Funeral Feast: Communal Eating of the Corpse.
In his Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, (Lahore, 191 1, vol. ii., pp. 449), Mr. H. A. Rose gives a remarkable instance of the survival of the custom of communal eating of the corpse at the funeral feast. (See E. S. Hartland, The Legend of Perseus, vol. ii., pp. 278 et seq.) Among the people of Kanaur on the Upper Sutlej, the only old custom which survives is the annual funeral feast (srāddha), called Phulaich (from the Hindu phul, "a flower," because until the funeral rite is performed a year after a death they cannot wear new clothes or flowers). At this rite a he-goat, reared in the dead man's name, is dressed in his clothes, sacrificed, and eaten by the members of his kindred.
The Folklore of Earthworks.
It seems curious to me that the folklore recorded in connection with earthworks is apparently so scanty compared with that of megalithic monuments. Even the burial-mounds that have traditions attached to them are comparatively scarce. Whether this is because this branch of folklore has been neglected, or because this class of antiquities has failed to impress the imagination of the folk, is at present a problem which awaits solution, and I should be glad of any assistance to that end which fellow-members of the Folk-Lore Society can give. (Cf. ante, p. 9.)
May I then ask members who are in a position to collect folklore of any description connected with ancient earthworks or burial-mounds to report it to Folk-Lore, or to send it to me direct? The character of the earthwork or mound should be recorded as closely as possible, and also, of course, any local name for it. If it has ever been scientifically explored, the result should be given, if known to the writer, and in the case of mounds it would be well to state in every case if they are known to have been opened, or show any signs of it.
