will be to the point.
When the Manx cottager looks for the traces of a foot in the ashes of
his firegrate for the purpose of seeing in what direction the toes
point, the penalty being that, if they point to the door, a death will
occur, if to the fireplace, a birth,[216] there is no trace of the
ancient formula. It is true we may find the missing formula in other
lands; for instance, among some of the Indian tribes of Bombay. There
the formula is elaborate and complete, while the purpose and the
penalty are exactly the same as in the Isle of Man. But this hasty
travelling to other lands is not, I contend, legitimate in the first
place. We must begin by seeing whether there is not some other item of
folklore, perhaps now not even connected with the house-fire group of
customs and superstitions, whose true place is that of the lost
formula of this interesting Manx custom. And when once we have taught
ourselves the way to restore these lost formulae to their rightful
places, the explanation of the mere waifs and strays of folklore will
be attended with some approach to scientific accuracy, and we shall
then be in a position to get rid of that shibboleth so dear to the
non-folklore critic, that all these things we deal with are "mere
superstitions."

Thirdly, when the formula is complete, or nearly so, and the purpose
and penalty become generalised. At St. Edmundsbury a white bull, which
enjoyed full ease and plenty in the fields, and was never yoked to the
plough or employed in any service, was led in procession in the chief
streets of the town to the principal gate of the monastery, attended
by all the monks singing and a shouting crowd. Knowing what Grimm has
collected concerning the worship of the white bull, knowing what is
performed in India to this day, there is no doubt that this formula of
the white bull at St. Edmundsbury has been preserved in very good
condition. The purpose of it was, however, not so satisfactory. It is
said to have taken place whenever a married woman wished to have a
child; and the penalty is lost in the obvious generalisation that not
to perform the ceremony is not to obtain the desired end.[217]

The second process, that of classification of the various elements in
each example, will reveal some characteristics of folklore, which, so
far as I know, have never yet been taken count of. One very important
characteristic is the prevalence of a particular belief attached to
different objects i