Page:Book Of Halloween(1919).djvu/32

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
14
THE BOOK OF HALLOWE'EN
 
"A happy thought.
Give me this cart-wheel.
I'll have it tied with ropes and smeared with pitch,
And when it's lighted, I will roll it down
The steepest hillside."
Hauptmann: Sunken Bell.
(Lewisohn trans.)

Spirits were believed to be abroad, and torches were carried about the fields to protect them from invasion. Charms were tried on that night with seeds of fern and hemp, and dreams were believed to be prophetic.

Lugh, in old Highland speech "the summer sun"

"The hour may hither drift
When at the last, amid the o'erwearied Shee—
Weary of long delight and deathless joys—
One you shall love may fade before your eyes,
Before your eyes may fade, and be as mist
Caught in the sunny hollow of Lu's hand,
Lord of the Day."

Sharp:Immortal Hour.

had for father one of the gods and for mother the daughter of a chief of the enemy. Hence