The effigy is formally tried and accused of having perpetrated all the thefts that have been committed in the neighbourhood throughout the year. Being condemned to death， the straw-man is led through the village， shot， and burned upon a pyre. They dance round the blazing pile， and the last bride must leap over it. In Oldenburg on the evening of Shrove Tuesday people used to make long bundles of straw， which they set on fire， and then ran about the fields waving them， shrieking， and singing wild songs. Finally they burned a straw-man on the field. In the district of Düsseldorf the straw-man burned on Shrove Tuesday was made of an unthreshed sheaf of corn. On the first Monday after the spring equinox the urchins of Zurich drag a straw-man on a little cart through the streets， while at the same time the girls carry about a May-tree. When vespers ring， the straw-man is burned. In the district of Aachen on Ash Wednesday， a man used to be encased in peas-straw and taken to an appointed place. Here he slipped quietly out of his straw casing， which was then burned， the children thinking that it was the man who was being burned.
In the Val di Ledro (Tyrol) on the last day of the Carnival a figure is made up of straw and brushwood and then burned. The figure is called the Old Woman， and the ceremony burning the Old Woman.
3. The Easter Fires
ANOTHER occasion on which these fire-festivals are held is Easter Eve， the Saturday before Easter Sunday. On that day it has been customary in Catholic countries to extinguish all the lights in the churches， and then to make a new fire， sometimes with flint and steel， sometimes with a burning-glass. At this fire is lit the great Paschal or Easter candle， which is then used to rekindle all the extinguished lights in the church. In many parts of Germany a bonfire is also kindled， by means of the new fire， on some open space near the church.
It is consecrated， and the people bring sticks of oak， walnut， and beech， which they char in the fire， and then take home with them. Some of these charred sticks are thereupon burned at home in a newly-kindled fire， with a prayer that God will preserve the homestead from fire， lightning， and hail.
Thus every house receives new fire. Some of the sticks are kept throughout the year and laid on the hearth-fire during heavy thunder-storms to prevent the house from being struck by lightning， or they are inserted in the roof with the like intention. Others are placed in the fields， gardens， and meadows， with a prayer that God will keep them from blight and hail. Such fields and gardens are thought to thrive more than others； the corn and the plants that grow in them are not beaten down by hail， nor devoured by mice， vermin， and beetles； no witch harms them， and the ears of corn stand close and full. The charred sticks are also applied to the plough. The ashes of the Easter bonfire， together with the ashes of the consecrated palm-branches， are mixed with the seed at sowing. A wooden figure called Judas is sometimes burned in the consecrated bonfire， and even where this custom has been abolished the bonfire itself in some places goes by the name of the burning of Judas.
The essentially pagan character of the Easter fire festival appears plainly both from the mode in which it is celebrated by the peasants and from the superstitious beliefs which they associate with it. All over Northern and Central Germany， from Altmark and Anhalt on the east， through Brunswick， Hanover， Oldenburg， the Harz district， and Hesse to Westphalia the Easter bonfires still blaze simultaneously on the hill-tops. As many as forty may sometimes be counted within sight at once. Long before Easter the young people have been busy collecting firewood； every farmer contributes， and tar-barrels， petroleum cases， and so forth go to swell the pile. Neighbouring villages vie with each other as to which shall send up the greatest blaze. The fires are always kindled， year after year， on the same hill， which accordingly often takes the name of Easter Mountain. It is a fine spectacle to watch from some eminence the bonfires flaring up one after another on the neighbouring heights. As far as their light reaches， so far， in the belief of the peasants， the fields will be fruitful， and the houses on which they shine will be safe from conflagration or sickness. At Volkmarsen and other places in Hesse the people used to observe which way the wind blew the flames， and then they sowed flax seed in that direction， confident that it would grow well. Brands taken from the bonfires preserve houses from being struck by lightning； and the ashes increase the fertility of the fields， protect them from mice， and mixed with the drinking-water of cattle make the animals thrive and ensure them against plague. As the flames die down， young and old leap over them， and cattle are sometimes driven through the smouldering embers. In some places tar-barrels or wheels wrapt in straw used to be set on fire， and then sent rolling down the hillside. In others the boys light torches and wisps of straw at the bonfires and rush about brandishing them in their hands.
