Oral magic, folklore and tradition / by B.R. Townend.

  • Townend, B. R.
Date:
1938
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Oral magic, folklore and tradition / by B.R. Townend. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    that teeth are phallic symbols, and as mice have similar associa¬ tions the relationship is explained. I mention this merely to indicate the wide range covered by a study of this kind and the difficulty of explaining or finding any underlying pattern beneath these primitive ideas and practices. To return to our main theme, many races throw their shed teeth to the sun (this custom supports Mrs. Lindsay’s theory). Clement Doke tells us that the children of the Awalamba of Northern Rhodesia take the first shed tooth and a piece of cinder, throw the tooth to the east and the cinder to the west saying, “ Tooth come back in the way the sun comes back. Cinder go in the way the sun sets.” A gift is necessary to satisfy the west and the cinder signifies the darkness which is a quality of the west. The Basebei have a similar custom, and the Arabs of Morocco say, after throwing their teeth to the sun : ” Take the tooth of a donkey and give me the tooth of a gazelle.” Or among some tribes the child shows the tooth to the sun and then buries it under a stone. This is usually done outside the village as it is thought that if a fowl ate the tooth a new one would not grow in its place. These and similar customs are also found in Algeria and Palestine. Lastly, we have the custom which is still practised in this countrv of throwing the teeth into the fire, often with salt on them (salt is a strong medicine against sorcery). Frequently we find a spoken charm associated with this practice. In Northumberland the child says: ” Fire, burn, burn the tooth and give me another one. Not a black one but a white one: not a curved one but a straight one.” In Yorkshire the tooth must be burnt and the following rhvme repeated, otherwise the dhild will have to hunt for another tooth after death. Fire, fire, take a beean (bone) An’ send our Johnny a good teeath ageean (again).” I have endeavoured to indicate the widespread interest which is shown by more primitive people in the fortunes of the deciduous dentition. We hear a great deal about the lack of tooth conscious¬ ness these days and of the need for education in this state of mind. Tooth consciousness is a new phrase but it does not represent a new thing. Study of the past and of primitive peoples tells us that it has existed in all ages and amongst all races, and we might do well to try and regain some of the old interest which mankind has shown in his dentition.
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