[531] Thomas Moresinus, Papatus seu Depravatae Religionis Origo et Incrementum (Edinburgh, 1594), p. 56.

[532] Rev. Dr. George Lawrie, in Sir John Sinclair’s Statistical Account of Scotland, iii. (Edinburgh, 1792) p. 105.

[533] Letter from Dr. Otero Acevado of Madrid, published in Le Temps, September 1898.  An extract from the newspaper was sent me, but without mention of the day of the month when it appeared.  The fires on St. John’s Eve in Spain are mentioned also by J. Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, i. 317.  Jacob Grimm inferred the custom from a passage in a romance (Deutsche Mythologie,*[4] i. 518).  The custom of washing or bathing on the morning of St. John’s Day is mentioned by the Spanish historian Diego Duran, Historia de las Indias de Nueva Espana, edited by J.F.  Ramirez (Mexico, 1867-1880), vol. ii. p. 293.  To roll in the dew on the morning of St. John’s Day is a cure for diseases of the skin in Normandy, Perigord, and the Abruzzi, as well as in Spain.  See J. Lecoeur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand, ii. 8; A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France, p. 150; Gennaro Finamore, Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi (Palermo, 1890), p. 157.

[534] M. Longworth Dames and Mrs. E. Seemann, “Folklore of the Azores,” Folk-lore, xiv. (1903) pp. 142 sq.; Theophilo Braga, O Povo Portuguez nos seus Costumes, Crencas e Tradicoes (Lisbon, 1885), ii. 304 sq., 307 sq.

[535] See below, pp. 234 sqq.

[536] Angelo de Gubernatis, Mythologie des Plantes (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 185 note 1.

[537] Adonis, Attis, Osiris, Second Edition, pp. 202 sq.

[538] G. Finamore, Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi (Palermo, 1890), pp. 154 sq.

[539] G. Finamore, Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi, pp. 158-160.  We may compare the Provencal and Spanish customs of bathing and splashing water at Midsummer.  See above, pp. 193 sq., 208.

[540] Giuseppe Pitre, Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane (Palermo, 1881), pp. 246, 308 sq.; id., Usi e Costumi, Credenze e Pregiudizi del Popolo Siciliano (Palermo, 1889), pp. 146 sq.

[541] J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,*[4] i. 518.

[542] V. Busuttil, Holiday Customs in Malta, and Sports, Usages, Ceremonies, Omens, and Superstitions of the Maltese People (Malta, 1894), pp. 56 sqq. The extract was kindly sent to me by Mr. H.W.  Underwood (letter dated 14th November, 1902, Birbeck Bank Chambers, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.).  See Folk-lore, xiv. (1903) pp. 77 sq.

[543] W. R. Paton, in Folk-lore, ii. (1891) p. 128.  The custom was reported to me when I was in Greece in 1890 (Folk-lore, i. (1890) p. 520).

[544] J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,*[4] i. 519.