Note 37 — II.—BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH.

During the blessing or “saining” of a corpse in Scotland all the windows of the house are opened so as to give the soul free egress. In Fuhkien (where the windows are not quite so large as in European houses) they carry out a similar idea by making a hole in the roof.37 Even the superstitious respect accorded to the cock, as capable of being influenced from the unseen world (evidenced by the carrying of a white cock or its paper image on Chinese coffins, so as to allure the soul of the departed to enter it) finds a parallel in western Europe. The Ischortzi of Ingria (Finland) burn a white cock on the festival of St. John, when they visit the tombs of their departed friends. A French receipt, by the bye, for raising the devil given by Mr. S. Baring-Gould directs one to go to where four cross-roads meet, with a black cock under your arm; call out Poule noire! three times and the devil will come and take the cock and leave you a handful of money. Scandinavian lore also is full of allusions to the same bird.