cunt.

"How many

Death - Watch. people have I seen, says Defoe, "in the most terrible palpitations for months together, expecting every hour the approach of some calamity, only by a little worm, which breeds in old wainscot, and, endeavouring to eat its way out, makes a noise like the movement of a watch." Duncan Campbell, 1732, p. 61. Wallis gives the following account of the insect so called, whose ticking has been thought by ancient superstition to forbode death in a family. The small scarab called the Death-Watch (Scarabæus galeatus pulsator) is frequent among dust and in decayed rotten wood, lonely and retired. It is one of the smallest of the Vagipennia, of a dark brown, with irregular light brown spots, the belly plicated, and the wings under the cases pellucid; like other beetles, the helmet turned up, as is supposed for hearing; the upper lip hard and shining. By its regular pulsations, like the ticking of a watch, it sometimes surprises those that are strangers to its nature and properties, who fancy its beating portends a family change, and the shortening of the thread of life. Put into a box, it may be heard and seen in the act of pulsation, with a small proboscis against the side of it, for food more probably than for hymenæeal pleasure as some have fancied." History of Northumberland, i., 367. Baxter observes that "There many things that ignorance causeth multitudes to take for prodigies. I have had many discreet friends that have been affrighted with the noise called a death-watch, whereas I have since, near three years ago, oft found by trial, that it is a noise made upon paper, by a little, nimble, running worm, just like a louse, but whiter, and quicker; and it is most usually behind a paper pasted to a wall, especially to wainscot: and it is rarely, if ever heard, but in the heat of summer. Then immediately after he adds: "But he who can deny it to be a prodigy, which is recorded by Melchior Adamus, of a great and good man, who had a clock-watch that had layen in a chest many years unused; and when he lay dying, at eleven o'clock, of itself, in that chest, it struck eleven in the hearing of many." World of Spirits, 1691, 203.

are

Deaths. The custom, formerly only too much diffused, of removing the pillow from the head of a dying person in order to accelerate the end, is sometimes ascribed to the superstitious notion, that the presence of a pigeon's feather among the rest prevents the fatal catastrophe.

Dedication of Churches.-As in the times of Paganism annual festivals were celebrated in honour and memory of their gods, goddesses, and heroes, when the people resorted together at their temples and tombs; and as the Jews constantly kept their anniversary feast of Dedication in remembrance of Judas Maccabæus their deliverer; so it hath been an ancient custom among the Christians of this island to keep a feast every year upon a certain week or day, in remembrance of the finishing of the building of their parish church, and of the first solemn dedicating of it to the service of God, and committing it to the protection of some guardian saint or angel. At the conversion of the Saxons, says Bourne, by Austin the monk, the heathen Paganalia were continued among the converts, with some regulations, by an order of Gregory I., to Melitus the Abbot, who accompanied Austin in his mission to this island. His words are to this effect: On the day of dedication, or the birth-day of Holy Martyrs, whose relics are there placed, let the people make to themselves booths of the boughs of trees, round about those very churches which had been the temples of idols, and in a religious way to observe a feast: that beasts may no longer be slaughtered by way of sacrifice to the devil but for their own eating and the glory of God: and that when they are satisfied they may return thanks to him who is the giver of all good things. Silas Taylor says, that "in the days of yore, when a Church was to be built, they watched and prayed on the Vigil of the Dedication, and took that point of the horizon where the sun arose for the east, which makes that variation, so that few stand true except those built between the two equinoxes. I have experimented some churches, and have found the line to point to that part of the horizon where the sun rises, on the day of that Saint to whom the church is dedicated." But it being observed that the number of holidays was excessively increased, to the detriment of civil government and secular affairs, and also that the great irregularities and licentiousness which had crept into these festivities by degrees, especially in the churches, chapels, and churchyards, were found highly injurious to piety, virtue, and good manners, statutes and canons were made to regulate them: and by an Act of Convocation passed by Henry the Eighth in 1536, their number was in some measure lessened. The Feast of the Dedication of every Church was ordered to be kept upon one and the same day everywhere; that is, on the first Sunday in Octo

displayed, and vast abundance of meat and drink." History of Northumberland, ii., 26. In Bridges' "Northamptonshire" are very many instances recorded of the wake being still kept on or near to the day of the saint to whom the church was dedicated. In the " Spectator," No. 161, for Sept. 4, 1711, the writer, speaking of this anniversary, tells us, that "the squire of the parish treats the whole company every year with a hogshead of ale; and proposes a beaver hat as a recompense to him who gives most falls." In this country an element of licentiousness undoubtedly crept into this description of festival, and we find a clergyman, one Rosewell, in a sermon which he published in 1711, earnestly opposed to the continuance of the wake on the eve before the dedication. But when an order had been made in 1627 and in 1631, at Exeter and in Somersetshire, for the suppression of the wakes, both the ministers and the people desired their continuance, not only for preserving the memorial of the dedication of their several churches, but for civilizing their parishioners, composing differences by the mediation and meeting of friends, increasing of love and unity by these feasts of charity, and for the relief and comfort of the poor.

Kirchmaier, or Naogeorgus, in his Popish Kingdom, translated by Googe, 1570, draws a curious and edifying picture of the enthusiasm and licentiousness attendant by degrees in this festival abroad:

"The dedication of the Church is yerely had in minde,

With worship passing Catholicke, and
in a wondrous kinde :

From out the steeple hie is hangde a
crosse and banner fayre,
The pavement of the temple strowde
with hearbes of pleasant ayre,
The pulpits and the aulters all that in
the Church are seene,

And every pewe and piller great, are
deckt with boughes of greene:
The tabernacles opened are, and images
are drest,

But chiefly he that patron is, doth shine
above the rest:

A borde there standes, whereon their bulles and pardons thick they lay, That given are to every one that keepes this holyday:

The Idoll of the Patron eke, without the doore doth stande,

And beggeth fast of every man, with pardons in his hande:

Who for bicause he lackes his tongue, and hath not yet the skill

In common peoples languages when they speak well or ill:

He hath his own interpretor, that alwayes standeth by,

And vnto every man that commeth in or out doth cry:

Desiring them the Patrone there, with giftes to have in minde,

And Popishe pardons for to buie, release of sinnes to finde.

On every side the neighbours come, and such as dwell not nere,

Come of their owne good willes, and some required to be there. And every man his weapon hath, their swords and launces long,

Their axes, curriars, pystolets, with pikes and darts among.

The yong men in their best array, and trimmest maydes appeare,

Both jeasters, roges, and minstrels with their instruments are heare. The pedlar doth his pack untrusse, the host his pots doth fill, And on the table breade and drinke doth set for all that will:

Nor eyther of them their heape deceyves, for of the others all,

To them th' advauntage of this feaste, and gaine, doth chiefly fall. The service done, they eyther to the taverne fast doe flie,

Or to their neighbours house, whereas they feede unreasonablie :

For sixe or seven courses they vnto the table bring,

And for their suppers may compare with any heathen king.

The table taken up, they rise, and all the youth apace,

The minstrell with them called go to some convenient place:

Where when with bagpipe hoarce, he hath begon his musicke fine, And vnto such as are preparde to daunce hath given signe,

Comes thither streight both boys and girls, and men that aged bee, And maryed folkes of middle age, there also comes to see,

Old wrinckled hagges, and youthfull dames, that minde to daunce aloft, Then sundrie pastimes do begin, and filthie daunces oft:

When drunkards they do lead the

daunce with fray and bloody fight, That handes, and eares, and head, and face, are torne in wofull plight. The streames of bloud run downe the armes, and oftentimes is seene. The carkasse of some ruffian slaine, is left upon the greene.

Here many, for their lovers sweete, some daintie thing do buie,

And many to the taverne goe, and drink for companie,

Whereas they foolish songs do sing, and noyses great do make:

Demoniac.-The_ very curious and extraordinary "Saxon Leechdoms," edited by Mr. Cockayne, contain a receipt for a fiend-sick man, or demoniac." It was a spew-drink, or emetic: lupin, bishopwort, henbane, cropleek; pound these together, add ale for a liquid, let it stand for a night, add fifty libcorns, or cathartic grains, and holy water. A drink for a fiend-sick man, to be drunk out of a church bell: githrife, cynoglossum, yarrow, &c., work up the drink off clear ale, sing seven masses over the worts, add garlic and holy water, and drip the drink into every drink which he will subsequently drink, and let him sing the psalms, Beati Immaculati, and Exsurgat, and Salvum me fac, deus, and then let him drink out of a church bell, and let the mass priest after the drink sing this over him, Domine, sancte pater omnipotens." Following these two specifics for fiend-sick men, is a third, equally repugnant to modern ideas of common sense, for a lunatic.

Denier à Dieu.-See God's Penny. Denier de Foi.-Douce, in a paper read before the Society of Antiquaries in January, 1810, observes: "The small piece of silver, that accompanies this paper is inscribed Denier de Foy or pour Epouser, having on one side a heart between two hands, and on the other two fleurs de lis. It is not in reality a current piece of money, but only a local or a particular token or symbol of property. It is, as the inscription imports, a French betrothing penny, given before the marriage ceremony. I do not think that Douce proves more than the delivery of a token in earnest of dower, and of his betrothing penny there are, to the best of my knowledge, no Anglo-Saxon or English examples in existence. There is another sort inscribed Denier Tournois pour Epouser. These pieces occur both in gold and silver; see supplement to Hazlitt's Coins of Europe, 1897, p. 33. But, after all, the token exhibited by Douce appears to have been nothing more than an example of the fest ing-penny, familiar enough in the northern counties of England, and no doubt properly identified with the Danish custom of hiring or binding apprentices with some such token. Festing is, of course, a form of fasting or fastening. The foesteninge

ring was similarly the betrothing-ring or, as it is now called, the engaged-ring. To fest, in the North of England, is to bind as an apprentice. Mr. Atkinson, in his Cleveland Glossary, 1868, after observing that the festing-penny of the North of England is analogous to the Scandinavian betrothing penny (shown by Douce to have been also known in France), adds: "if a servant who has been duly hired and received her hiring or festing-penny, wishes to cancel her bargain. . . she always sends back the festing penny... Two instances of this kind have occurred in this (Danby) parish in the course of the spring hiringtime of the present year, 1865."

Dequoy or Decoy.-See Cards. Dessil.-Martin says: "In this Island of Lewis there was an antient custom to make a fiery circle about the houses, corn, cattle, &c., belonging to each particular family. A man carried fire in his right hand, and went round, and it was called Dessil, from the right hand, which, in the antient language, is called Dess. There is another way of the dessil, or carrying fire round about women before they are churched, and about children until they be christened, both of which are performed in the morning and at night. They told me this fire round was an effectual means to preserve both the mother and the infant from the power of evil spirits, who are ready at such times to do mischief, and sometimes carry away the infants, and return them poor meagre skeletons, and these infants are said to have voracious appetites, constantly craving for meat. In this case it was usual for those who believed that their children were thus taken away, to dig a grave in the fields upon Quarter Day, and there to lay the fairy skeleton till next morning: at which time the parents went to the place, where they doubted not to find their own child instead of the skeleton." Hist. of W. Islands, p. 116. He elsewhere observes, "" Loch-siant Well in Skie is much frequented by strangers as well as by the inhabitants of the Isle, who generally believe it to be a specifick for several diseases; such as stitches, headaches, stone, consumption, megrim. Several of the common people oblige themselves by a vow to come to this well and make the ordinary tour about it, called Dessil, which is performed thus: They move thrice round the well, proceeding sun-ways, from east to west, and so on. This is done after drinking of the water; and when one goes away from the well, it is a never-failing custom to leave some small offering on the stone which covers the well. There is a small coppice near it, of which none of the natives dare venture to cut the least branch, for fear of some signal judgement to follow upon it." Description of W. Islands of Scotland, 140.

He also speak of a well of similar quality, at which, after drinking, they make a tour and then leave an offering of some small token, such as a pin, needle, farthing, or the like, on the stone cover which is above the well.

Deuce.-Deuce may be said to be another popular name for the Devil. Few, perhaps, who make use of the expression "Deuce take you," particularly those of the softer sex, who accompanying it with the gentle pat of a fan, cannot be supposed to mean any ill by it, are aware that it is synonymous with "" sending you to the Devil." Dusius was the ancient popular name for a kind of demon or devil among the Gauls, so that this saying, the meaning of which so few understand, has at least its antiquity to recommend it. It is mentioned by St. Augustine (De Civitate Dei, c. 23) as a libidinous demon, who used to violate the chastity of women, and, with the incubus of old, was charged with doing a great deal of mischief of so subtle a nature, that, as none saw it, it did not seem possible to be prevented. Later times have done both these devils justice, candidly supposing them to have been much traduced by a certain set of delinquents, who used to father upon invisible and imaginary agents the crimes of real men. Devil.-In some of the early Mysteries Satan is introduced as Saint Mahown. The Glossary to Burns mentions Hornie as one of his Majesty's names. And another is Old Boots, whence the saying, "It rains like Old Boots."

There is a story in one of the Chronicles, under the year 1165, that the Devil was seen riding like a great black horse, before a storm which happened in Yorkshire in that year, and that the marks of his feet were visible in several places, particularly on the cliff at Scarborough, where he sprang into the sea. Not many years ago, an extraordinary sensation was produced in the South of England, by the discovery of marks in various parts of the country, which could not be identified with the prints of any known beast or bird, unless it was that there was some similitude to a donkey's shoe. The people in those parts did not like to say it was the Devil, perhaps; but it is not unlikely that some of them thought so. At the same time, no explanation of the mystery has, I believe, been offered to this day. Perhaps this extraordinary presence may have been nothing more than the cloven hoof which, in the deep snows of winter, is said to haunt the Dewerstone, a rocky elevation on the borders of Dartmoor. But this latter phenomenon is reported to be accompanied by a naked human foot, of which a case occurred in Devonshire, and created a wide and long

sensation, many years since. Several instances of mysterious footprints are collected in "Lancashire Folk - Lore," 1867. There is no vulgar story of the Devil having appeared anywhere without a cloven foot. It is observable also that this infernal enemy, in graphic representations of him, is seldom or never pictured without one. Othello says:

"I look down towards his feet; but that's a fable;

If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee";

his feet, to see, if, according to the comwhich Johnson explains: "I look towards mon opinion, his feet be cloven." Grose says:" Although the devil can partly transform himself into a variety of shapes, will always mark him under every appearhe cannot change his cloven foot, which ance." Scott has the following curious passage on this subject: "In our childhood, our mother's maids have so terrified head, fire in his mouth, and a tail in his us with an ugly devil, having horns on his breech, eyes like a basin, fangs like a dog, claws like a bear, a skin like a Niger, and start and are afraid when we hear one cry a voyce roaring like a lyon, whereby we Bough!" He adds: "and they have so frayed us with bul-beggars, spirits, witches, urchens, elves, hags, fairies, satyrs, pans, faunes, sylens, Kit with the canstick, Tritons, centaures, dwarfes, gyants, imps, calcars, conjurers, nymphes, changelings, incubus, Robin Good-fellow, the spoorn, the mare, the man in the oak, the Hell-wain, the fire-drake,the puckle, Tom-thombe, hob-goblin, Tom-tumbler, Boneless, and such other bugs, that we are afraid of our own shadowes; insomuch that some never feare the devil but in a darke night, &c. Discovery, ed. 1665. p. 65. Philip Stubbes, in his "Two wonderful and rare examples" (1581), describes a remarkable case which happened to Mistress Bowcer, at Donnington, in Leicestershire: "And nowe," says Stubbs, I will proceede to shewe one other as straunge a judgement happening in Leicestershire, in a towne called Donnington, where dwelled a poore man named Iohn Twell, who deceased, owing unto one Oswald Bowcer the summe of fiue shilling, which the sayde Oswalde did forgiue the sayde man before named, as he lay vpon his death bedde; but the sayde Oswaldes wife, called Ioane, would in no way forgive the said Twell, as long (she sayde) as she had to live. Whereupon, not long after, the Deuill appeared vnto her in the form of the sayd Twell deceased, expressing all the lyneamentes of the body of the dead man: which might well be, for we reade in the Bible, in the like order did Satan counter