EUEXP-003 - secondary catalog
Basel (Switzerland) fair bull-roarer
Basel, Switzerland - Central Europe
Play / practical
Source term: bull-roarer
In his 1898 chapter on the bull-roarer, Alfred Cort Haddon noted that the instrument survived in parts of Europe as a children's toy, and among the places he listed was Basel. Unlike the Black Forest, where a German friend had actually seen one, or West Prussia, where Siedel had recorded the whirling toy in print, the Basel entry rested only on rumor: "I have also heard that it is sometimes seen in fairs at Basel in Switzerland." No example was collected, no local name set down, no date or seller named.
I have also heard that it is sometimes seen in fairs at Basel in Switzerland.
A. C. Haddon, The Study of Man (1898), Ch. X "The Bull-Roarer," p. 285
- Object
- Bull-roarer reported as sometimes seen in fairs at Basel; no form or local name given by Haddon.
- Function
- Secular fair/toy item; no ritual function recorded.
- Map confidence
- low - Basel town coordinate; Haddon names the city as the source place, no findspot detail.
- Source location
- p. 285
- Toy / secular survival