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484 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS.,
prieft in baptifm in the ufual manner, had alfo other names: one example will be fuffi-
cient. When at a place at Porfanger bay, called in the Norwegian Horrigen, in the
Lapland Vueppe, there were two young men, one named Nicholas, the other Gunner :
whenever thefe fpoke together, by a cuftom received in Norway, they addreffed each
other as if named alike, ufing this form, Gaimazhjam, that is, my dear namefake. This
feemed ftrange to me at firft, well knowing the one was named Gunner, and the other
Nicholas. The circumftance explained itfelf, when, in addition to the baptifmal name,
I learned that another, and a different one from it, was given to each in the domeftic
wathing, nameiy, Quive, by which they were each double named and namefakes.
When the ceremony of wafhing was over, a certain meat and drink, called in Lap-
land Neaaide Borromufh and Noaade-Jukkamufhb, that is, magic meat and drink, was pre-
pared for the child, to the intent that he fhould take in with thefe feafts the magic art,
and that he fhould be folemnly initiated in them. Then a folema feaft was made for
the fake of him, which when it was ended, they took care that he fhould be inftru&ted
in the Juoigen, or that very celebrated fong, fo familiar to, and fo much ufed by, the
Laplanders, fo that the boy before he could {peak diftinctly had maftered the elements
of this rnde melody, or if it pleafes better, this howling. They further taught him, as
he advanced in years and underftanding, the myfteries of the nefarious and diabolic
art, and the whole method of idol facrifice and worfhip. It was a cuftom with them to
put a piece of fteel, as a charm againtt any ill, with infants in the cradle.
It was cuftomary too among them to offer vows up in the temples for the recovery of
the fick, which act was called in the Lapland Kirkoi Zhjuorvot, to invoke the temple.
Some Laplanders difcharging this duty, ufually rowed out into the open fea, and
in boats which they turned round three times with the courfe of the fun, made their
{upplications on their bent knees. They declined being numbered in the regifters, or
telling the amount, left a computation of this kind fhould portend and entail on them the
deftruction and death of their friends. In the coffins of the deceafed it was their cuftom
to put up food, that they may have wherewith to fubfift on. A deceafed perfon was
laid in the porch of the temple of Alten, on account of the cold, which was at time ex-
treme, and prevented it from being then buried, in order that it fhould be taken to the
grave when the weather would admit. Meantime it happened that fome curious perfon
removing the lid, and looking into the coffin, perceived a fpoon and a cake of meal
baked lying by the fide of the corpfe. They are alfo faid to put up the bow and arrow
they ufually ufed when hunting in the coffin withthem. ‘The rein-deer which drew the
deceafed to the grave was flain as a victim, and when eaten, the bones were interred.
When the body was buried, it was ufual to cover with a {tone that part of the cot where
the body lay before fepulture: and as often as any of the family died, they inftantly
quitted the place and went elfewhere to live.
it was a practice among fome to hang up a fheep’s bone, wrapt up in hay and wool,
in a hay-loft, to protect the cattle, as they fuperftitioufly feigned, againft the injury and
feverity of a cold March. ‘To mark the cattle with the fign of the crofs; to hang on a
cow, near the time of parturition, a piece of fteel to hit againft, and give good luck to
the young, and to mark alfo their front, when juft born, with the fign of the crofs, after
fprinkling equally the dam and the young with flour, was cuftomary among the Lap-
landers. It was counted impious in the males to feed on the beeftings of a cow that had
juft calved, unlefs they were fprinkled with meal.
It fometimes happens that the rein-deer are fuddenly carried off by death, for which
reafon the Laplanders, in poffeffion to-day of large herds, have in a little time few of
them left, They impute fuch a calamity to the place, and for that reafon not only quit
it,
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