_Fire-worship in the States of the Mediterranean--Special Sacredness
of the public City-fire of Greece and Rome--The sacred Fire of
Tlachtga--Ceylon Fire-worship--The Parsees--Persian Monuments--Impiety
of Cambyses--Cingalese Terms, Sanscrit, Welsh, &c.--The Yule-log--
Fire-worship in England--The Fire of Beltane--Druidical Fires--May-day
Fires--November Fires in Ireland--Between Two Fires--Scotland--The
Summer Solstice and Fire Ceremonies--Worship of Baal in Ireland--St.
John's Day--Bonfires--Decree of Council of Constantinople._
"All the states of the Mediterranean and Persia had, like India, baptismal
forms connected with Fire. With the Greeks and Romans the baptismal
ceremony took place between the ninth and twelfth days of birth, and
generally commenced by women seizing the infant and running round, or
dashing through the fire with it. So also at marriages, fire was the
active and 'covenant god.' No account was taken of a bride's faith; to
marry was to embrace the husband's religion, to be to him _in filiæ loco_,
and to break entirely with her own family; nay, marriage was for long
entered into with a show of violence, as if to demonstrate the separation.
It certainly reminds one of early times when men thus obtained their
wives. The principal part of the marriage ceremony was to bring the bride
before her husband's hearth, anoint her with holy water, and make her
touch the sacred fire; after which she broke bread or ate a cake with him.
Fire was also the God who witnessed the separation of husband and wife,
which, if there were offspring, was a rare and difficult act; but if the
couple were childless, divorce was an easy matter."
"No stranger dared appear before the city-fire either in Greece or Rome,
indeed the _mere look_ of a person foreign to the worship would profane a
sacred act, and disturb the auspices. The very name of strangers was
_hostis_, or enemy to the gods. When the Roman Pontiff had to sacrifice
out-of-doors, he veiled his face so that the chance sight of strangers
might be thus atoned for to the gods, who were supposed to dislike
foreigners so much, that the most laborious ceremonies were undertaken if
any of these passed near, not to say handled any holy object. Every sacred
fire had to be re-lit if a stranger entered a temple; and so in India,
every sacred place must be carefully purified if a foreigner (ruler and
highly respected though he may be) pass too close to a Hindoo shrine. I
have seen Government servants under me, and Sepoys, who meant no
disrespect, throw away the whole of a day's food, and dig up the little
fire-places they had prepared before cooking and eating, because, by
accident or oversight, my shadow had passed over it; though sometimes, if
there were no onlookers, this extreme measure was not carried out, partly
out of regard for me."
Dr. Keating, in his "History of Ireland," speaks of the royal seat of
Tlachtga, where the Fire Tlachtga was ordained to be kindled. He
says:--"The use of this sacred fire was to summon the Priests, the Augurs,
and Druids of Ireland to repair thither and assemble upon the Eve of All
Saints, in order to consume the sacrifices that were offered to their
Pagan Gods; and it was established under the penalty of a great fine, that
no other fire should be kindled upon that night throughout the kingdom; so
that the fire that was to be used in the country, was to be derived from
this holy fire; for which privilege the people were to pay a _Scraball_,
which amounts to threepence every year as an acknowledgment to the King of
Munster, because the palace of Tlachtga, where this fire burned, was the
proportion taken from the province of Munster, and added to the country of
Meath.
"The second royal palace that was erected was in the proportion taken from
the province of Conacht, and here was a general convocation assembled of
all the inhabitants of the kingdom that were able to appear, which was
called the Convocation of Visneach, and kept upon the first day of May,
where they offered sacrifices to the principal deity in the island, whom
they adored under the name of Beul. Upon this occasion they were used to
kindle two fires in every territory in the kingdom, in honour of this
pagan god. It was a solemn ceremony at this time to drive a number of
cattle of every kind between these fires; this was conceived to be an
antidote and a preservation against the murrain, or any other pestilential
distemper among cattle for the year following; and from these fires that
were made in worship of the god Beul, the day upon which the Christian
festival of St. Philip and St. James is observed, is called in the Irish
language Beul-tinne. The derivation of the word is thus: La in Irish
signifies a day, Beul is the name of the pagan deity, and Teinne is the
same with fire in the English, which words, when they are pronounced
together, sound La Beultinne."
Leslie in his "Early Races of Scotland," says: "From Dondera Head in
Ceylon to the Himalaya Mountains, and from the borders of China to the
extremities of Western Europe and its islands, we find clear evidence of
the former prevalence of the earliest form of false worship, viz., the
adoration of light, the sun, and 'the whole host of heaven.' In the
Rajpoot state of Marwar, in its capital Udayayoor, 'The City of the Rising
Sun!' the precedence of Surya, the sun god, is still maintained. The
sacred standard of the country bears his image, and the Raja, claiming to
be his descendant, appears as his representative."
"In a complicated form the Parsees of British India still retain that
worship of light, symbolised in the sun and fire, for which they became
exiles when their faith was proscribed in the land of their ancestors."
Leslie quotes various authors and travellers who had personally witnessed
the remains of many of these altars. "Chardin," he says, "in his travels
in Media in the end of the seventeenth century describes circles of large
stones that must have been brought a distance of six leagues to the place
where he observed them. The tradition regarding these circles was, that
councils were there held, each member of the assembly being seated on a
separate stone."[23]
In the Persian province of Fars, Sir William Ouseley observed a monolith
ten or twelve feet high, surrounded by a fence of stones. This rude column
had a cavity on the top. Similar instances--viz., of monoliths having a
cavity in the top--existed among the primitive monuments of Scotland. In
Kincardineshire, at Auchincorthie, there were five circles of stones. On
the top of one of the stones which stood on the east side of the largest
circle, there was a hollow three inches deep, along the bottom of which,
and down the side of the stone, a channel was cut. Another of the stones
in this group had a similar cavity and channel. Other examples of such
artificial cavities in ancient British monuments could be pointed
out.--(Gibson's Camden, vol. ii., p. 291.) The same traveller remarked a
few old trees which grew near this column, and these he supposed to be the
remains of a consecrated grove. One of the trees was thickly hung with
rags, the native offerings of the inhabitants of the country. Trees with
such garniture may commonly be observed in the Dekhan and other parts of
India, and not long since might be seen in many places in Britain. The
Monolith thus described, and adjacent to the grove, was called by an
expression equivalent to "Stone of the Fire Temple." We know from
Herodotus that the ancient Persians, like their expatriated descendants
the Parsees, were worshippers of the sun and fire, and the mysterious
rites of the heathen inhabitants of Britain must have closely resembled
those of the Persians, when the similarity induced Pliny to remark that
Britain cultivates magic with ceremonial so august that it might be
supposed that the art was first communicated from them to the people of
Persia.
Turning to Herodotus as here suggested, speaking of the order given by
Cambyses to burn the corpse of Amasis, after his people had failed to tear
it apart, owing to its having been embalmed, the historian says:--"This
was truly an impious command to give, for the Persians hold fire to be a
god, and never by any chance burn their dead. Indeed this practice is
unlawful, both with them and with the Egyptians--with them for the reason
above mentioned, since they deem it wrong to give the corpse of a man to a
god; and with the Egyptians, because they believe fire to be a live
animal, which eats whatever it can seize, and then glutted with the food,
dies with the matter it feeds upon."[24]
Leslie says "it is important, as a prelude to the description of rites in
a worship common to the early inhabitants of the Indian Peninsula and to
the Celtic population of Gaul and Britain, to refer to the cognate
expressions which they employed for the object of their adoration. In
Cingalese, Ja, Jwala, signifies light, lustre, flame; Jwalana, light; also
Agni, or personified and deified fire. Eliya is also Cingalese for light;
in Welsh, Lleuer and Lleuad, the moon; in Gaelic, Eibhle, anything on
fire. In Sanscrit, Jwala signifies light, flame; in Cornish, Gwawl; in
Welsh, Goleu; in Armorican, Goleu. In Gaelic, Geal and Eallaidhe is white;
Soillse, light, sunlight; Suil, the eye. In Cingalese, Haili and Hel, and
in Sanscrit, Heli or Helis is the sun. In Welsh it is Haul, pronounced
Hail; in Armorican, Haul and Heol; in Cornish, Houl and Heul. The great
festival of heathen Britain--viz, Yeul--was celebrated at that period of
the year when the sun having obtained the greatest distance from the
earth, commenced his return to restore warmth and to revivify nature.
Although Christmas superseded the heathen festival, not only the ancient
name of Yeul, but many of the customs, evidently connected with the
heathen rites, are not yet obsolete in South Britain; and in Scotland, at
least in the more remote parts, and in agricultural districts, Yeul is
still the word in general use for Christmas Day."
Hone, in his "Every-day Book" vol. I. p. 204, says: "The Yeul feast and
Yeul log can be clearly traced to their original source. The blaze of
lights, and the kindling of the great Yule log on Christmas Eve by a
portion of the Yule brand of the former year, is as clearly a heathen
ceremony, and for the same object of worship, as the fires on Midsummer
Eve. As to the feast, in times comparatively recent, the Greenlanders held
a sun-feast at the winter solstice, to rejoice in the conmencement of
returning light and warmth."
"From Teinidh and Tein, Irish and Gaelic for fire, is probably derived the
obsolete English word 'to teend.' Herrich, speaking of the Christmas
brand, says part must be kept wherewith to _teend_ the Christmas by next
year."
Evidence of some sort of fire-worship in England at various times is to be
found in the _Confessional_ of Ecgbert, Archbishop of York (8th century)
and the Penitential of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury (7th century),
and that this included the adoration of the light of the sun and moon
seems probable from the prohibition of the practice of passing children
through fire extending to that of exposing them on the house-tops for the
benefit of their health.
Leslie remarks that it is curious to compare these restrictions and
penalties to be enforced by English ecclesiastical authorites with the
denunciation of the same heathen practices by the prophet Zephaniah,
(Chap. I., 4, 5.) "I will cut off the remnant of Baal, and them that
worship the host of heaven upon the house-tops."
The allusion to the Midsummer Eve Fire in Hone, reminds us of the "Fire of
Bel" or Beltane of Scotland, a festival generally celebrated on May-day
old style. Leslie says, in other Celtic countries of Western Europe the
same expression, with slight variations in sound, was also used for the
great heathen festival which was held about the beginning of the month of
May. He further says: "Beltane is also used to express the fires that were
kindled in honour of Bel on that and on other days connected with his
worship, as on Midsummer Eve, afterwards called the vigil of St. John, on
All-Hallowe'en, and on Yeule, which is now Christmas. Of the ceremonies
practised at Beltane, and continued almost to our own times, the most
remarkable and general were the fires lighted in honour of Bel."
"Kindling fires at Beltane, on the hills and conspicuous places in level
districts, was so universal in Scotland--also in Ireland and
Cornwall--that it is unnecessary to refer to records for proof of events
which may still be witnessed in this year 1865.
"Conjoined with Apollo in the inscription on a Roman altar found at
Inveresk is an epithet bearing a considerable resemblance to the name of
the sun in Gaelic. Apollini-Granno is the commencement of the inscription.
Grian or Greine is the sun in Gaelic, and Grianach is 'the sunny.' This
resemblance it is as well to notice, for epithets not similar in sound but
identical in meaning are used for Apollo or the sun by classic authors and
the Scottish Celts, as Gruagach, the fair-haired. Enclosures called
Grianan or Greinham, 'the house of the sun,' where the people worshipped
the sun, are to be met with everywhere. On the Gruagach stones libations
of milk were poured. A clergyman of the Western Isles says that about a
century ago (this was in 1774), Gruagach got credit for being the father
of a child at Shulista, near Duntulme, the seat of M'Donald. Gruagach, the
sun, was represented by certain rude stones of large size. On the island
of Bernera, in the parish of Harris, a circle, defined by long sharp
pointed stones, has in the centre a stone in the form of an inverted
pyramid, called Clach-na-Greine, 'the stone of the sun.'"
Toland, in his "History of Druids," gathers together a good deal of
important information relative to Fire Customs in various parts of
England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and the adjacent islands. He speaks
of the carns (cairns) or heaps of stones which are found on mountain tops
and other eminencies in different localities, and after alluding to the
uses they served in course of time as beacons, being conveniently situated
for such a purpose, says--"They were originally designed for fires of
another nature. The fact stood thus. On May-eve the Druids made prodigious
fires on those carns, which being every one in sight, could not but afford
a glorious show over a whole nation. These fires were in honour of Beal or
Bealan, latinised by the Roman authors into Belenus, by which name the
Gauls and their colonies understood the sun: and, therefore, to this hour
the first day of May is by the aboriginal Irish called La Bealteine, or
the day of Belen's fire."
"May-day is likewise called La Bealteine by the Highlanders of Scotland,
who are no contemptible part of the Celtic offspring. So it is in the Isle
of Man; and in Armoric a priest is still called Belec, or the Servant of
Bel, and priesthood Belegieth. Two such fires as we have mentioned were
kindled by one another on May-eve in every village of the nation (as well
throughout all Gaul, as in Britain, Ireland, and the adjoining lesser
islands), between which fires the men and the beasts to be sacrificed were
to pass; from whence came the proverb, _Between Bel's two fires_, meaning
one in a great strait, not knowing how to extricate himself. One of the
fires was on the carn, another on the ground. On the eve of the first day
of November there were also such fires kindled, accompanied (as they
constantly were) with sacrifices and feasting. These November fires were
in Ireland called Tine tlach'd gha, from tlach'd-gha, a place hence so
called in Meath where the Archdruid of the realm had his fire on the said
eve; and for which piece of ground, because originally belonging to
Munster, but appointed by the supreme monarch for this use, there was an
annual acknowledgement (called sgreaboll) paid to the king of that
province.
"On the aforesaid eve all the people of the country, out of a religious
persuasion instilled into them by the Druids, extinguished their fires as
entirely as the Jews are wont to sweep their houses the night before the
feast of unleavened bread. Then every master of a family was religiously
obliged to take a portion of the consecrated fire home, and to kindle the
fire anew in his house, which for the ensuing year was to be lucky and
prosperous. He was to pay, however, for his future happiness whether the
event proved answerable or not; and though his house should be afterwards
burnt, yet he must deem it the punishment of some new sin, or ascribe it
to anything rather than to want of virtue in the consecration of the fire,
or of validity in the benediction of the Druid, who, from officiating at
the carns, was likewise called Cairnech, a name that continued to signify
priest even in Christian times. But if any man had not cleared with the
Druids for the last year's dues, he was neither to have a spark of this
holy fire from the carns, nor durst any of his neighbours let him take the
benefit of theirs under pain of excommunication, which, as managed by the
Druids, was worse than death. If he would brew, therefore, or bake, or
roast, or boil, or warm himself and family; in a word, if he would live
the winter out, the Druid's dues must be paid by the last of October, so
that this trick alone was more effectual than are all the Acts of
Parliament made for securing our present clergy's dues.
"As to the fire-worship which (by the way) prevailed over all the world,
the Celtic nations kindled other fires on Midsummer-eve, which are still
continued by the Roman Catholics of Ireland; making them in all their
grounds, and carrying flaming brands about their corn-fields. This they do
likewise all over France and in some of the Scottish Isles. These
midsummer fires and sacrifices were to obtain a blessing on the fruits of
the earth, now becoming ready for gathering; as those of the first of May,
that they might prosperously grow; and those of the last of October were a
thanksgiving for finishing their harvest. But in all of them regard was
also had to the several degrees of increase and decrease in the heat of
the sun's rays."
With regard to the proverb "Between Bel's two fires," Mr. Huddleston in
his new edition of Toland (1814) adds a note in which he says:--"As Mr.
Toland in his note on this passage, informs us the Irish phrase is Ittir
dha theine Bheil; Dr. Smith has also given us the Scottish phrase, Gabha
Bheil, _i.e._, the jeopardy of Bel. Both agree that these expressions
denote one in the most imminent danger. Mr. Toland says the men and beasts
to be sacrificed passed between two fires, and that hence the proverb
originated. Dr. Smith, on the contrary, imagines that this was one of the
Druidical ordeals whereby criminals were tried; and instead of making them
pass betwixt the fires, makes them march directly across them. Indeed, he
supposed the Druids were kind enough to anoint the feet of the criminals,
and render them invulnerable to the flames. If so there could have been
neither danger nor trial. It may also be remarked, that had the doctor's
hypothesis been well founded, there was no occasion for two fires, whereas
by the phrase, _between Bel's two fires_, we know that two were used.
Doctor Smith has evidently confounded the Gabha Bheil with a feat
practised by the Hirpins on Mount Soracte."
It seems that the expression used by the Scotch expressive of a man in
difficulties, "He is between the two fires of Bel," was common enough to
attract the attention of other writers than those we have cited, and of
most travellers in the Highlands. Martin mentions it in his "Western
Isles," as also Shaw and the Rev. D. M'Queen. The latter is cited by
Leslie as a Gaelic scholar of the last century, who in regard to the
expression, "He is betwixt two Beltein fires," gives as an explanation
that the Celtic tribes in their sacred enclosures offered sacrifices,
commonly horses, that were burnt between two large fires, and Leslie adds,
"On this it may be remarked that horses were sacrificed to the sun by the
Arian race from the earliest times; and this continued to be practised by
Hindus, Persians, and other nations. In Britain it is probable that our
heathen ancestors sacrificed horses, and it is certain that they ate
them."
Jamieson's splendid "Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language,"
supplies us with valuable information on the point we are discussing,
drawn from a variety of reliable authorities. Under "BELTANE, Beltein, the
name of a sort of festival observed on the first day of May, O.S.;" we
have:--"A town in Perthshire, on the borders of the Highlands, is called
_Tillie-_ (or _Tullie_) _beltane_, _i.e._ the eminence or rising ground of
the fire of Baal. In the neighbourhood is a druidical temple of eight
upright stones, where it is supposed the fire was kindled. At some
distance from this is another temple of the same kind, but smaller, and
near it a well still held in great veneration. On Beltane morning
superstitious people go to this well, and drink of it; then they make a
procession round it, as I am informed, nine times. After this, they in
like manner go round the temple. So deep rooted is this heathenish
superstition in the minds of many who reckon themselves good Protestants,
that they will not neglect these rites, even when Beltane falls on
Sabbath."
Quoting from P. Loudon, Statist. Acc. iii., 105, the writer
proceeds:--"The custom still remains [in the West of Scotland] among the
herds and young people to kindle fires in the high grounds, in honour of
Beltan. _Beltan_, which in Gaelic signifies _Baal_ or _Bel's fire_, was
anciently the time of this solemnity. It is now kept on St. Peter's Day."
Just here we may turn to Mr. Pennant's "Tour in Scotland," for the
following interesting particulars. "On the first of May, the herdsmen of
every village hold their Beltein, a rural sacrifice. They cut a square
trench on the ground, leaving the turf in the middle; on that they make a
fire of wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal,
and milk; and bring, besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer
and whisky; for each of the company must contribute something. The rites
begin with spilling some of the caudle on the ground by way of libation:
on that every one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine
square knobs, each dedicated to some particular being, the supposed
preserver of their flocks and herds, or to some particular animal, the
real destroyer of them: each person then turns his face to the fire,
breaks off a knob, and flinging it over his shoulder, says--_This I give
to thee, preserve thou my horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep_;
and so on. After that they use the same ceremony to the noxious animals;
_This I give to thee, O Fox! spare thou my lambs; this to thee, O hooded
Crow! this to thee, O Eagle!_"[25]
Further on the same traveller writes:--"The Beltein, or the rural
sacrifice on the first of May, O.S., has been mentioned before. Hallow-eve
is also kept sacred: as soon as it is dark, a person sets fire to a bush
of broom fastened round a pole, and attended with a crowd, runs round the
village. He then flings it down, keeps a great quantity of combustible
matters in it, and makes a great bonfire. A whole tract is thus
illuminated at the same time, and makes a fine appearance. The carrying of
the fiery pole appears to be a relic of Drudism."[26]
The "Statistical Account of Scotland, Parish of Callander, Perths,"
supplies several important and interesting facts relating to this. "The
people of this district have two customs which are fast wearing out, not
only here, but all over the Highlands, and therefore ought to be taken
notice of while they remain. Upon the first day of May, which is called
_Beltau_ or _Baltein Day_, all the boys in a township or hamlet meet in
the moors. They cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure, by
casting a trench in the ground of such circumference as to hold the whole
company. They kindle a fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milk in the
consistence of a custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted
at the embers against a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they divide
the cake into so many portions, as similar as possible to one another in
size and shape, as there are persons in the company. They daub one of
these portions all over with charcoal, until it be perfectly black. They
put all the bits of cake into a bonnet. Every one, blindfold, draws out a
portion. He who holds the bonnet is entitled to the last bit. Whoever
draws the black bit is the devoted person who is to be sacrificed to Baal,
whose favour they mean to implore, in rendering the year productive of the
sustenance of man and beast. There is little doubt of these inhuman
sacrifices having been once offered in this country, as well as in the
east, although they now pass from the act of sacrificing, and only compel
the devoted person to leap three times through the flames; with which the
ceremonies of this festival are closed."
Again referring to Jamieson, he says:--"The respect paid by the ancient
Britons to Belus, or Belinus, is evident from the names of some of their
kings. As the Babylonians had their _Beletis_ or _Belibus_, _Rige-Belus_,
_Merodoch-Baladan_ and _Belshazzar_; the Tyrians their _Ich-baals_ and
_Balator_, the Britons had their _Cassi-belin_, and their _Cuno-belin_.
"The Gael and Ir. word _Beal-tine_ or _Beil-teine_ signifies _Belus'
Fire_; as composed of Baal or Belis, one of the names of the sun in Gaul,
and _tein_ signifying fire. Even in Angus a spark of fire is called a
_tein_ or _teind_."
Martin's Western Islands bears similar testimony, thus:--"Another god of
the Britons was Belus or Belinus, which seems to have been the Assyrian
god Bel, or Belus; and probably from this Pagan deity comes the Scots'
term of Beltin--having its first rise from the custom practised by the
Druids in the isles, of extinguishing all the fires in the parish until
the tythes were paid; and upon payment of them, the fires were kindled in
each family, and never till then. In those days malefactors were burnt
between two fires; hence when they would express a man in a great strait,
they say, He is between two fires of Bel, which in their language they
express thus, Edir da hin Veaul or Bel."
It has been remarked that the Pagan rites of the festival of Midsummer
Eve, the Summer Solstice may be considered as a counterpart of those used
at the Winter Solstice of Yule-tide. "There is one thing," says Brand,
"that seems to prove this beyond the possibility of a doubt. In the old
Runic Fasti, a wheel was used to denote the festival of Christmas. Thus
Durandus, when speaking of the Rites of the Feast of St. John Baptist,
informs us of this curious circumstance, that in some places they roll a
wheel about to signify that the Sun, then occupying the highest place in
the Zodiac, is beginning to descend; and in the amplified account given by
Naogeorgus, we read that this wheel was taken up to the top of a mountain
and rolled down from thence; and that, as it had been previously covered
with straw, twisted about it and set on fire, it appeared at a distance as
if the sun had been falling from the sky. And he further observes, that
the people imagine that all their ill-luck rolls away from them together
with this wheel."
"Leaping over the fires is mentioned among the superstitious rites used at
the Palilia in Ovid's Fasti. The Palilia were feasts instituted in honour
of Pales, the goddess of shepherds (though Varro makes Pales masculine),
on the calends of May. In order to drive away wolves from the folds, and
distempers from the cattle, the shepherds on this day kindled several
heaps of straw in their fields, which they leaped over."
"Bourne tells us that it was the custom in his time, in the North of
England, chiefly in country villages, for old and young people to meet
together and be merry over a large fire, which was made for that purpose
in the open street. This, of whatever materials it consisted, was called a
Bone-fire. Over and about this fire they frequently leap, and play at
various games such as running, wrestling, dancing, &c.; this, however, is
generally confined to the younger sort; for the old ones, for the most
part, sit by as spectators only, and enjoy themselves over their bottle,
which they do not quit till midnight, and sometimes till cock-crow the
next morning."
A correspondent of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for February, 1795, writing
from Skye, gives us:--"Curious fact relating to the worship of Baal in
Ireland. The Irish have ever been worshippers of fire, and of Baal, and
are so to this day. The chief festival in honour of the sun and fire, is
upon the twenty-first of June, when the sun arrives at the Summer
Solstice, or rather begins its retrograde movement. I was so fortunate, in
the summer of 1782, as to have my curiosity gratified by a sight of this
ceremony over a very great extent of country. At the house where I was
entertained, it was told me that we should see at midnight the most
singular sight in Ireland, which was the lighting of Fires in honour of
the Sun. Accordingly, exactly at midnight, the Fires began to appear; and
taking the advantage of going up to the leads of the house, which had a
widely-extended view, I saw on a radius of thirty miles, all around, the
Fires burning on every eminence which the country afforded. I had a
farther satisfaction, in learning from undoubted authority, that the
people danced round the Fires, and at the close went through these Fires,
and made their sons and daughters, together with their cattle, pass
through the Fire; and the whole was conducted with religious solemnity.
This account is exceedingly curious, and though I forbear the mention of
names, I can venture to assure you that it is authentic."
The remarks of Borlase in his "Antiquities of Cornwall," come in here very
suitably. He says--"Of the fires we kindle in many parts of England, at
some stated time of the year, we know not certainly the rise, reason or
occasion, but they may probably be reckoned among the relicks of the Druid
superstitious fires. In Cornwall, the festival fires called Bonfires, are
kindled on the Eve of St. John the Baptist and St. Peter's Day; and
Midsummer is thence, in the Cornish tongue, called 'Golnan,' which
signifies both light and rejoicing. At these fires the Cornish attend with
lighted torches, tarred and pitched at the end, and make their
perambulations round their fires, and go from village to village carrying
their torches before them, and this is certainly the remains of the Druid
superstition, for 'faces præferre,' to carry lighted torches, was reckoned
a kind of Gentilism, and as such particularly prohibited by the Gallick
Councils. They were in the eye of the law '_accensores facularum_,' and
thought to sacrifice to the devil, and to deserve capital punishment."
Brand mentions a few additional particulars which we here transcribe.
"Torreblanca, in his 'Demonology,' has a passage in which he tells us how
the ancients were accustomed to pass their children of both sexes through
the fire for the sake of securing them a prosperous and fortunate lot, and
he adds that the Germans imitated this profane usage in their Midsummer
pyres in honour of the anniversary of St. John's Day.
"Moresin appears to have been of opinion that the custom of leaping over
these fires is a vestige of the ordeal, where to be able to pass through
fires with safety was held to be an indication of innocence. To strengthen
the probability of this conjecture, we may observe that not only the young
and vigorous, but even those of grave characters used to leap over them,
and there was an interdiction of ecclesiastical authority to deter
clergymen from this superstitious instance of agility. A note at the foot
of the page says that Mr. Brand saw in the possession of Douce, a French
print, entitled 'L'este le Feu de la St. Jean,' from the hand of Mariette.
In the centre was the fire made of wood piled up very regularly, and
having a tree stuck up in the midst of it. Young men and women were
represented dancing round it hand in hand. Herbs were stuck in their hats
and caps, and garlands of the same surrounded their waists or were slung
across their shoulders.
"In the 'Traite des Superstitions,' we read 'Whoever desires to know the
colour of his future wife's hair, has only to walk three times round the
fire of St. John, and when the fire is half extinguished he must take a
brand, let it go out, and then put it under his pillow, and the next
morning he will find encircling it threads of hair of the desired colour.'
But this must be done with the eyes shut. We are further told, where there
is a widow or a marriageable girl in a house, it is necessary to be very
careful not to remove the brands, as this drives away lovers.
"The third Council of Constantinople, A.D. 680, in its sixty-fifth canon,
enacted the following interdiction:--'Those Bonefires that are kindled by
certaine people on New Moones before their shops and houses, over which
also they do foolishly leape, by a certaine ancient custome, we command
them from henceforth to cease. Whoever, therefore, shall doe any such
thing; if he be a clergyman, let him be deposed; if a layman, let him be
excommunicated. For, in the Fourth Book of the Kings it is written: And
Manasseh built an altar to all the host of heaven, in the two courts of
the Lord's house, and made his children to passe through the Fire, &c.'
Prynne observes upon this: 'Bonefires, therefore, had their originall from
this idolatrous custome, as this Generall Councell hath defined; therefore
all Christians should avoid them.' And the Synodus Francica under Pope
Zachary, A.D. 742, inhibits 'those sacrilegious Fires which they call
_Nedfri_ (or Bonefires), and all other observations of the Pagans
whatsoever.'"