Note 761 — Chapter IV
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Footnote 761
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Felix Chapiseau, Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche (Paris, 1902), i. 239 sq. The same story is told in Upper Brittany. See Paul Sébillot, Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne (Paris, 1882), i. 292. It is a common belief that a man who has once been transformed into a werewolf must remain a were-wolf for seven years unless blood is drawn from him in his animal shape, upon which he at once recovers his human form and is delivered from the bondage and misery of being a were-wolf. See F. Chapiseau, op. cit. i. 218-220; Amélie Bosquet, La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 233. On the belief in were-wolves in general; see W. Hertz, Der Werwolf (Stuttgart, 1862); J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 i. 915 sqq.; (Sir) Edward B. Tylor, Primitive Culture,2 (London, 1873), i. 308 sqq.; R. Andree, Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche (Stuttgart, 1878), pp. 62-80. In North Germany it is believed that a man can turn himself into a wolf by girding himself with a strap made out of a wolf's hide. Some say that the strap must have nine, others say twelve, holes and a buckle; and that according to the number of the hole through which the man inserts the tongue of the buckle will be the length of time of his transformation. For example, if he puts the tongue of the buckle through the first hole, he will be a wolf for one hour; if he puts it through the second, he will be a wolf for two days; and so on, up to the last hole, which entails a transformation for a full year. But by putting off the girdle the man can resume his human form. The time when were-wolves are most about is the period of the Twelve Nights between Christmas and Epiphany; hence cautious German farmers will not remove the dung from the cattle stalls at that season for fear of attracting the were-wolves to the cattle. See Adalbert Kuhn, Märkische Sagen und Märchen (Berlin, 1843), p. 375; Ulrich Jahn, Volkssagen aus Pommern und Rügen (Stettin, 1886), pp. 384, 386, Nos. 491, 495. Down to the time of Elizabeth it was reported that in the county of Tipperary certain men were annually turned into wolves. See W. Camden, Britain, translated into English by Philemon Holland (London, 1610), "Ireland," p. 83.