pure fire, the appearance of which is greeted with cries of joy.  Heaps of combustible materials are now ignited with the new fire, and blazing bundles are placed on boards and sent floating down the brook.  The boys light torches at the new fire and run to fumigate the pastures.  This is believed to drive away all the demons and witches that molest the cattle.  Finally the torches are thrown in a heap on the meadow and allowed to burn out.  On their way back the boys strew the ashes over the fields, which is supposed to make them fertile.  If a farmer has taken possession of a new house, or if servants have changed masters, the boys fumigate the new abode and are rewarded by the farmer with a supper.[416]

[Midsummer fires in Silesia; scaring away the witches.]

In Silesia, from the south-eastern part of the Sudeten range and north-westward as far as Lausitz, the mountains are ablaze with bonfires on Midsummer Eve; and from the valleys and the plains round about Leobschuetz, Neustadt, Zuelz, Oels, and other places answering fires twinkle through the deepening gloom.  While they are smouldering and sending forth volumes of smoke across the fields, young men kindle broom-stumps, soaked in pitch, at the bonfires and then, brandishing the stumps, which emit showers of sparks, they chase one another or dance with the girls round the burning pile.  Shots, too, are fired, and shouts raised.  The fire, the smoke, the shots, and the shouts are all intended to scare away the witches, who are let loose on this witching day, and who would certainly work harm to the crops and the cattle, if they were not deterred by these salutary measures.  Mere contact with the fire brings all sorts of blessings.  Hence when the bonfire is burning low, the lads leap over it, and the higher they bound, the better is the luck in store for them.  He who surpasses his fellows is the hero of the day and is much admired by the village girls.  It is also thought to be very good for the eyes to stare steadily at the bonfire without blinking; moreover he who does so will not drowse and fall asleep betimes in the long winter evenings.  On Midsummer Eve the windows and doors of houses in Silesia are crowned with flowers, especially with the blue cornflowers and the bright corn-cockles; in some villages long strings of garlands and nosegays are stretched across the streets.  The people believe that on that night St. John comes down from heaven to bless the flowers and to keep all evil things from house and home.[417]

[The Midsummer fires in Denmark and Norway; keeping off the witches; the Midsummer fires in Sweden.]