HIDEOUS PHENOMENA.

Thames Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 17695, 20 September 1929, Page 8

HIDEOUS PHENOMENA.

OF THE HUMAN MIND

DANCE OF DEATH SWEPT OVER EUROPE. DEDICATED "TO A-SAINT." Among the most hideous phenomena of the" human, mind that the worldhas seen is the Dance of Death, or, in more popular term, the Danse Macabre, which swept over Europe in the fourteenth century. There has been much disputing over the derivation of the latter nomenclature, but the generally accepted opinion appears to be that the word is a corruption of "Maoarius," the saint to whom the dance was dedicated,. The first record of this pantomimic dance, which was originally conceived as a dramatic morality, is in 1384. For some ten years previously Europe had been rayaged by the Black Death, which in London alone killed hundreds daily for a time. There had been wars and famines; the people were saturated with misery and acquainted with death in its worst shape, and the result was seen in a sudden reactionairy spirit of unnatural levity. The Danse Macabre was, in fact, a frenzied mockery of the desolation of the times. There is ample evidence to show that it was at first intended ta be highly moral in its effect, but it quickly degenerated into, appalling scenes of revelry, in which. men danced with a fearful irony upon the very bones of their dead fellows.

The strangest characteristic of the Danse Macabre was that-it was. immediately preceded by a/ sort of epidemic of dancing which was so utterly incomprehensible as to have been without a name. This disease —for it was that—appeared first in Germany in 1374, in the shape of a dancing maniai, accompanied by abberaticai of mind and uncouth distortions of the body. It quickly spread to England, where thousands of people began to dance involuntary maniai: dances in the streets. The most extraordinary scenes were witnessed, almost infernal in character. The following description is taken from an account written l>y a student of the subject about 100 years ago:—

"Those who looked on were caught suddenly ty the sickness; others seemed smitten by the epidemic even within doors, and rushed from their houses te join the dancing crew, unable to resist the frantic impulse. All joined in one great frenzied round, until the chain was broken by force—an effort seldom made, ,as contact seemed to impart the contagion irresistibly to the breaker of. the ring:—or until they fell .exhausted, and even .dead with fatigue Death, indeed, generally ensued upon a seizure by the dancing mania."

It was immediately following on the disappearance of this dancing mania that the practice began of executing the Danse Macabre. Of its character and form in .England no record remains, but French records are copious enough. It is from these that we obtain our pictures of one of the most appalling scouirges ever inflicted on humanity. The popular rendezvous in Paris for the performance of the Danse Macabre was the Cimetiere des Innocents, the central buri-d place of t r o city, later converted into markets. The locality was then known as the I "ChrVrmiers," or charnel houses, the haunt of thieves and vagabonds—a ghastly &pot. if we may believe the historians. Here is th,e account of it given by our student:— DREADFUL ORGIES. In such surroundings, incredible as it may appear, Paris held fair, and here La Danse Macabre was practised ia it s dreadful oiigies, devoid of morality or art. The actors in the dance are described as wearing black dresses, upon which were painted, the bones of skeletons, and masks representing skulls. Meantime, the fair did a thriving trade, applauding the spectacle of death in effigy, jesting and making love, .and thoroughly at home in all respects. Death danced with persons of every age and rank, in tion of the inevitable fate of all. levelling all to the equality of the grave. The popularity of this obscene masquerade was so great that it was made the subject of innumerable paintings on the walls of holy buildings throughout Europe. The Danse Macabre liecame known as a mystery play,- sometimes given the title of "The Parliament of Death." The performances varied a great deal, but were all distinguished by gross parody of the Divine. Notwithstanding, thev seem to have been approved thoroughly by the clergy of the time, who even postponed the hours of service in order ■ that people might attend these - miracle plays;.. The "earliest painting of the Danse. Macabre is said to have been executed in 1383 at Minden. in Westphalia. From this claim rose a dispute as to whether the dance was evolved from

the painting or the painting from the? dance. The evidence on either side isconfused. The French writer, Michelet. however, declared positively that the* in the painting owed their origin to certain sacred representations played in the churches, the streets* and cemeteries. Collected records elsewhere suggest .that the two appeared coincidentally. In England the Dance of Death was known as "The Shaking of the Sheet," probably, an illusion to the cerements? of the grave worn by the principal actors in the scene. The name survived for some years as the title of a popular ballad. In the middle agesr the unsavoury subject was eagerly seized upon by artists, and survives in picture and carving in manv countries. The dancing mani a attacked Italy in the sixteenth century, where it was' known as Tarantism, owing to a belief that it was caused by the bite of the tarantula spider. However, that be; the Danse Macabre was the outcome of one of the most mysterious afflictions in the history of civilisation. For that reason alone it must alwayschallenge interest.