divine revelation, whatever they may do now a-days; and in a vision of the night, the saint saw Christ clothed in the identical half of the robe he had thus given away in charity; at the same time he heard him say to the surrounding angels, "Martin, although he is only a catechumen, gave me this cloak."* From his early years he had a great fancy for the church, and when only ten years old would fain have been a hermit, much to the annoyance of the tribune his father, who as an old soldier had no sympathy whatever with these spiritual inclinations. When therefore the youthful saint had attained the age of fifteen, his father, in obedience to the royal mandate that the sons of all veterans should be conscripts, delivered him over to the authorities in fetters, and compelled him to become a soldier. Upon this he served for three years, after which he joined the legion of saints, and performed so many miracles that * The legend here given is from Sulpicius Severus, for though the same story is told by Durandus (p. 303,) yet it is with so many points of difference that I have preferred the older, and therefore the more orthodox, version of the affair. Durand even goes so far as to make Martin Bishop of Tours at the time, whereas Sulpicius says, "quodam itaque tempore, cum jam nihil præter arma et simplicem militiæ vestem, media hyeme, quæ solito asperior inhorruerat, adeo ut plerosque vis algoris extingueret, obvium habet in porta Ambianensium civitatis pauperem nudum; qui cum prætereuntes ut sui misererentur oraret, omnesque miserum præterirent, intellexit vir deo plenus sibi illum, aliis misericordiam non præstantibus, reservari. Quid tamen ageret? nihil præter chlamydem, quæ indutus erat, habebat, jam enim reliqua in opus simile consumpserat. Arrepto itaque ferro, quo incinctus erat mediam dividit, partemque ejus pauperi tribuit, reliqua rursus induitur. Nocte igitur insecuta, cum se sopori dedisset, vidit Christum chlamydis suæ qua pauperem texerat parte vestitum. Intueri diligentissimè Dominum, vestemque quam dederat agnoscere, jubetur. Mox ad angelorum circumstantium multitudinum audit Jesum clara voce dicentem, Martinus, adhuc catechumen, hac me veste contexi1.'" SULPICII SEVERI DE VITA B. MARTINI LIB. p. 218. it has taken Gregory of Tours four books, divided into a multitude of chapters, to describe them all. This festival, which was instituted by Pope Martin about the year 650, is generally considered to have been derived from the Athenian Pythagia,* a feast which was so named from tapping the casks of new wine. It took place on the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth days of the month Anthesterion, corresponding with our November, and in all the vine-growing countries the custom still remains of feasting and rejoicing. In Franconia, as we are told by * "Hæc est læta dies; ista populusque patresque Lux erat, a priscis vocitata Pithægia Græcis Hospinian, from whom I quote these lines, says they are from the Fasti of Mantuanus. There are no Fasti, however, in the works of the only Mantuanus I am acquainted with, who was a Carmelite, and has favoured the world with two volumes of mediocre Latin verse. 66 † “ Τοῦ νέε οἴνε ̓Αθήνησι μὲν ἑνδεκάτη μηνὸς κατάρχονται, Πιθοιγίαν τὴν ἡμέραν καλῶντες· καὶ πάλαι γε (ὡς ἔοικεν) εὔχοντο, το οἴνε, πρὶν ἡ πιεῖν, αποσπένδοντες, ἀβλαβῆ καὶ σωτήριον αὐτοῖς το φαρμάκε την χρῆσιν γενέσθαι.” Plutarchi Symposiacon. Quæstio vii., lib. iii. p. 601. Vol. viii. Edit. Reiskii, 8vo. Lipsiæ, 1777.— 66 At Athens on the tenth of the month (i. e. Anthesterion), they first taste the new wine, calling the day Pythagia. And anciently (as it appears) before they drank, they made a libation of the wine, praying that the use of it might prove harmless and medicinal." The same thing is alluded to in another Symposium : Καὶ μὴν οἴνε γε τὸν νέον οἱ πρωϊαίτατα πίνοντες ̓Ανθετεριῶνι πίνεσι μηνὶ μετὰ χειμῶνα· καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἡμεῖς μὲν ̓Αγαθό Δαίμονος, ̓Αθεναῖοι δε Πιθοιγίαν προσαγορεύεσι.” IDEM. lib. viii. Quæstio x. p. 932. 66 "They, who drink the wine the quickest, do so in the month, Anthesterion, following winter; and that day we call the Day of the Good Genius, but the Athenians call it PYTHÆGIA."-The word is compounded of Πίθος, α cask, and οἴγειν, to open, Boemus Aubanus,* every one taps his new wine, from which he had hitherto abstained, and no one is so poor that he does not now feed upon meat, or at least upon the inward parts of pigs and calves, fried or broiled, and indulge also in wine more freely. With us the principal remains of the custom are in a more than usual consumption of roasted goose-a practice rather belonging to Michaelmas,†—and in the so-called Martlemas Beef, that is to say beef hung up in "Nemo per totam regionem tanta paupertate premitur, nemo tanta tenacitate tenetur, qui in festo Sancti Martini non altili aliquo, vel saltem suillo vitulinove viscere assato, vescatur, qui vino non remissius indulgent. Quilibet enim tunc nova vina sua, a quibus se adhuc usque abstinuit, degustat et dat degustare omnia." ORBIS TERRARUM EPITOME. Per Johannem Boemum Aubanum. Lib. iii. cap. 14. p. 241. 12mo. Papiæ. 1596. In other countries, and here too in earlier times, the goose was as much in use at Martinmas as at Michaelmas. Thus T. Naogeorgus in his Pap. Reg. lib. 4, tells us, "Altera Martinus dein Bacchanalia præbet, Quem colit anseribus populus." Many examples of this might be given, but one or two will be sufficient for our purpose. "Warne him not to cast his wanton eyne, On grosser bacon or salt haberdine; Or dried fliches of some smoked beeve, Sat. 4. The haberdine, mentioned in these lines, is salted cod. "Martinmas beefe doth beare good tacke When countrie folks do dainties lacke." As to the word tacke, it is not easy to say precisely what it means. Todd (Johnson's Dictionary) quotes this very passage, and assures us that tack in Scotland "denotes hold, or persevering cohesion;" as no doubt it does in many cases; but the interpretation hardly seems to hold good here. It may perhaps come from the Swedo-Gothic Tack, "pleasing, grateful," meaning thereby that Martinmas beef is an agreeable fare for rustics lacking dainties; but this also is far from being satisfactory, and is only offered as a conjecture in default of any thing better. the chimney to dry like bacon, and which got its name from the animals being killed at this season for that especial purpose. But the eating of goose now is the most general observance, and the one for which it is the most difficult to assign any reason, unless we believe with some pious folks the old tradition of St. Martin hiding himself because he was unwilling to become a bishop, and being discovered by a goose.* Neither do we seem to obtain any nearer glimpses of its origin, when we search into the old festivals from which the Martinalia were unquestionably derived. True it is that the goose was sacred to Isis, and Osiris, as well as to Priapus, and was sacrificed to Juno, but still it had not any connexion, so far as we know, with the Pythagia, and therefore even this fact does not help us out of our difficulty. In some places a singular custom prevailed of cheating the children into due respect for Saint Martin by making it seem that be changed water into new wine for their especial accommodation. To effect this notable piece of jugglery, the children were taught to fill vessels with water, and leave them in that state during the night for the Saint to operate upon. The parents would then substitute new wine for the water while the young folks * "Si sol clarus obit Martino nunciat acrem Atque molestam hyemem ; si nubilus, aera mitem FASTI DANICI-ab Olio Wormio, lib. ii. cap. ix. p. 117. "St. Martin's Day, in the Norway clogs (see page 261) is marked with a goose, for on that day they always feasted with (on) a roasted goose. They say St. Martin being elected to a bishoprick hid himself, but was discovered by that animal. We have transferred the ceremony to Michaelmas." DR. STUKELEY'S ITINERARIUM. Iter. vi. p. 139. Note. Folio. London, 1776. This curious note is not to be found in the earlier edition of the ITINERARIUM. were asleep, and in the morning Saint Martin would get the merit of the whole transaction.* There is yet one point that remains to be mentioned before we leave the feast of Martinmas. It was popularly believed in former times that if the sun set brightly on this day, it portended a hard winter; if amidst clouds, then it was a sign that the winter would be mild; a coincidence that no doubt often happens, greatly to the satisfaction of all weather-prophets. OLD MARTINMAS-FEAST OF ST. CLEMENT; November 23. St. Clement was born at Rome, and was one of its earliest bishops, dying, according to some accounts, a natural death about the year 100, at the commencement of the Emperor Trajan's reign. In the case, however, of Saints, death by fire, sword, or water, are such natural modes of leaving the world, that this story can hardly be considered as militating against the tale of the venerable Bede, though if taken to the letter it certainly may *"Vasa solent exponere pueri, hac nocte, aqua repleta, quam transmutari in vinum pia simplicitas credit, quando vinum a parentibus suppositum videt." M. J. G. Drechsslers. DE LARVIS NATALITIIS, p. 31, 12mo. Lipsiæ, 1683. It may perhaps puzzle my readers-as it used to puzzle me before I got acquainted with Durandus-to conceive why Bede above all men should be designated by the epithet of venerable. But that expounder of all that is most inexplicable, and who has a dozen reasons for all that is most unreasonable, has been pleased to enlighten us upon this as upon so many other topics. According to him, Bede, although he be placed in the catalogue of Saints is yet not so called by the church, but is named the venerable, and for this two-fold reason: First; becoming blind from old age and causing himself to be led about that he might preach the word, it happened one day that he strayed into a valley full of stones, when one of his guides, instigated no doubt by the devil, derisively told him that a numerous congregation was waiting in eager silence for his discourse; accordingly the Venerable, nothing lothe, began to preach with much unction, but no sooner had he got to his sæcula sæculorum, than all the stones responded with a loud voice, "Amen venerable father;" and hence |