man." She was the first heathen who became a Christian after the Saviour's death, and therefore she was chosen to be the guardian angel of the souls of children that die unbaptised.*

A Tyrolese peasant, who was returning home at a late hour on one of the "twelve nights," saw Perchta pass by with her unchristened babes. All the little ones had short white smocks, but that of the last one was too long, and the child was continually treading upon it and tripping. "Come here, Draggle-tail," said the peasant, "and I'll tie up your little skirt.” The child came to him, and the man having taken off his garter and done as he had promised, "Oh, thank you," said the wee thing; "now I have got a name ;" and it vanished, no doubt believing itself as good as baptised.†

A similar story of the ghost of an "unchristened wean," the scene of which is laid at Whittinghame, in Scotland, is recorded by Mr. Robert Chambers. "An unnatural mother having murdered her child at a large tree not far from the village, the ghost of the deceased was afterwards seen, on dark nights, running in a distracted manner between the said tree and the churchyard, and was occasionally heard crying. The villagers believed that it was obliged

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thus to take the air, and bewail itself, on account of wanting a name-no anonymous person, it seems, being able to got a proper footing in the other world. Nobody durst speak to the unhappy little spirit, from a superstitious dread of dying immediately after; and to all appearance the village of Whittinghame was destined to be haunted till the end of time for want of an exorcist. At length it fortunately happened that a drunkard, one night on reeling home, encountered the spirit, and being fearless in the strength of John Barleycorn, did not hesitate to address it in the same familiar style as if it had been one of his own flesh-and-blood fellowtopers. 'How's a' wi' ye this morning, ShortHoggers?' cried the courageous villager; when the ghost immediately ran away, joyfully exclaiming—

Oh, weel's me noo, I've gotten a name ;

They ca' me Short-Hoggers o' Whittinghame!

And since that time it has never been either seen or heard of. The name that the drunkard applied to it denotes that the ghost wore short stockings without feet-a probable supposition, considering the long series of years during which it had walked.”*

Robert Chambers, "Pop. Rhymes," p. 115. "My informant," says Mr. Chambers, "received this story, with the rhyme, from the lips of an old woman of Whittinghame, who had seen the ghost."

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PERCHTA AND THE FERRYMAN.

The passage of souls across the sky-water is localised in sundry popular myths concerning Perchta and her little ones. The goddess dwelt of old in the valley of the Saal, but the people of the place and she fell out, and she resolved to quit the neighbourhood. On Perchta's eve the services of the ferryman of Altar were bespoken for that night, and when he came to the water-side he saw there a great stately lady and a throng of weeping children ready to be ferried over. The lady stepped on board, and the children dragged a plough and lots of other implements into the boat, loudly bewailing their departure from that pleasant land. When Perchta landed upon the opposite bank of the river she ordered the ferryman to go back for the rest of her party, and the man could not help obeying, little as he liked the job. When he returned, Perchta pointed to some chips she had cut from the plough, and told him to take them for his pains. He put three of them sulkily in his pocket, threw them on the window-sill when he got home, and went to bed in no very good humour. In the morning his eyes were gladdened with the sight of three bright gold pieces that lay where he had thrown the chips.*

* D. M. p. 253.

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Many similar tales are told of the German Zwergs or dwarfs, who are the same race of little people as the elves and fairies that live in the hearts of green hills and mounds in Great Britain and Ireland. Often does it happen that a whole colony of these Zwergs effects an exodus from a German district, because the people have given them some offence, or "have become too knowing for them ;" and on these occasions there is always a river to be crossed.

"Many years ago a little underground man came to the ferryman at Gross-Wieden on the Weser, and asked him if he would ply all night long for good pay. Of course the ferryman did not say no; so the little man came again at dusk, stepped on board, and bade him push off. The ferryman did so, and was greatly astonished at seeing that the boat lay as deep in the water as if it had a full freight. Still more astonished was he, after they had reached the other side, when the little man, still remaining in the boat, told him to row back again; and so they plied backwards and forwards continually until morning. At last the passenger stepped ashore, and said to the ferryman, 'You would like to know now who it is you carried over.' The ferryman said he would. Then look over my right shoulder,' said the other. The man did so, and beheld

thousands upon thousands of underground people, all of whom he had ferried over in the course of the night. The little man then went away, after telling him that the passage-money lay ready for him in the boat; but when the ferryman went to take up his hard-earned money, what did he find lying there but a great heap of horse-dung! 'Ugh!' said he; 'fine pay, truly;' and catching up his baling-pan he pitched it all into the Weser ; only a lump of it fell into his boot. After that, when he went home, 'Well,' said his wife, 'you have earned something tidy, I suppose; why, you have been at work the whole night.' He was so cross that he hardly answered her; but when he drew off his big boot, chink! chink! it went all at once, and out tumbled the good solid pistoles one after the other. Away he ran to the Weser to pick up the rest of the dung, but dung it remained just as it was before. However, he had got enough already, even as it was, and he became a rich man, as his descendants are to this day."*

Sometimes the migrating Zwergs cross the river by bridge instead of boat. When they took their departure from the Harz it was agreed upon beforehand that they should go over a narrow bridge at

* Kuhn u. Schwartz, Ndd. p. 242.