among our Continental kinsmen."[21] Both these birds having had a mystic
celebrity, the former as the fire-singing bird and guardian genius of
children, the latter as the baby-bringer.[22] In Saterland it is said
"infants are fetched out of the cabbage," and in the Walloon part of
Belgium they are supposed "to make their appearance in the parson's
garden." Once more, a hollow tree overhanging a pool is known in many
places, both in North and South Germany, as the first abode of unborn
infants, variations of this primitive belief being found in different
localities. Similar stories are very numerous, and under various forms
are found in the legendary lore and folk-tales of most countries.


Footnotes:

1. See Keary's "Outlines of Primitive Belief," 1882, pp. 62-3.

2. See Grimm's "Teutonic Mythology," 1883, ii. 796-800; _Quarterly
Review_, cxiv. 224; Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," i. 154;
"Asgard and the Gods," edited by W. S. W. Anson, 1822, pp. 26, 27.

3. _Fraser's Magazine_, 1870, p. 597.

4. "Northern Mythology," i. 154-5.

5. See Max Miller's "Chips from a German Workshop."

6. See Keary's "Outlines of Primitive Belief," p. 64.

7. Book viii. p. 314.