the Iguvine Lustration 115 of a promoter or director for the ceremony ; (iii.) selection of a sheep for sacrifice ; (iv.) adjournment to the country ; (v.) a fire-rite ; (vi.) the carrying of the sheep in a litter ; '^ (vii.) certain orders as to the bars or gratings, and the sup- porting yoke for the litter; (viii.) division of the litter, or some of its apparatus, into an upper and a lower portion ; (ix.) adornment of the wood; (x.) officiator's entry into the temple/^ and long ceremonies at sacrifice of the sheep, in honour of several deities, including Jove, Pumunus Pupli- cus, and Tursa ; (xi.) wine and corn included in the offerings. It is mentioned once or twice that the officiator turns to the right. This may, of course, be against our comparison. But reflection will show that the turn there may have de- pended on the position at the altar assumed by the officiator, and may be quite detached from processional and other revolutions of the people, dating from ruder times. If we bear in mind that in these old Tables we apparently encounter a sacerdotal system of very great elaboration and precision, we shall hardly fail to allow that in the form of the decorated litter, an old May emblem may have found means of perpetuation. Its having contained a sheep for sacrifice, so far from contradicting any such probability, has the greater force in favour of it, when we consider that the Victim-idea of the May-, or Tree-, or Vegetation-Spirit dealt with by Mr. Frazer, even now reappears about May- day in civilised countries, in the savage form of a human being enclosed in branches. There is little doubt that the human being, thus treated at a special season of the year, was in very early times regarded as the temporary repre- sentative of an almost impersonal spirit, and at the same moment as a proper victim for the perpetuation of that spirit while in full vigour, and for expulsion of evils.^ As before remarked, I cannot consider that a connection is proved between the Iguvine Lustration, or other ceremonies 1 Kletra = lectica. '^ Vukumen. " Compare "The Golden Bough," especially chapter iii. ii6 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri mentioned in these ancient inscriptions, and the modern custom. But I have done my best to put the evidence thereon before the reader. And it seems to me that, though satisfactory proof may, from the nature of the case, never be forthcoming, the Tables do not contradict a continuity of the custom from very ancient times, but favour that idea. Note. — The arguments I have ventured to present above are necessarily so tentative, the facts we have being rare and intricate, that the reader will forgive my noting here, rather for the assist- ance of any expert inquirer than for the present establishment of the case, that there is probably an analogy to be found between Gubbio and Viterbo. Gubbio would seem to have been a sacred gathering-place for the Umbrian people, as Aricia was for the Latins, Volsinii for the Etruscans. Incidentally, Lucarelli' re- marks that the observance of the Ceri at Gubbio is probably unique, unless the Viterbo celebration of Santa Rosa be com- parable. I endeavoured to find out at Gubbio the ground for this remark. Unhappily Signer Lucarelli is no longer living, and I have been myself unable to visit the festival at Viterbo. But modern Viterbo is sometimes, though doubtfully, said to represent the old Fanum Voltumnce, where took place the Etruscan general assembly. It would therefore be interesting to know the points of similarity between the modern festivities at Viterbo in the autumn and those at Gubbio in the spring. For the Eugubine festival we may now suppose to be not improbably associated with a Lustration of the People, a fitting ceremony at a National Gathering. It is desirable that Viterbo be, if possible, visited for the full season of the Santa Rosa festivities in the month of September, with a view to this comparison. ' Lucarelli, " Memorie," p. 136. Number IX. The Ceri on the Piazza, at Gubbio. From a published photograph of a picture by Raffaelle Antonigli, preserved in the Municipio. VIII CONCLUSION It would be both presumptuous and foolish to declare that, as to any historical connection between the modern day of the Ceri and the ritual of the Eugubine Tables, we have reached a positively certain conclusion. I cannot rely on the vicious argument that the further a question is re- moved from common machinery of demonstration, the looser may be your reasoning upon it, and yet the more dogmatic your pronouncements. I venture, however, to think that the facts laid before the reader, and the foregoing surmises as to their connection with each other, disclose a strong probability that in the three circulating Ceri of Gubbio we have still sur- viving a very ancient sylyan custom, and that these revolv- ing wooden obelisks were originally May-poles or sacred Tree emblems of some ancient people located in or near Iguvium. Further, it seems by no means improbable that they were, whether in association or not with Fire, or Sun, or other species of Nature-worship, brought out annually for the blessing of their devotees and dispersal of ills ; that in later times, retaining their protective character, they were still associated with an annual Lustration of the Iguvine people ; that this Lustration was of a semi-military nature ; ^ and that in the Middle Ages, or before, these obeliskal albert^ became connected with the insignia or the figures of Christian saints, in substitution for their antique Pagan characters, and also ' It is worth remark that, as regards carrying trees with Military Processions, Pliny says that, from the days of Pompey the Great, this was customary at Triumphs. " Hist. Nat." xii. 54. Compare Botticher's remarks on the Con- secration of Weapon-spoils, and on the tree fitted out as a Trophy ; " Bauni- kultus," pp. 71, &c. " This word albero means both tree and mast. 1 1 8 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri with an annual tribute of wax. Our whole inquiry leads to the reasonable view that in the time of Ubaldo, the former Paganism, reduced by Christianity to the condition of a despised though feared Devil-worship, was not extinguished ; that Ubaldo's character as man and as wonder-worker, be- sides the military talent he had shown in his leadership of the Eugubines, later enthroned him firmly on one of these objects as a pedestal, in fuller confirmation of his cultus, and in more decisive support of the Church ; so that in the Ceri of recent times we have three half-religious, half-military relics, not now, and perhaps not even in the classical age, recognised fully by either profession, but always regarded by the populace as dimly representing their protective genii. The Primo Capitano, again, and his colleague, with their swords, seem to still recall a popular, or more precisely a racial or even religious freedom, annually observed ; while the bearer of the axe veiled in a cloth ^ represents the tree- cutter (and possibly his successor the " popa " or feller of a classic sacrifice) ; the wine rudely representing or replacing a libation; the Pranzo del Cero, some antique sacred feast, when heroes or gods were honoured by health-drinking ; ^ ' The Magicians of Gaul recommended that a circle be described on the ground with an iron instrument before uprooting the mysterious vervain. However, as regards the hedge hyssop, we are expressly told that iron was not to touch it, but a peculiar and quasi-furtive method was to be employed in gathering it, and the holy spoil must be then carried in a clean new napkin. (See Pliny: " Historia Naturalis," xxv. 59; xxiv. 62. And com- pare the citation in Davies' "Mythology of the British Druids" (1809), pp. 279, 280.) Frarer notices the widespread taboo of iron, which he suggests may have arisen at the time of that metal's first introduction, and from the awe felt by savages in presence of novelties. (See " The Golden Bough," vol. i. pp. 172-178.) Compare the trial and condemnation of axe, or knife, or both, after the animal sacrifice at the Athenian Bouphonia. (Dealt with by Frazer; ibid., vol. ii. pp. 38-41.) ^ Cf. Grimm, "Teutonic Mythology," vol. i. pp. 59, 60. Healths were also drunk in England about and to the May-pole (Brand, vol. i. p. 239). And in Cambridgeshire children have been known to place a table with wine, &c., upon it before a grotesque figure called a "May Lady" {Ibid., p. 221). The vociferous acclamations of the Ceraioli at the Pranzo will be in the reader's memory. Conclusion 1 1 9 the three stopping-places indistinctly recalling, though they may not be the same as, three sacrificial or terminal stations in the neighbourhood; the water thrown over the Cero at its Elevation, representing some water-charm. And indeed we may, without any great flight of speculation, conclude that the triple circuit on the Piazza still keeps alive a simple custom of Lustration, by thrice conveying around or among the people to be blessed, wooden structures akin to those that represented, perhaps long before the blood-sacrifices of the Ambarvalia were precisely formulated, the primeval Spirit of Growth. These general conclusions have, I think, collateral sup- port in some further details, too trivial or remote to insist much upon. But a beautiful idea of ancient religion was that flowers sprang up where gods had strayed,^ with which notion a faint connection may be traced, if not in the green twigs thrown down from some windows at the Cero's advent,^ yet in those bunches of flowers which are given to the guests at the Pranzo. Again, the old Iguvine Lustration provided that the master of the Attidians should furnish certain neces- saries for the ceremony, on pain of fine. To-day the Primo Capitano is at least nominally responsible for the principal Pranzo, and perhaps actually for much more. Some church- wardens in England seem to have presented formal accounts for refreshments, &c., at Rogations in the eighteenth cen- tury. And the Church claimed that its rate or " cyric scot " fell due on the gang-days,^ a season, as we have seen, practically indistinguishable from that of the ancient Lus- tration, when foreign residents in Iguvium were religiously banned, and, according to one interpretation of the Umbrian, readmitted on payment of dues. As to the speed so remarkable in the modern festival at ' See Grimm, vol. i. p. 330. 2 Observed in 1895. An instance of a "Gang Flower" or "Rogation Flower " is mentioned by Brand, vol. i. p. 203. ' See Brand, vol. i. pp. 197. zo5- 1 20 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri Gubbio, we may perhaps recognise some ancient dance or some march of warlike bodies. Certainly it is in strange contrast to any solemn procession of the Christian Church. Antiquity^ rejoiced and trembled at the vehemence of the gods' progresses. Zeus and Apollo vied in noisiness with Thor and Odin. The crash of the elements represented some divine agitation of Nature. Perhaps the speed and the vociferations which accompany the Ceri are connected with the Lustral sacrifice to Tursa at Iguvium, where the three heifers slain had been first captured in a chase that appears in Biicheler's translation as a promiscuous one, infra forum? Though it cannot be identified for cer- tain with the classic " Flight of the King " mentioned by Ovid, this feature, along with the attendance of the sword- bearers, suggests a startling comparison with some con- tinuing traces of much more primitive custom, namely, of the chase and capture of human victims in spring-time, mentioned by Frazer,^ and clearly connected with tree- worship. The use of speed, sometimes accompanied with vociferous noise, as an exhibition of excitement in chasing Devils, is by no means foreign to the idea of a Lustra- tion, where evil influences or spirits must be frightened and expelled.* Frazer gives modern instances of these and similar characteristics, drawn from almost every part of the globe still Pagan, whereof some specimens are annual lus- trations or exorcisms at various times of the year.® It is needful also to note that on these occasions great licence is sometimes allowed, and the usual restraints of society or of law suspended ; a point which reminds us of the freedom ' As to this point, see Grimm, vol. i. p. 329. ^ BUcheler, "Umbrica," pp. 114, 115. ' Cf. Ovid, " Fasti," v. 727, 72S ; also "The Golden Bough," vol. i. pp. 241-244. * A curious example of brutality and ignorance displayed at Whitsuntide in the Bohmerwald is the witch-hunt with cracking whips, performed there by men and boys. It is to be hoped that nowadays no witches axe. found at that lustral season. (See Grimm, vol. i. p. 279, note.) " See "The Golden Bough," vol. ii. pp. 157-182. Conclusion 1 2 1 permitted at Florence on the Feast of John the Baptist, as well as of the old intercalated rule of the Contestabile at the season of the Ceri in Gubbio. In this light it would not be very strange if the Primo Capitano and his colleague, though we may prefer to give them a later and more pre- cisely military origin, should be distantly related to those Salii or armed dancing priests of the Roman civilisation, who rushed through the streets to expel devils ; particularly as the chief of the Eugubine Lustral Trinity was Cerfus Martius, and the Salii were, in fact, priests of Mars. At Rome the Fratres Arvales, we know, used the Tripudium,^ a solemn, measured stamping of the feet, as they passed round their altar and sang their hymn. During this, the temple door was closed, which possibly survives at Gubbio in the closing of the great gates upon the monastery court at the end of the day, while Ubaldo's Cero goes three times round. The comparison is doubtful enough ; but, without any doubt, one of the chief points to remark at Gubbio is the fervent energy of the Ceraioli, displayed both in carrying the Ceri and in the postprandial parading of the streets. Bodily vigour was exultingly displayed in the actual worship of Mars, as well as by solemn May-games held to his honour in the Circus.^ There are thus very abundant, though not precisely determinable, parallels with antiquity perceptible in this remarkable feature of the modern custom. I have not been able to find any evidence showing which of the hills near Gubbio was the Fisian Hill, a prominent feature in the first series of ceremonies (the local Expiation of Place and Hill). A god or demigod called Fisus or ' In the Iguvine Lustration itself, the Umbrian ahatripursatu is rendered into Latin tripodato by Bucheler, though Breal says infundito. (Table VII. a. 23, 36.) But Bucheler himself seems to prefer the corn-dropping meaning to the march. See Appendix. 2 Cf. Marini, pp. 599-607 ; Klausen, pp. 16, 17. Ovid says:— " Solemnes ludos Circo celebrate, Quirites: Non visa est fortem scena decere deum." (Fast., V. 597, 598.) 12 2 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri Fisovius Sanciiis, who received sacrifice, doubtless was an important local deity. Whether or not we are to recognise in him some ancient divinity of Road or of Stream, or, again, of our Monte Ingino, or of the contiguous ridges,^ it is at least remarkable that the Ceri of to-day are laboriously carried up, and then regularly preserved through the year at the Ubaldo monastery, high on the hill-side of Ingino, a great resort of pilgrims ; while M. Br^al's quite independent remark is that the important place given to the Ocris Fisius in the prayer to the god seems to imply that in a temple of Fisus, situated on the hill of his name, were preserved the Sacra of Iguvium,^ as were those of Rome on the Palatine. The notion of a close bond between the modern festival and some antique religion will strike the reader of Br6al; for he, totally unconcerned apparently with any specific theory, suggests for the Iguvine house of the Attidians a site on the Ocris Fisius.^ It is not a very wild fancy on our part to see in the mediaeval apparitions and miracles on Monte Ingino a Spirit of the Mountain, and another (if not the same) of the Stream, whose credit was merged in that of the posthu- mous wonder-worker and comprehensive exorcist, Ubaldo. At any rate, " Ingino," " S. Ubaldo's " hill, is to-day, as the Fisian Hill of the Eugubine Tables was in ancient times, the chief religious elevation close to the city. If it should even be suggested that the church or chapel on this hill, which preceded the establishment of Ubaldo's monastery, was in some way connected with a sacred tree or grove, the surmise has at least the support of analogy ; for Grimm tells us of a convent founded on the site of a miraculous tree.* ' An important pass, connecting Perugia and Gubbio with the Via Flaminia and the Adriatic coast, surmounts a precipitous gorge among these hills. A torrent, which runs through the present city of Gubbio, issues from the gorge. M. Breal, though not at all in allusion to this natural fissure, says (p. 71) that the Umbrian Fisus should have a Latin analogue, Fissus. We have noticed the Sabine demigod, of at least kindred name, in an earlier chapter. ^ "Les Tables Eugubines," p. 71 ; see also ibid., p. 116. ^ "Les Tables Eugubines," p. xix. * Vol. ii. p. 649. Conclusion 123 There is a peculiar fitness, already once or twice alluded to, in the mediaeval character of Ubaldo as the posthumous Exorcist of Monte Ingino. Not only, if our suggestion be correct, is he the local good Spirit; to the poor and the ignorant their very best friend ; possessor of most powers formerly wielded by the various gods of Iguvium; but the annual exhibition of his indestructible dead body on this day, and its annual re-clothing (customary in past times), seem to recall in almost startling manner an ancient idea of Human Scapegoats, like the one customarily killed in May outside Athens, and the thirty Bulrush Men thrown (probably instead of real ones) from the Sublician bridge by Roman Vestals in May.^ The idea of a human recipient of the people's ills is no strange one. The Christian religion itself is a trans- figured example ; and its early spring solemnities of Easter commemorate — nay, in the opinion of some, represent or annually rehearse — the death and resurrection of a Divine- Human Bearer of troubles. It is believed that at the present time, in an Abruzzi village,^ a man is annually sacrificed in secret, and accounted to die for Christ — an appalling and perverse ceremony indeed, if true. To-day a considerable (though very healthy) throng, at the season of the Ceri, climb the hill to view the imperishable body of Ubaldo, so that the notion of an annual victim or an annual death is suggested to us by this annual observance, which exhibits to the eye a dead body. An intended spiritual lesson is very likely eternal life. The benefit or the duty of annually representing Death at certain seasons is an idea also apparent in some relics of Tree-worship. Mr. Frazer enumerates various pregnant instances in his remarks* on "Killing the Tree-spirit" and "Carrying out Death." And I was recently told at Aldborough, a remote 1 See, however, Ovid., "Fast.," v. 621-662; and compare "Smith's Diet, of Antiquities," " Lemuralia " and "Argei." 2 See "Folk-lore," vol. vii. p. 282. ' " The Golden Bough," vol. i. p. 240, &c. 124 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri village near to Hornsea, and almost contiguous to a large wood called the "Baal- Wood," in the East Riding of York- shire, that within living memory (if not even at the present time), it was the custom for women to privatelj' assemble at Shrove-tide, and to dance and weep in the presence of a wooden image which they dressed in clothes.^ However, though from one account^ of the Festival of S. John the Baptist at Florence we may fancy we detect in the curious treatment of that Saint's own representative, traces of some forgotten human sacrifice, I do not know of any evidence to conclusively prove this surmise, either there or in the analogous festival at Gubbio. The Left-handed revolution of the Cero upon its own axis has been noted above. The original meaning of the fortunate right-handed turn called " Deasil " by Northern Celts, and of the unfortunate left-handed turn called " Withershins " or " Widdershins " by the English, has, I believe, not yet been established. To enter here upon so vast a problem would be like trying to argue out the philosophical antithesis between Idealism and Realism be- fore we took up our knife and fork at breakfast on a fine hunting morning. But I cannot quit the subject without one or two remarks. The withershins turn probably be- longs in recent centuries both to the general notion of Sinister or Evil influences attending on the Left hand ; and to the special idea that to go against the way of the Sun in the ecliptic — that is, to move (or to send an object) round, S.E.N.W. rather than S.W.N.E. — is to fly in the face of Providence. But there exist a host of apparent inconsistencies. The acrobatic Circus-rider, perhaps a sur- vival from the old Circus games to Mars, generally adopts ' Compare the effigies " Holly Boy " and " Ivy Girl " burnt at Shrovetide in Kent in the last century (Brand, vol. i. p. 68), also the churchyard dancing at Shrovetide which Brand mentions in quotation from Sir Thomas Overbury (ibid., p. 63). ^ See chapter iv. above, in a footnote. Conclusion 1 2 5 the Left-handed course.^ The whist-player is indifferent which way he turns his chair to redeem fortune, provided he do not on any one occasion change the turn. The apparent non-existence of a constant rule in the Church's circular processions is striking; though the Right-handed circular procession is, here in England at least, considered appro- priate for Festal, the Left-handed for Penitential occasions. If the miracle recorded as wrought for Hezekiah was a movement of the Sun, not a mere alteration on the Dial, then for a sign of better times the Sun went part-way round the sky " withershins." Again, the prevalence of the Right as the strong hand is by no means universally exemplified. A boxer leads with his Left. The British soldier is taught to step off with his Left foot. These few instances will show how dangerous it is to set up a general statement, which itself is not imperiously true, and then make the deduction that of course the proposition we encounter must be solved in one way. The human race does not pin its absolute faith either on the Sun or on the Right hand. It has been suggested that mere defiance ^ is meant by the withershins charm, as still known in our own country. I cannot help thinking that it is a trace of a real religion of old. There is said to be in India a noted " Left-hand " sect associated with the worship of female divinities.* And it is natural to suppose that worshippers of Luna or of Terra might use a rite similar, and contrary, to that of the Solar cultus.* The use of wheels, of circles, and kindred figures in religion is old and widespread. It has survived not only ' This reference to the acrobatic riders, resting on observation, finds support in a magazine article, which exhibits no theoretical aspect at all. See The Idler for January 1897, pp. 834, 835. 2 " The Evil Eye," Elworthy (1895), p. 429. 3 See "Hinduism," Monier Williams (1877), p. 123, &c. * Mr. Frazer mentions several cases of apparently Solar Circle charms in connection with the actual Solstitial Change at Midsummer. In one at least, the Via Soils is clearly followed. See "The Golden Bough," vol. ii. pp. 264-270. 126 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri in the processions alluded to, but also to our own age, in the fantastic devices of magic. ^ If, upon an old idea of magnetism, the Right dissolved charms which the Left knitted up,^ we can imagine this idea might be assimilated to a Right- hand or Left-hand sweep of the wand around a magic circle. No reason is obvious why a Deasil-runner should fall into ecstasy by the threefold circular dash the way of the Sun,^ rather than by a Leftward gyration. And, though possibly it is natural to turn round rather to the right than to the left, a perverse or opposed religion might retain or adopt the contrary mania. We have seen, in the course of our inquiry, some grounds for attributing to the Iguvine or to the Attidian religion a Chthonic, Telluric, or Earthly character. Mars, whether Infernus or Hodius, the Infernal or the Marching god, occurs in one of the Rituals, and the Lustration Triad has the surname or patronymic of " Martins." * Hermes, whose very name was adopted in Greece for simple boundary marks, and for beneficent pillar-genii (ideas fairly related to those of the Iguvine Lustration, as we read it), was indeed an Olympian, but, as messenger to the Lower Regions, also accounted a Chthonic god. Again, Ceres herself, whose name and idea are suggested by the modern observance as well as by the ancient Ritual we have compared, was, as the Grecian Demeter, of the Nether World. And Dionysus, a Tree-god, was Chthonic. Though the very obelisks we en- counter may have been eventually adapted to some rites of Sun-worship, I imagine that the trees, to which we trace their 1 See the plate illustrating the Magical Circle in Barrett's " Magus." ^ " History of Magic," Ennemoser, Howitt's translation (Bohn, 1893), vol. ii. p. 65. ' See Ennemoser, vol. ii. p. 183. * In dealing with " Ceremonial Magic," and particularly with the divine Emanations and Names, Barrett associates Elohim Gibor with various ideas, including punishment, fortitude, slaughter, tribunal, girdle, sword, left hand, fear. Seraphim, Mars, the elements, and Camael, the ruler of Samson. (See Barrett's "Magus.") Conclusion 127 parentage, were earlier accounted offspring of teeming Earth. ^ In vulgar opinion the withershins turn, so far as it is properly traceable as a formula, is (whether defiance or no defiance) generally reckoned for an appeal to spirits of the infernal or lower world.^ Again, the great Procession of the Ceri itself takes place in the evening. The Manes and subterraneous gods of Antiquity received their Sacrifices at Evening or at Night.* I do not for a moment suggest that in Gubbio this or any rite of wizardry is now intended. If my theory be correct, the withershins turn of the Ceri, now conveying no subtle meaning to the Ceraioli, is merely one example of their constant conservatism, and survives unimpaired from days when the Sinister was the badge of a Telluric religion, and perhaps by thousands of years anticipated the revolting superstitions of Witchcraft. A witness of the Gubbio ceremony will hardly consider it a merely negative rite, like "saying the Lord's Prayer backwards." It is a positive and enthusiastic proceeding. The picture by RafFaelle Antonigli in the Municipio, which represents the Ceri on the great Piazza many years ago, shows them making then with equal impetuosity this same Left-handed circle they make to-day. In 1895, on the day following the procession of the Ceri (that is, on the ecclesiastical Saint's day, the i6th), I saw some lads carrying a toy Cero about, and turning it Right- handed. It is possible that they followed some festival rule of the day. But considering all the circumstances (and particularly the fact that the actual festival should com- 1 With the distinction between Olympian and Chthonic gods, there was also a distribution of trees themselves into fortunate and unfortunate [cf. Botticher, " Baumkultus " (1856), pp. 301, &c.). Pliny's rule for determining the infelices appears quite insufficient (cf. " Hist. Nat.," xvi. 45). 2 See the instances mentioned in Davenport Adams' "Witch, Warlock, and Magician" (1889), pp. 324, 337, 340, 364; also Elworthy, as before cited. Rather against this view is, however, that suggested by Ennemoser's remarks on Castor and Pollux. See his vol. ii. p. 24. Mr. Jacobs is cautious in his use of the idea. See " English Fairy Tales" (1892), pp. 118, 120, 247. 3 Cf. Dunbar's "Antiquities of Greece" (Edinburgh, 1813), p. 267. 128 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri mence at Vespers of the iSth, whereas the Left-hand circuit was still made in the Monastery court after Vespers on that day), I must suppose those lads in their gyration on the 1 6th were as yet unpractised in the proper turning of the Ceri. I was told in Gubbio that the turn was always made round to the Left, and further, that it was to ease or rest the Right shoulder. This explanation, perhaps given in kindness to a stranger who asked for some explanation, would obvi- ously have been just as lucid had the turn been right- handed : and equally illogical. It must be admitted that those who use the Right shoulder by preference to support the Barella may outnumber the others generally, and may find the Left-hand turn more convenient. But to a witness of the ceremony, an explanation by mere convenience is by no means plain. The question remains, I fear, unsettled. I can but express my own hesitating opinion, that the turning is due to the season of the Ceri having been, long ages ago, regarded as a time of agitation in the world of Nature, when by certain magical performances the course of vegetation might be assisted, just as to-day iron is magnetised by establishing a magnetic current near it. The Spirit, or the Law of Nature, rudely conceived as embodied in its product, the Tree, was accordingly set in motion, and that in a direc- tion which had a Telluric rather than a Solar character. It is quite needless to insist in detail on the well-known connection, which has lasted for many ages, between the widespread ideas of processions, bounds-beating, litanies, thanksgiving, or prayers for crops, the carrying of green boughs or poles, banners, or standards, and perhaps the expulsion of bad spirits,^ at a season very close to that of the present Eugubine procession, and (as we have seen) also of the ancient Iguvine Lustration, We have very good reason for correlating these two ceremonies, and for associating at least the more modern of them (which we ' Compare Brand, vol. i. pp. 197-202. Conclusion 1 29 can best judge, since we may actually see it), with the highly antique cultus of Trees or the Spirit of Growth in vegetation. This comprehensive bond the gospel-trees of Wolverhampton, and certain crosses elsewhere in England,^ make by no means less strong. It is not to be supposed for one moment that the Christian clergy who at Rogation-time read Gospels under trees, or sang litanies and prayers at boundaries or in the open fields, prayed to those trees, boundaries, or fields themselves. We know well that, if following world-old customs, the clergy at such festival seasons yet adored the Christian Trinity. That is a shallow mind, an impetuous reason, which is content to say, " Here we have nothing but the Ancient this, or the Pagan that." A considered metfiod, a long process, with multifarious and not absolutely obvious results, was partly expounded (long after its adoption) by Pope Gregory. It was hazardous, but it did not by any means leave things as they were. Similarly, we may not impute to the Attidian Brotherhood, who prayed to the Cerfus Triad, any thought of worshipping either the boundary itself, or those great wooden structures which we suppose may have been carried thither; objects, however, which the People perhaps loved, and prayed to unforbidden. In each case it remains possible that the more systematic teachers themselves preferred the worship of a greater God, although in the propagation and assertion of their religion they yielded to the common temptation, to concede, nay, to preach a rather parochial theology, to argue with the foolish in the language of the foolish, to adopt popular custom because it was popular, in the vain hope that the integrity of their own creed could be maintained under the dubious process. I suppose that by the missionary who will persuade heathen, the local or tribal god must be re- garded first from the point of view of the individuals who compose the tribe or inhabit the place. The teacher ex- ^ Brand, vol. i. p. 199. 1 130 Elevation and Procession of the Ceri pounds his doctrine in such terms as are suited to the mind of the pupil. Here is a reasonable explanation of the persistence of ancient polytheism, as it is also (but with a moral and ecclesiastical liriiit) a clue to the enormous Hagio- logy of the Middle Ages, and to the number of evil spirits which the Church condemned, hoping to replace them by better. The invocations accorded by the Attidian and Arval Brethren to sundry deities leave upon the mind the open question whether, in the female Dea Dia of the latter, in the Cerfus Triad of the former, one great Spirit was not wor- shipped, however obscurely. With the Cerfus Triad is our immediate concern. And, mere demigods though these spirits seem from their names to be, it is possible that the Attidian Brethren had here assimilated to some lost or impaired orthodoxy of their own the local genii, whose rites were associated with the May-tree emblems of old Iguvium, and whose attributes prompted those strikingly Triune titles, the Martial Cerfus, the Cerfian Protectress, and the Cerfian Dread. If, upon considering carefully the celebration of Sant Ubaldo at the season of the Ceri, we conclude that this Saint's cultus is adorned by customs akin to world-wide and most ancient ceremonies, our appreciation of to-day's scenes, while losing all tincture of surprise, may remain as hearty as ever. I do not think that such glimpses of a Nature- Deity as we may recognise in surviving customs at Gubbio need vex the mind of advanced modern theologians, whose views of God, more expanded though they be, have come back to a kindred character. For it is, I believe, not unusual now to regard God as a Supreme Spirit operating through all Nature's laws, through the Universe. To the scientific there would be perceptible here a strange and melancholy brotherhood between primitive and modern minds, intel- lectually brought together after ages of anthropomorphic imagination. On the other hand, to the simply religious Number X. In the Monasteky Court, Ascension-day, 1896. The Hill-side Road, Ascension-day, 18 Scenes on Monte Ingino, Conclusion 1 3 1 this fellowship with the past should hardly be an astonish- ing fact. Christmas is to most people as pleasant, and even the more serious seem to find it nearly as cheerful, as if it were by now quite estranged from those festivities which anciently marked the Pagan Yule-tide and the Satur- nalia of the winter. Again, though people do not now- adays sprinkle the blood and eat the flesh of any visible victim, yet in place of this rite, and as its long acknow- ledged substitute, a mystery of milder form, but of much more stupendous purport, is performed at Easter-tide, with unusual solemnity. Such a change or development of modern from some early ceremonies periodically observed, is far more remark- able than the mere continuation of the sacrificial Altar, the conversion of a Heathen temple into a Christian church, or even the transmutation of a Tree- or a Fire-obelisk into an ecclesiastical Torch. We must not presume to reprove, though we may remark upon, the slowness of this general change, which, sometimes dangerously hurried by frenetic iconoclasm, constantly arrested or reversed by bigotry, and always impeded by ignorance, has yet been gradually purifying the mysteries, elevating the ideals, and reforming the treasured customs of religion. It is with a certain thrilling curiosity, though sometimes with amazement, or even repulsion, that we perceive strands of remotely antique pattern in that magical web which ever veils the sanctuary of human devotion. The early summer festival of Gubbio is, at any rate, to the most unbiassed spectator a touching scene, none the less for preserving some traces of primitive enthusiasm. APPENDIX THE ANCIENT LUSTRATION OF THE IGUVINE PEOPLE The following translation of a passage from the Eugubine Tables is based on a comparison of the Latin renderings of Brdal and Biicheler. I do not remark on all the small discre- pancies between them nor the repeated ones. Br^al, " Les Tables Eugubines " (1875), pp. xliv., xlv., &c. (designated M. B. ). BuCHELER, " Umbrica " (1883), pp. 84, &c. (designated F. B.). [Table VI. b. 48.] When he will 1 lustrate 2 the people, he must go to inspect the birds. He must ask in like manner 3 as for expiation of the hill. In hke manner he must take the aus- pices. By the same limits * must he observe the birds. After he has made divination by the birds, he must be vested with the lustral [?] praetexta [?] ; ^ he must take the girdle [?] ; ° upon the 50 right shoulder he must be vested. He must lay fire on [in ?]. When to the act of worship that thing is to be brought whereon he has laid fire, he must bring it who has ' the lustral prsetexta. The same must carry the brazier ^ on the right shoulder. With him must go two attendants.^ They must have the prsetexta [with] purple [stripes].'" Then he must ask the green woodpecker" [to ' Heries = volet (F. B.) ; = voles (M. B.). " Afero = circumferre. ^ Suruio = itidem (F. B.). * Eriront tuderus = iisdem finibus. ' Perca arsmatiam anovihimu = pr^textam lustralem induitor (M. B.); = virgam imperatoriam induimino (F. B.). ° Cringatro hatu = cinptum capito (F. B.) ; = ricam sumito (M. B.). ' Habiest = habebit. " [Or: fire alight.] * Prinvatur = calatores (M. B.);= prinovati (F. B., who compares the word viith privati). '■" Perca ponisiater habituto = prstextam [cum] purpureis [clavis] habento (M. B.) ; = virgam calatoris habento (F. B.). 11 Parfa = parram. [Green woodpecker ; or owl ?] [Noie. — Readers who use the original authority will be much assisted by a forthcoming work, in English, on " Italic Dialects," by Professor Conway ; Cambridge University Press.] Appendix 1 33 be?] favourable to him, to the Iguvine State.' Then he must make divination at the augurs' chairs, nor must he return ^ until he have taken favourable auspices. After he has taken favourable auspices, he must go by the augurs' way to the act of worship with the victims for lustral sacrifice.^ After he has come to Aquilonia,* to the exits, then they must stand at the boundary. He who has the lustral prsetexta must expel.^ Thus must he expel : " Whosoever is of the Tadinate State, of the Tadinate tribe, of the Tuscan, Narican, Japudican name, must go out from this people. If from this people he have not gone out who is SS a [foreign] resident, whoever takes [him] among that people, must bring thither where the law is ; ' he must sacrifice [?] there where the law is." Thrice he must expel. At that time at the boundary he must stand together with the attendants. Then he must say : "Be ye lustrated [?], be ye purified [?], Iguvines." '^ Then with the attendants, [by means of?] [the] victims for lustral sacrifice, they must go round.^ When they have gone round, have come to ' [Or city] ; tote = civitati. " Amboltu = circumvertitor (?) (M. B. ) ; = ambulato (F. B.). [Turn round ? walk ? or, proceed with the lustral procession ?] ^ Com peracris sacris = cum ambarvalibus sacris (M. B. ) ; = cum opimis sacris (F. B.). '' Acesoniame = Aquiloniam (M. B. rejects the association of this name with Acedogna or Aquilonia in Samnium. He accepts the forms Alcedunia and Acersonia as well as that in the text. I do not know of any places close to Gubbio which still retain names that can be identified with those of the stations mentioned in the ceremonial. Bucheler suggests a relationship to Akudunniad of the Hirpini ; and that it refers to an open space for auspices (pomerium) in the northern region, bounded by stones and baclced by a hill. He here refers to Tables I. b. 41 ; and VII. a. 52 : most difficult passages, whereof the first mentions obscurely a "Kumne," whether this word mean column, or hill, or place of assembly. Compare his remarks at pp. 93, 94, of the work cited, with Breal, pp. 173, 211-215.) ' Eturstahmu = exterminato. * (It is very doubtful whether toll, punishment, or mere allocation of Peregrini to some legally specified region is here intended. ) ' Arsmahamo, caterahamo, lovinur = lustramini, purificamini, Iguvini (M. B.). [But, in quite a different sense,] = ordinamini centuriamini Iguvini (F. B.). 8 Ambretuto = ambeunto [i.e., he must go round with the attendants). (M. B. at p. 183 remarks that the idea, rather than the grammatical construc- tion, is the cause of the plural form.) (Possibly some victims, for all, were employed in this procession. See BUcheler, p. 98. ) 134 Appendix the boundary, at the boundary, with the attendants thus must they pray in silence : i Cerfus Martius, Prsestita Cerfia of Cerfus 60 Martius, Tursa Cerfia of Cerfus Martius ; 2 alarm, make to tremble, — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , the Tadinate State, the Tadinate tribe, the Tuscan, Narican, Japudican name, the nobles girt, not girt, the spearmen, soldiers without spears, of the Tadinate State, of the Tadinate tribe, of the Tuscan, Narican, Japudican name.^ Cerfus Martius, Prsestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, Tursa Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, be ye of good will [and] favourable by your amity to the people of the Iguvine State, to the Iguvine State, to [their] nobles girt, not girt, to [their] spear- men, soldiers without spears, to the name of that [people], to the name of that [State]." After they have said that, then he who has the lustral praetexta must say, "Go, Iguvines."* After he has said that, the same ^ must again go round. After they are returned to the boundary they must pray in like manner. In like manner he must say, that they go he must say.* Then a third 65 time they must go round. After they have come to the boundary they must pray in like manner. In like manner, that they go he must say. Then the attendants must go back by the same way by which they have come. [Table VII. a. i.] They must pray in like manner. In like manner, that they go he must say. Then the attendants must go back by the same way by which they have come. At Fontuli ' ^ (Or, in quiet,) persnimumo tasetur = precantor taciti. ^ Serfe Martie, Prestota Cerfia Serfer Martier, Tursa Serfia ^erfer Martier = Cerfe Martie, Prasstita Cerfia Cerfi Martii, Tursa Cerfia Cerfi Martii (F.B) ; = (Jerfe Martie, Prsestita ^erfia (^erfi Martii, Tursa ^erfia (^erfi Martii (M.B. ). [Note : This prayer does not occur on Table I., which appears to be altogether a less elaborate document than Table VI. ] ' (F. B. considers that the Iguvines here address three martial numina, or a triple Mars.) * Etato liovinur = itate Iguvini (M. B.) ; =: itote Iguvini (F. B.). ' Euront = iidem (M. B.) ; = eidem (F. B.). * Sururont deitu etaians deitu. ' Fondlire = Ad Fontulos (M. B.) ; = In fontulis (F. B.). [F. B. suggests that the points named fondlire, rubine, and traf sahate were disposed in a triangle (forming with the boundary a quadrangle) in the region Aquilonia, where the Lustration took place. Though the word fondlire may be derived from some old cultus of springs, it is not, he thinks, equivalent to adfontes.'\ Ai)pendix 135 he must sacrifice ^ three boars, whether red or black. To Cerfus Martius must he sacrifice for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State. He must perform censings [?] with the censer \f\? He must sacrifice with sour wine.^ He must sacrifice corn.* He must pray in silence. To the entrails he must add 5 sprinkled spelt-meal, a lump ^ In like manner must he invoke * as at the Trebulan gate.'' After he has taken auspices Beyond Sata,8 then he must give pieces ° [? of food]. At Rubinia i" he must sacrifice three sows, red or black, to Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State. He must sacrifice drink-offerings [?].^^ He must sacrifice with sour wine. He must sacrifice corn. In like manner must he invoke, as before the Trebulan gate. He must pray in silence. To the entrails he must add a little heap ^^ [of small offering cakes ?], a lump. After he has with another loaf [?] prayed [?]," then with prayer he must make libation in rusem [?]," to Praestita Cerfia of ' Fetu = facito. ^ Valuo ferine feitu=turaacerra facito (M. B.) ;=vatuaferione facito (F. B.). ^ (Or : he must sacrifice with vinegar and water.) Poni fetu. * Arvio fetu = arvia facito (F. B.) ; = ollas facito (M. B.). '> (Or, a pellet ; or, gruel.) Ficla = offam (M. B.) ; = fitillam (F. B.). ^ Naratu — nuncupato (M. B.); = narrato (F. B.). ' [Though the foregoing passage distinctly orders that this sacrifice is to be popluper = pro populo, the phrase itself does not occur in the immensely long invocations at the Trebulan gate addressed to Dius Grabovius, in the Hill and City Ritual ; and by implication also to Trebus Jovius, at the same gate. See the text and translation given by Breal, pp. xxxvii., &c.] ^ Traha Sahata = Trans Satam (M. B., who considers Trans Satam as a locality, designated in the same way as Cis Padum ; see pp. xlvii., 196, 204, 205, 207) ; = trans sanctam (F. B., who compares an Oscan word [saahtom = sanctum], and suggests a Sacred Way ; see p. 106). 9 Erus - frusta (M. B.). (Doubtful.) 11 Rubine = ad Rupiniam (M. B.) ; = Rubiniee (F. B.). " Persaia = libamina (M. B.). ^^ Struma - struiculam. '3 Ape supo postro pepescus = Postquam pane altero precatus erit (M. B.) ; = ubi suppa posteriora posuerit (F. B.). " Enom pesclu ruseme vesticatu = tum obsecratione in rusem libato (F. B., who has a note on the subject [pp. 105, 106], but does not finally pro- nounce as to the meaning) ; = tunc cum precatione ad Rusemam libato (M.B., who says the libation does not take place at Rupinia, but at another spot called Rusema, which he prefers to an older interpretation, rus (abl.) rure. He compares Rusema with the Etruscan city-name Rusellze ; see pp. xlviii., xlix., 199). 136 Appendix Cerfus Martius, for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine 10 State. Then with black vessels in rusem thus he must pray : "Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee,i with these black vessels, for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State, for the name of that [people], for the name of that [State]. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, direct by every way harm to the Tadinate State,^ to the Tadinate tribe, to the Tuscan, Narican, Japudican name, to the nobles girt, not girt, to the spearmen, soldiers with- out spears, of the Tadinate State, of the Tadinate tribe, of the Tuscan, Narican, Japudican name, to the name of them. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, be of good will [and] favourable by thine amity to the people of the Iguvine State, to the Iguvine State, to the name of that [people], to the name of that [State], 15 to the nobles girt, not girt, to the spearmen, soldiers without spears, of that [State], Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, keep safe the people of the Iguvine State, keep safe the Iguvine State. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, keep Safe the name, nobles, institutions [?], men, cattle, fields, fruits, of the people of the Iguvine State, of the Iguvine State. Keep safe. Be of good will [and] favourable by thine amity to the people of the Iguvine State, to the Iguvine State, to the name of that [people], to the name of [that State]. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee, with these black vessels, for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State, for the name of that [people], for the name of that [State]. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee have I in- 20 voked.^ After the manner of the favourable Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee have I invoked.* Then with prayer he must speak thus: "Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee, with these black vessels, thee, with full ones, for the Iguvine people, for the Iguvine State, for the name of that [people], for the name of that [State]. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee have I invoked. After the manner of the favourable Praestita Cerfia of ' [No verb in this sentence.] ^ Prevendu via ecla atero tote Tarsinate = advortito via omni malum civitati Tadinati (F. B.) ; =interdicito via ilia uti civitati Tadinati (M. B.). ' Tiom subocauu = te invocavi (M. B.) ; tiom subocavu = te adoravi (F.B.). * Prestotar Serfiar ^erfer Martier foner frite, tiom subocauu=Pr32Stit2e Cerfite (Jerfi Martii faustse more te invocavi (M. B.) ; Prestotar Serfiar Serfer Martier foner frite tiom subocavu = PrsestitEe Cerfiae Cerfi Martii volentis fiducia te adoravi (F. B.). Appendix 137 Cerfus Martius, thee have I invoked." Then he must make liba- tion, he must pour.^ Then in rusem with prayer he must make libation to Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State. Then with white vessels 25 he must pray. Upon the black ones must he place [them] cross- wise.2 Thus must he pray : "Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee, with these white vessels, for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State, for the name of that [people], for the name of that [State]. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, avert ^ by every way harm * from ^ the people of the Iguvine State, from ^ the Iguvine State, from^ the nobles girt, not girt, from^ the spearmen, soldiers without spears, of the people of the Iguvine State, of the Iguvine State, from' the name of that [people], from 5 the name of that [State]. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, keep safe the people of the Iguvine State, keep safe the 30 Iguvine State. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, keep safe the name, nobles, institutions, men, cattle, fields, fruits, of the people of the Iguvine State, of the Iguvine State. Keep safe. Be of good will [and] favourable by thine amity to the people of the Iguvine State, to the Iguvine State, to the name of that [people], to the name of that [State]. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee, with these white vessels, for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State, for the name of that [people], for the name of that [State]. Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee have I invoked. After the manner of the favourable Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius thee have I invoked." Then with prayer thus must he pray: "Praestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee 35 with these white vessels, thee with full ones, for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State, for the name of that [people], ■^ Enom vesticatu, ahatripursatu=tum libato, infundito (M. B. ); =tum libato, tripodato (F. B.). \Tripodato would imply some solemn beating of the ground with the feet, connected, if not identical, with the religious dance of the Salii ; but BUcheler, in reference to a kindred passage, seems to prefer the grain-dropping omen or oblation (see his p. 69).] ^ Trahvorfi=transversim (M. B.) ; =ex transvorso (F. B.). ^ Ahavendu = avortito (F. B.) ; =concedito (M. B.). ■• Atero = malum (F. B.) ; =uti (M. B.). * [Datives, not ablatives, in both versions ; for both give in the list civitati and noniini, as equivalents here for tote and nomne. The dative after avertere is not unknown in Latin. Biicheler's rendering of this passage, as well as of the kindred one in the imprecation before, is more intelligible than Breal's.] 138 Appendix for the name of that [State]. Prsestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee have I invoked. After the manner of the favourable Prsestita Cerfia of Cerfus Martius, thee have I invoked." Then he must make hbation, he must pour.' Having pressed a cake ^ in a bowl [?] with his knee [?]' and spelt meal sprinkled, he must sacrifice to Fisovius Sancius for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State. In like manner * must he invoke as behind the Tesenac Gate. He must give pieces [?] of the cake. Then he must expiate to purity^ [?] the cake, sprinkled spelt meal, bread. He must pour drops upon them. He must go Beyond Sata.^ After he has returned [from] Beyond Sata, then he must pound. With the pounded [offerings] he must pray. He must 40 move the sacred one-handled bowls.'' Beyond Sata he must sacrifice three heifer-calves to Tursa Cerfia of Cerfus Martius for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State. He must sacrifice drink offerings. He must sacrifice with sour wine. He must sacrifice corn. He must pray in silence. To the entrails he must add a little heap [of small offering cakes?], a lump. In like manner must he invoke as at the Trebulan Gate. After he has offered up [the sacrifice], he must call [to ?] where they have sacrificed the boars, so that he may give pieces [?]. After he has given the pieces [?], he must take auspices [?] afresh [?J at Rubinia ; let him give pieces [?]. Then Beyond Sata he must take auspices [?] ; let him give pieces [?]. Then he must turn again to Rubinia ; he must pound ; with the pounded 45 [offerings] he must pray, and move the sacred one-handled bowls.^ ^ Ahatripursatu = infundito [M. B.] ; =tripodato [F. B.]. 2 Vestisa=libum (M. B.) ; =vesticia (F. B.). 2 (Or : bent on his knee [?], a cake ; very doubtful phrase.) ^ [Though this passage has just ordered a sacrifice to Fisovius Sancius, with the indication poplufer as well as totaper, the prayer referred to (which occurs at a sacrifice of three sows, &c. , in the City and Hill Ritual), contains no such phrase &% popluper=iox the people. See Table VI., b. 3, &c.] ^ Purome efurfatu^ad puritatem februato (M. B.) ; (quite a different sense is conveyed by F. B.'s version = mefam spefam suppam in ignem expurgato). ' (See above, and note.) ' Capif sacra aitu = capides sacras agito (F. B.) ; = capides sacras dicito (M. B.). ' (The difficulties of this passage are very differently treated by M. B. and F. B. I can here only refer the reader to those divergent authorities. I have chiefly, but not entirely, followed Breal.) Appendix 139 Then he must turn round Beyond Sata ; he must pound ; with the pounded [offerings] he must pray. Then it will have been offered. When for the third time he has encompassed ^ the people, he who has the lustral praetexta, and the two atten- dants, in the temple ^ of Tursa, must thus pray in silence : " Tursa Jovia, alarm, make to tremble, , , , , , , , , the Tadinate State, the Tadinate tribe, the Tuscan Narican Japudican name, the nobles girt, not girt, the spearmen, soldiers without spears, of the Tadinate State, of the Tadinate Tribe, of the Tuscan Narican Japudican name. Tursa 50 Jovia, be of good will [and] favourable by thine amity to the people of the Iguvine State, to the Iguvine State, to the nobles girt, not girt, to the spearmen, soldiers without spears, of that [State], to the name of them, to the name of that [State]." Thus thrice let him say. Then [he] who has the lustral prsetexta, and the attendants, must drive forth ^ the heifers for lustral sacrifice.* Below the decurional forum, whoever of the State will, without dis- tinction, let them take them.^ And as soon as they have caught the three, he must sacrifice them at Aquilonia [?] * to Tursa Jovia, for the people of the Iguvine State, for the Iguvine State. In like manner he must invoke as '' at the Trebulan Gate. He must sacrifice corn. He must sacrifice drink offerings. To the entrails he must add a little heap, a lump. He must pray in silence. He must sacrifice with sour wine. [Table VII. b. i.] Whosoever, at any time,^ is Master to the Attidian brethren, let him bring for [in?] his Mastership the victims [?] [due ?] of [from ?] the twelve Attidian brethren," which it ' Andirsafust = circumdederit (M. B.) ; =lustraverit (F. B.). 2 Dur tefruto=in delubro (M. B.) ; =ex rogo (F. B.). ' [Or : chase.] * [Or: from among the lustral victims (?).] 5 Hondrafuro sehemeniar hatuto totar pisi heriest=infra forum decurionale capiunto civitatis quisquis volet (F. B.); =antequam erunt Semeni^, [juvencas] sumite. Civitatis quilibet (M. B.). " [Or : in Aquilonia. See Bucheler; and above, note.] ' [Popluper, used in the text, does not occur in the actual prayer cited.] 8 Pisi panupei = Qui quandoque (M. B.) ; = Quisquis quandoque (F. B.). ' Erec gueso fratrecate portaia sevacne fratrom Atiersio = is in suo magi- sterio portet hostias fratrum Atiedium duodecim (F. B.); =is stipes (?) col- legio portet debitas fratrum Attidiorum duodecim (M. B.). 1 40 Appendix is the law [should] be exacted ' for the fraternity," when the heifers ought to be chased, when the Attidian adfertor ^ has encompassed the people. If he have not brought that as above is written, let the fines for the Master be three hundred asses.* ' Ehiato=exactas (M. B.); =emissas (F. B.). '^ Reper fratreca=pro re fraterna (M. B.). 3 Arfertur= adfertor (M. B.) ; =flamen (F. B.). '' Fratreci motar sins A. CCC = magistro multse sint asses CCC (M. B.); = magistro multse sint asses CCC (F. B.). Number XI. fhe Umbra-Aretina Railway . ierbert M. Bower iSg6. U^alkn-th-Boutallsc. Sketch Plan of Gubbio. Based on Tei's Map in Lucarelli's " Memorie e Guida" (i88S). Explanation E. Piazza della Signoria. F. Palazzo del Consoli. G. Palazzo Pretorlo. H. The Cathedral. K. Palazzo Ducale. A B C D. [Marked thus ] Approximate course of the Procession of the Ceri, in the evening, 15 May, 1895 and 1896. A. Point of contact with the Ecclesiastical Procession. INDEX ACESONIAME, Appendix. See also Aquilonia Acolytes, io6, io8, and Appendix (Attendants) Adfertor, 99, 106, and Appendix Agobio, 4 Albero, 55, 63, 117 Alfiere, 67 Ambarvalia, 119 Ancestor-worship, 87 Andrea, S., 5 Antenna, 55, 56, 63, 86 Anthropomorphic spirits and re- presentations, 85-89, 96, 130 Antonio, S., 5-7, 11, 15-17, 47, 54, 55,64, 114 Apollo, 86, 120 April, 58, 114 Aquilonia, ill, 112, and Appendix Argei, 123 Aricia, 116 Arvals, 106, 107, 113, 114, 121, 130 Ascension, 18, 94, 108, 109 Ashera, 97, 98 Assembly (National or Tribal), 63, 68, 69 Attidians, 2, 99, 107, 111-114, 119, 129, 130, and Appendix Augustine, S., of Canterbury, 90 Augustine, S., of Hippo, 92 Axe. See Hatchet Baal, 60, 97 Bacchus, 54, 82-84 Baldassini. See Ubaldo Bearers, 80-83, and see Ceraioli Bell, 12 Benedict XIV., 53 Bishop of Gubbio, 7, 1 1, 14, 46, and see Ubaldo Boars. See Swine Boldo, S., 29 Boniface, 94 Boundaries, Bounds - beating, 95, loi, 106, no, 128, 129, 133 Brand, value of his collection, 69 Bread. See Cereals Bromios, 82 Brotherhood, Fraternity, 27,99, i°6, 107, III, 112, and Appendix Cakes. See Cereals Calves. See Oxen Candelabrum, 51 Candle, 23, 25, 95 ; also see Cere Candlemas, 53 Canopy, 59, 62 Captain, 3, 9, 15, 65, 67, 118, 121 Car, Carroccio, 4, 26, 54-61, 86, 96 Castles, 59 Celtic race, 49 Cer, 104 Ceraioli, 3, 5-18, 48, 65, 121 ; also see Bearers Ceres, Cereals, 4, 54, 95, 100, loi, 104, 106, 110-112, 126, and Ap- pendix Cerfus, ferfus, and l^erfus, and other forms, 98, 102- 11 2, 129, 130, and Appendix 142 Index Cero, Ceri, Cereus, Cera, 2, 3, 4-18, 46, 48, 50-69, 84, 86, 93, 96, 97- 99, 105, 107, 108, no, 1 14-122, 127, 130 Cerrus, Cerre, Cerres, 104, 105, no Cerus, 104 Chain, 26 Chase, 120, and Appendix Chimney-sweeper, "Ji Christian worship, 50, 51, 53, 89, 90, 93-96, 108, 113, 123, 129, 130, 131 Chthonic gods, 85, 86, 126-128, and see Earth-worship Circles, Circuits, 10-17, 82, loi, 107, no. III, 113, 125, 127, and Ap- pendix. See also Turning Circus, 121, 124 Clergy, 14, 46, 83, 129 Column, 68, and a note, p. 133 in Appendix Constable, 66, 67, 121 Contestabile. See Constable Countrymen, 6, 58 Creator, 104 Cross, Crucifix, 56, 64, 83, in, 129 Cross-bar, 5, 48, 78, 88 Cybele, 82 Cyric-scot, 119 Dancing, 58, 79-84, 93, 120, 124 Dea Dia, 76, 107, 130 Deasil, 124, 126 Death, Triumph over, 86, 123 Demeter, 126 Demigods, 44, 95, loi, 104-106, 'no, 121, 130 Devils, Demons, Evil spirits, 25-32, 38, 42-45, 90-96, 109, 120, 121. See also Exorcism i Diet. See Assembly Dionysus, 85-89, 126 Dius, 102, 103. See also Dea Dia Divus, 28, 45 Dough. See Cereals Dread. See Terror Dreieich, 104 Druids, 60, 78 Earth-worship, 61, 112, 125-128 Easter- tide, 51, 109, 123, 131 Egyptian triad, 47 Elagabalus, 97 Elevation, 8, 60, 93, ng Eleven cities, the, 13, 22, 55 Emesa, 97 Ensign. See Alfiere Etruria, Etruscans, 2, 69, 98, 100, in, 116, and see Tuscans. Eugubium, Eugubine. See Gubbio and Tables Exorcism, 25, 27, 31, 40, 42, 44, 96, 123, 128, 130 Expiation, 100, 102, 109, in, 114, 121, and Appendix Extermination, Expulsion, Bann- ing, 106, 119, and Appendix Fair, 18, 80,96, 108, no Farinaceous food. See Cereals Februa, February, 53 Felix, S., 65 Fidius, 103 Fire, 18, 52, 62, 63, 83, 94, 95, 100, loi, 112, 114, 115, 117, 130, and Appendix Fish, 7 Fisian Hill, 100, 102, 121, 122 Fisovius, 103, 122, and Appendix Fisus, 102, 121, 122 Florence, 42, 50, 56-62, 67, 68, 70, 121, 124 Flower, 7, n, 48, 83, 119 Fondlire, Fontuli, 13, in, and Ap- pendix Fonti, Via delle, 13 Fontuli, 13, and Appendix. See Fondlire Fools' feasts, 58 Francis, S., 55 Francis, S., of Assisi, 31 Francis, S., of Siena, 50 Index 143 Frater. See Brotherhoods Frazer, some results of his study, 88, 89 Frederick Barbarossa, 23 Gang-days, Gang-flower, 119 Genii, 44, 104, 113, ii8, 130 Giacomo, S., 64 Giants, 60 Giorgio, S., 5,6, 7, 11, 15, 17, 47, 54. 55.64,72, 114 Giovanni, S. See John, S. Giuliano, S., 5 Gods, 89, 95, 96, 101-106, no, 121 Gods' images, and pedestals or posts, 54,61,85-89,95,97, 105. 1 12 Grabovius, 102 Green-George, 72 Gregory, SS. (various divines of the name), 53, 76, 90-95, 129 Groves, Sacred, 76, ico, 103, 107, 109, 122 Gubbio, Iguvium, i, 48,49,98-116, 117, 130, 131 ; also Appendix et passim. Guilds, 6, 48, 80, 83 Hatchet, 10, 118 Health-drinking, 118 Heifers. See Oxen Hermae, Hermes, 54, 113, 126 Hero-worship, 41, 44 Hill, 26, 38. See also Fisian, Ingino, Ubaldo. Hindu Trinity, 47, 106 Hodius, 102, 105, 126 Hondus, 102 Host, the, 14, 46 Human sacrifices, 76, 86, 88, 115, 120, 123, 124 IGUVINE. See Gubbio Incense-cones, 51 Infemus, Infernal, 102, 105, 126, 127 Infula, 4 Ing, 49 Ingsevones, 49 Ingino, I, 8, 16, 41, 49, 54, 109, 122, 123 Inginolt, 49 Ingo, 49 Inguio, 49, n 2 Ingvi, 49 Ingvingar, 49 Ingwina, 49 Irmino, 112 Irminsiil, 112, 113 Iron, 107, 118 Iscio, 112 Jack in the Green, 70, 73, 7& Japudici, Appendix John S. (the Baptist), 50, 56-62, 68, 121 Jove, Jupiter, Jovius, &c., 2, 54, 102, 103, 106, 115, and Appendix Judas, 95 June, 58 Justice, emblems, 68 Karraschen, 61 Kern', 103 Kings, 68, 89, 120 Kri, 104 Kyrie Eleison, 108 Lares, 62, 96, 113 Lateran, 27 Lazy man, 74 Leaf-man, 73 Left, 10, 124-128 Libations, loi, no, 118, and Appendix Liberties (lost, revived periodi- cally), 58, 68, 120, 121 Lilies, 79, 80-83, 96 Linen, 30, 43 Litanies, 108, 109, 128 Litter, 115 Lombards, 57, 61 Lustration, 54,97-116,117, 119, 120, 126, 128, and Appendix 144 Index Madonna, 8o Maenads, 82 Marching, 68, 120, 126 Mariano, S., 27, 64 Mars, Martius, 100-114, 121, 126, 130, and Appendix Martin, S., 5, 33 Martius. See Mars Martyrs' festivals, 41, 51, 90-92 Masons, 5, 20, 55, 65 Master, 119, and Appendix May, 3, 4 et seq., 70-84 et passim May-pole, May-lady, &c. See May Meal. See Cereals Michael, S., 81 Midsummer. See Summer Miracles, 21-45, 9^ Misrule, Lord of, 67, 69 Mistletoe, 89 Mola salsa, Mola sparsa. See Cereals Monastery, 17, 18, 46, 122, 127 Moon, 125 Music, Musicians, 11, 15, 48, 56, 81,94 Mystery-plays, 94 Narici, Appendix Nature spirits or gods, 85, 87, 89, 97, 106, 117, 120, 128, 130 Noise, 10, 120 Nola, 65, 79 Numen, 28, 45 Oak, 89, 104 Odin, 120 Oil, 30, 32, 43 Oliverio (Carlo), 29 Oriel, 109 Oscilla, 88 Oxen and heifers, 26, 6t, 71, 100, 103, 108, 120, and Appendix Palio. See Canopy Palladium, 97 Paschal Light {see also Cero), 51, 52,95 Paulinus, S., 65, 80-84 Peace, 24, 68 Pease, 7 People and Popular liberties, 18, 58, 68, 102, 103, 106, 107, 119, 129, and Appendix Perugia, 20, 22, 55 Piazza, 12, 15, 16, 80, 119, 127 Pietro, S., 5 Pillar. See Gods' images Polytheism, 43, 130 Popa, 118 Prastita, 103, 105, 108, iii, 114, and Appendix Pranzo, 6, 7, 8, 46, 65, no, 118, 119 Priests, 8g, 94, 108 Processions, 9, 12-18, 22, 46, 60, 83, 93, loi, 107, 108-113, 126, 127, 128, and Appendix Protector, Protectress, 38, 45, 103, no, 130 Prudentius, 51 Pumunus, 115 Puplicus, 115 Purification, 53 Pyramid, 58, 74, 75, 78, 79 Quadrangle, hi, 112; and see note, p. 134, in Appendix Raguel, 109 Reggiani, 54 Right, 115, 125-128, and Appendix Risotto, 7, no Rogations, 74, loi, 102, 105, 108, 109, 119, 129 Rosa, S., 116 Rubine, m, and Appendix Rubinia. See Rubine Ruseme (Rusem, Rusema?), Ap- pendix Index 145 SABINES, 100, 103, 112 Sacred Way, 103 ; and see note, p. 135, in Appendix Sacrifices. See Cereals, Human, Oxen, Sheep, Swine, Wine. Sahata. See Sata Saint-invocation, 41, 43-45, 130 Salii, 121 Sancius, Sancus, icra, 102, 103, 122, and Appendix Sata, Sahata, 103, iii, and Ap- pendix Satan, 94, 95 Scheggia, 2, 99 Semo, 103 Serfus. See Cerfas Sergius I., 53 Sheep, 100, 114, 115 Ship, 80-83, 86 Siena, 55, 56 Sihora, 108 Singing, Chanting, 11, 94 Sinister, 124-128 Sows. See Swine Speed, 9-18, 46, 119-121 Spring, 35, 114. ^'e^ also Fontuli, Water Standard. See Trophies Stations, loi, 106, no, in, 119, and compare Appendix Stefano of Cremona, 27 Stone, 43, 97 Stream, 33, 38, 103, 122 Summer festivals, 59, 60, 63, 70- 84, 125 Sun, 10, 86, 97, 117, 124-128 Suovetaurilia, 107 Swine, 100, 107, 108, and Apr pendix Sword, 4, 67, 74, 120 Symbolism, 52, 60, 63, 88, 89, 95 Table. See Pranzo. Tables, Eugubine, i, 2, 99-116, 117, and Appendix Tadinates, 36, and Appendix Taper. See Cero Tebaldo, S., 29 Tefer, 102 Telluric. See Chthonic Teobaldo, S., 29 Terror, Dread, 105, 130 Tesenac Gate, Appendix Teutonic gods and customs, 47 et passim. Thor, 120 Thorgerthr, 44 Three, 10, 46-49, 83, 98, 102-114, 126, 129, 130, and Appendix Thumb-joint, 28, 29 Tobiel, 109 Torch. See Cero Towers, Turrets, 57, 79, 80-84, 86 Traders, 6 Traf Sahata. See Sata Trebulan Gate, Appendix Trebus, 102 Tree, 26, 33, 36, 53, 61, 70-89, 91, 93, 104, 107, no, n;, n 7-1 30 Triads. See Three Triangle, in, 112, and see note, p. 134, in Appendix Trinity. See Three Tripudium, 121, and see note, p. 137, in Appendix Trophies, Triumphs, Standards, 4, 54, 57,64,68, 117 Tuisco, 112 Turning round, 10, 15-17, 47, 48, 57, 78, 79, 81, 83. See also Cir- cles and Withershins Tursa, 103, 105, 106, 108, in, 114, 115, 120, and Appendix Tuscans, Tusci, 49, 98, and Ap- pendix Ubaldo (Baldassini), S., 2-18, 19- 38, 39-49, 55, 62, 64, 66, 95, 113, 114, 118, 122, 130 Umbria, Umbrians, 2, 42, 48, 49, 69, 98, 100, 112, 116 Urbino, 27 K 146 Index Ver Sacrum, 106 Vespers, 11, 46, 74, 127 Victim, 115, 120, 123, 131, and Appendix Vigil, 3. 6, 7, 19, 46, 58, 92. 95 Viterbo, 116 Vofionus, 1 02 Volsinii, 116 Voltumnas (Fanum), 116 Wands or sticks, 94, 95, 106, and Appendix [?] Water, 9, 32, 74, 78, 90, 94, 95, 109, 119, and Appendix [?] Wax, 52, 54, 59, 62, 63, 64, 95, 105, 1 1 8, and see Cero Whitsuntide, 30, 70, 71, 73, 74, 108, 109, 112 Wine, 8, 10, 80-84, 92, 93, 100, loi, no, 118, and Appendix Witchcraft, 94 Withershins, Widdershins, 10, 15, 124-128 Wood, Wooden, 48, 50-69, TJ, 83, 84, 86,89, 94-97, io9> "2, "5, 119 Woodpecker, 109, and Appendix Zeus, 120 THE END Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. 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