VERY SILLY, BUT OF RELIGIOUS ORIGIN.
By Editor
WE have often wondered how anyone could become silly enough to be entertained by the popular theatrical ditty, "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay," and keep out of an insane asylum. But the day of surprises on account of folly in this foolish world is about over. When we learn that the nonsensical chorus is a religious hymn, we cease to wonder. American Tit-Bits gives the following graphic description of the use of the words by the Howling Dervishes:— "Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay, a meaningless combination of syllables in English, is the hymn which the most devout sect on earth use to put their bodies and souls in harmony with their crude idea of worship. The song, as sung by the dervishes, is a prolonged wail, lasting from one to two hours—a continued repetition of the words, 'Ta-ra-ra Boom de-ay.' There is not a better or safer place to see the worshipers than at Scutari, the ramshackle old town across the Bosphorus from Constantinople. They usually gather Thursday afternoon in a deserted house or harem in some byway or hidden street. The walls of the old place are covered with tambourines, and at the back of the man, who, for convenience, is here called priest, hangs a collection of relics, trophies given by the warrior members of the band, and religious devices and trappings. Around the top of the low room is a gallery, so near the floor that a man can barely pass beneath it. The front of the gallery is covered with grill, through the minute interstices of which gaze the women from the harem upon their masters worshiping below. Around the sides of the room sits a row of howlers, each upon a rug as fine as his means will allow. Apart from these sit one or two more prosperous dervishes. These have given up the hard work of the sect. They howl mildly and do the 'Ta-ra-ra' movement sitting upon luxurious tapestries, and dressed in the finest of oriental fabrics.313"The howling begins at a word from the priest, or chief dervish. The swarthy howlers, some yellow, some black, all wild-eyed, arise. Mildly they begin to beat their bodies with their hands, chanting an unintelligible mumble of Turkish words, where the proportion of consonants to vowels is one to twelve. Gradually the men get wrought up until their entire bodies are brought into action. The movements are all in unison, the column swaying, plunging, bowing as a single man. With the 'Ta-ra-ra' they bow their heads almost to the ground, quickly bringing themselves erect again. With a tremendous accent on the 'Boom,' they turn their heads to the right and bend their bodies as much as possible, the motion only lasting during the 'de-ay.' Again they howl 'Ta-ra-ra,' bowing to the front, and on the 'Boom' this time turning the head to the left and bending their bodies in the opposite direction. Back and forth, up and down they move, as swiftly as possible. Gradually the outer garments are removed, and when the meeting is over, it is not an uncommon thing to see them entirely nude, save their girdles. After these two movements they begin others, until one by one they become temporarily insane from mere fatigue. The priest from his pulpit watches the worship with cool indifference, and rewards the prostrate men by stepping twice upon their bodies as they lie before him. This exercise having been gone through, little children come in, lie flat on the floor in front of the pulpit, while the leader walks down the line, stepping squarely upon each one. He returns to his pedestal in the same way, turns about, blows his breath upon the prostrate worshipers, and then the exercises are over. Christians or Europeans, which to them are one, are not welcome guests, and are only admitted because their liberal fees help to pay the rent."