This season is still made memorable in Ireland by lighting fires on
every hill, according to the ancient pagan usage, when the Baal fires
were kindled as part of the ritual of sun-worship, though now they are
lit in honour of St. John. The great bonfire of the year is still made
on St. John’s Eve, when all the people dance round it, and every young
man takes a lighted brand from the pile to bring home with him for good
luck to the house.
In ancient times the sacred fire was lighted with great ceremony on
Midsummer Eve; and on that night all the people of the adjacent country
kept fixed watch on the western promontory of Howth, and the moment the
first flash was seen from that spot the fact of ignition was announced
with wild cries and cheers repeated from village to village, when all
the local fires began to blaze, and Ireland was circled by a cordon of
flame rising up from every hill. Then the dance and song began round
every fire, and the wild hurrahs filled the air with the most frantic
revelry.
Many of these ancient customs are still continued, and the fires are
still lighted on St. John’s Eve on every hill in Ireland. When the fire
has burned down to a red glow the young men strip to the waist and leap
over or through the flames; this is done backwards and forwards several
times, and he who braves the greatest blaze is considered the victor
over the powers of evil, and is greeted with tremendous applause. When
the fire burns still lower, the young girls leap the flame, and those
who leap clean over three times back and forward will be certain of
a speedy marriage and good luck in after life, with many children.
The married women then walk through the lines of the burning embers;
and when the fire is nearly burnt and trampled down, the yearling
cattle are driven through the hot ashes, and their back is singed with
a lighted hazel twig. These hazel rods are kept safely afterwards,
being considered of immense power to drive the cattle to and from the
watering places. As the fire diminishes the shouting grows fainter,
and the song and the dance commence; while professional story-tellers
narrate tales of fairy-land, or of the good old times long ago, when
the kings and princes of Ireland dwelt amongst their own people, and
there was food to eat and wine to drink for all comers to the feast at
the king’s house. When the crowd at length separate, every one carries
home a brand from the fire, and great virtue is attached to the lighted
_brone_ which is safely carried to the house without breaking or
falling to the ground. Many contests also arise amongst the young men;
for whoever enters his house first with the sacred fire brings the good
luck of the year with him.
On the first Sunday in Midsummer all the young people used to stand in
lines after leaving chapel, to be hired for service—the girls holding
white hands, the young men each with an emblem of his trade. The
evening ended with a dance and the revelry was kept up until the dawn
of the next day, called “Sorrowful Monday,” because of the end of the
pleasure and the frolic.