RAINBOW LORE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 52, 25 November 1907, Page 3

RAINBOW LORE.

All over tho world aro tho rainbow traditions found, and, although\ superstition and weather loro havo gone to their making, thero is that in them which is the expression of poetical mysticism. Most boautiful of alt, anel full of wonderful imagery, are the old Greok and Scandinavian beliefs. Down from heaven to earth, by the old Greok gods, was the rainbow let as a bridgo, and Iris, tho swift-footed, passed to and fro on tho errands of the gods.

\Vith the Norsemen also the rainbow was accounted a bridge of the. gods. Bifrost, they called it, and it stretched botween Migar'd, tho earth,-and Asgard, the white city of tho gods; and in tho last days of Migard, it was believed the bridge would break. And only tho souls of tho mighty in battle could cross it,.for Valhalla was shut against the dcedless; and only as Hcimdall, tho Warder, sounded.his horn, Tjalar, summoning the gods to greet a hero, .was the rainbow bridge seen by mortals. Tho rainbow roaches Asgard now no more, and the horn of Hoimdall is silent; but the old belief, with its sublime imagery, remains one of tho most beautiful in mythology. ' , Tenderly, pathetically beautiful, also, is the Irish rainbow loro, with tho magic of tho misty islo strong upon it, and ib brings one as near, though difforently, to an interpretation of the rainbow glamour as do the Norse and Greek.

Where the rainbow strikes tho ground, Thero the crock of gold is found, runs ono quaint rhyme, embodying a delight\fully tender fancy, while another somewhat similar legend is that a pair of slippers lies buried at the rainbow's end, and to the one who seeks and finds them do they brings his heart's desire. Under tho rainbow, they say, does tho earth give forth a sweet odour, and a prayer prayed under the rainbow arch goes straight to tho oar of God. Good luck does the, morning rainbow bring, while the evening one, tho yNun's girdle, brings' but ill. Quaint is -the belief that the rain which goes through tho rainbow blights wherever it touches', and a sixteenth century couplet runs:..!.'. When the' rainbow touches tho No caterpillar will hang on tho leaves. With not a few African tribes docs tho same superstition oxist, as also that which holds that that dread will be tho death of'the man who goes under the rainbow arch. Contrary was the belief of tho ancient Peruvians, who worshipped the rainbow as the omblem of all good fortune;. but there is a weird awfulness in the belief, common in the Middlo Ages, that ere the Day of Judgment, ovon for forty years before, would tho rainbow, with tho rainbow promise, "utterly depart. ' But in England all mysticism has passed from the rainbow lore, which now goes along , with tho loro- of tho woathor. Similar to an oft-quoted Scotch rhymo is the Wiltshire one, running: The rainbow in the marnin . Gives the shepherd warnin . To car' his gurt cwoat on his back; Tho rainbow at night is tho shepherd's delight, " i For then no gurt cwoat will he lack. In Cornwall the weather-wise think differently, for the rhymo runs: A rainbow in the morn, . Put your hook in the corn; , ■ , A rainbow in'the eve, Put your hook in the sheave. An old sea-rhyme—tho rainbow with sailors being called a sun-dog—tells: A dog in the morning, Sailor, take warning; A dog in tho night Is tho sailor's delight. Should red provail in the rainbow, says tho legend, wind will follow. Green also tells of bad weather to come. Blue givoa foreknowledge of tho weather's clearing, and concerning the blue rainbow beautifully quaint is the old Scotch rhyme: The weather's taking up now, For yonder's tho weather gaw; How bonny is tho Kast now, Now tho colours fado away . Thore is a note of sublimity as well as triviality in the rainbow lore. And although tho bridge be broken to Asgard, though tho swift-footed Iris passes, no more, though we seek for the fairy crock and the golden slippers and find them not, we can still rojoico in the old promise attached to tho "bow in the cloud."—"The Queen." :

Smocking has been tho subject of an aroused interest lately, and much curious information has been brought to light about that pretty and useful art, which, it scorns, dates back' to a very early period of English history. The smock frock is essentially English, and it appears that most of the counties have a distinct stylo of their own. Smocks found in Gloucestershire), Essex, Dorsot, and Ducks are elaborately smocked and decorated with the most beautiful stitchory, whilst thoso obtained in Oxford, Wilts, .Sussex, ami Kent arc comparatively simple. A society called the "Fine Needlework Association"'has revived this beautiful old English art, and, as most women know, smocking has become very fashionable again for children's garments. Some of those, as mado by the above association (in London), are copies in miniature of the old county smocks. Mombers have taken tho greatest interest in making exact copies of the old smocks, which have been lent for tho purpose, and a collection of these "County Smocks" is always on view at the depot of the association. Potato Soup.—Boil and mash in two quarts of wator four largo potatoes, a gmnll onion, two stalks of celery, and a sprig of parsley. When it is done pass it through a sieve. Return it to the firo and season with salt, popper, and two generous tablospoonfuls of butter rubbed into a dessertspponful of flour. Boil up at once and pour into tho soup turocii over a cupful of whipped cream. — "M'Clure's Magazine."- - .