64
THE HAUNTED HOUSE.
buried the next, during the succeeding night, the spirit, or as they term, it the "jumby," rises, and either goes to heaven, or, if during life they have committed any crime, or met with a violent death, wanders about the earth, until by prayers, fumigations, or something of the kind, it is laid to rest.* When a jumby haunts a house, they get a coal-pot, upon which they place a quantity of pepper, salt, nuno, (the wild basil,) part of a horse's hoof, and a little brimstone. This coal-pot is set in the middle of the house, with the back and front doors open, and is allowed to burn until after midnight ; at the same time, they stick over the doors and windows, and in the corners of the house, bunches of" milk-bush," another wild plant. This ceremony always takes place during the night, butthey allow the bush to remain until it withers. Whilst these articles are burning, the friends who are assembled in the " haunted house," and the residents themselves, are employed in "cursing the jumby," telling it to "go where he com from," “ that if he one good somebody he would hab been at rest," &c. ; and just as the clock strikes twelve at midnight, the windows are opened, and a quantity of water thrown out to wet the "jumby" and send it away, for as long as the coal-pot continues burning, they believe the jumby cannot pass through the house, but is still lurking about the yard watching for an opportunity of getting in.f Strange as this may read, it is firmly believed in,
* A similar idea to this still exists in the Department Indre, France. The inhabitants believe that after death the soul of the deceased flies about the apartment where the dissolution took place, seeking some cranny by which to escape to heaven. For this reason, as soon as any one is supposed to be near death, the friends of the dying person take care to remove every vessel that contains liquid, fearing the soul may fall in, and thus be lost. In Scotland, something of the sort seems to be believed in among the lower classes ; for when a person is in the last agonies, the doors of the house are set open, that the soul may find no impediment in the way of its escape. The ancient Jews, according to Dr. Lightfoot, were of an opinion that the soul of the deceased hovered about its former tenement until after the lapse of three days, when it sought the regions of bliss or misery. f This ceremony is performed nightly until the house is so thoroughly fumigated that the "jumby" quits in despair.