The pure fire was a primary requisite of worship in the former system-without it there was no sacrifice; and the priest who incautiously suffered it to be polluted by his breath, forfeited his life. To guard against such casualties one of the priestly robes, the penom, covered the lower part of the face, and extended over the nostrils. We find no trace of the pure-fire doctrine among the Celts; and the burning of sacrifices is sufficient proof that it was unknown to them. Animals were indeed slaughtered by the Persians, but this practice was adopted from the Indians, who were not allowed to eat of any flesh until it was offered to God. And we are informed by St. Patrick, in the narrative of his escape from Ireland, that he refused to appease his hunger by eating meats sacrificed to idols.

Especially we should suppose the priesthood to belong to the later period of the respective religions, yet the resemblance of the Magi, Brahmans, and Druids was sufficiently striking to be observed by the ancients. Pliny calls the Druids the Magi of the Gauls and Britons, and says, "Britannia hodie eam (Magiam) attonitè celebrat, tantis cæremoniis ut eam Persis dedisse videri possit."

The religious rites of at least a large portion of the Celts were conducted with fireworship, on hills or rising grounds, such sites probably being chosen under the idea that they were nearer heaven. There is an Eastern tradition that the minister of an Indian king erected a lofty tower on a hill, in which to lodge his son, who was a spirit of heaven incarnate, thus, it was said, to bring him nearer to his proper sphere. But on the sacrifices we have no satisfactory information. It is generally assumed, from the Roman accounts, that they were human; but though these abominations-which were continued even at Rome down to the time of the Empirewere most probably practised by some of the Celtic tribes, to what extent they prevailed, or under what conditions they were used, are points on which we are almost in the dark. The same charge was made against the Persian fireworshippers by their mortal enemies the Arabs, and it need hardly be said, has never been substantiated.

Human sacrifices were perhaps altogether unknown in Cumbria.

The Celtic aodh (pr. hu), a synonyme for the sacred fire, and sheep, indicates at least the original nature of the sacrifice.* This word appears in Cumbrian names of places. Three miles south of Penrith, where the Lowther is crossed by the railway, is a steep cliff named Ewe's, or Hugh's crag, for the proper form of the word and its origin are equally unknown; and in other parts of Westmorland are several places called Ewebank. It is probable these were all sites of the fireworship, and take their names from aodh.

Welsh mythology-one of the least scrupulous of agencies makes very prominent a personage styled Hu the mighty, the chief of their gods. His chariot was composed of the rays of the sun; the sacred oxen, one of his attributes, bellowed in the thunder, and glared in the lightning. There can scarcely be a doubt that the unaccountable Hu is the name of the sacred fire deified by the Cambro-Celts. The biblical history of Noah was transferred to Hu, and the oxen of Hu, which are still spoken of in Wales, were conferred on Dewi, first bishop of St. David's. In short, the whole tissue of Welsh mythology is a most singular maze of error.

The Scandinavians, as they settled in England and Ireland, freely adopted the national rites and customs. Having been indoctrinated with the fireworship of the Celts, they continued it under the name of the Baaltine or Beltain,‡ a compound formed

* Aodh is the orthography into which E. Hugh is put in Irish; the pronunciation of both is therefore nearly identical. It appears to be the Celtic form of Fr. feu, and E. ewe. Cf. L. ignis, fire, agnus, a lamb (Sans. agni, fire). The Chinese character denoting a lamb is formed of fire and sheep.

+ Mythology and Rites of the British Druids, by Edw. Davies.

D. baal, a pile of wood, H. C. teine, fire. Cf. E. bale-fire. As there are yet many persons who cling to the imaginative derivation from the "god Baal or Bel" of the East, it may be as well to add a word or two, with the hope of converting those benighted idolaters. Baal belongs to the Syro-Phoenicians, whose primitive religion was a simple star-worship. Being pressed southwards by the Arians (Indo-Europeans), these people entered Egypt. That they freely adopted tenets and deities from both Persians and Egyptians is evident, but there is no trace of any reciprocation. The contact of the Syro-Phoenicians and Persians took place in Zoroastrian times, long before which the Celts had their worship of the sun. Why then adopt this word in connexion with their ancient worship? Can we suppose that the Phoenicians brought the name to Cornwall? The

from both languages. Several Cumbrian hills received their names from the sacrifice of the Beltain, of which they were the sites. Of these the highest is Hill Bell, the hill of the baal, or Beltain, in Westmorland; Bell Hill, near Drigg in Cumberland, confirms this etymology of the name. Besides these we have Bells and Green Bells in Westmorland, and Cat Bells, Derwentwater. Yevering Bell, Northumberland (see page 59), and Baal Hills on the Yorkshire moors, are further corroborative of the origin of the name, and the precise nature of the worship there practised. The Manks Boaldyn-beyond a doubt Beltain-now considered a synonyme for May, illustrates the manner in which this name has been misunderstood. In the Manks language laa boaldyn signifies May-day, and hence etymologists have supposed its origin to be boal, a wall, Irish teine, fire, from the custom of carrying fire round the walls and fences on the eve of this day.

Fireworship, or a commemoration thereof, can be traced to a late period at the four great festivals of the seasons. On the establishment of Christianity in Ireland, the care of the sacred fire was entrusted to St. Bridget and her society of nuns, and the eve of the first of February still witnesses a rude custom in connexion therewith. Candlemas day doubtless originated as an adaptation

supposed Baal worship is unknown in Cornwall, and the Beltain is confined to districts known to have been partly colonised by Scandinavians. The word baal, erroneously supposed to mean the sun, is always to be interpreted dominus. Thus, the Egyptian Seb, one of the Twelve, was adopted by the Phoenicians, and is called in Philo, Baal-Cheled, lord of time, the younger Kronos. In the passage, "We have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim" (Judges, 10 c.), the meaning is, We have joined in the worship of the native gods,-the Baalim being Baal-Berith, the god at the city of Berith, Baal-Peor, the god on the mountain of Peor, Baal-zebub, literally the god of flies, the symbol of destruction, etc.

The evidences of Baal worship in the British Isles are altogether imaginary, of which the famous Tory Hill monument (Ireland) is an instructive instance. The inscription thereon was read Beli Diuose, and considered a dedication to the god Baal or Dionusos. On this was raised the Phœnician theories of Vallancey and Wood. At length, through local enquiries, the true state of the case came out, and by turning the stone upside down, the "Pelasgian inscription' was found to be "E. Conic, 1731," the name of the man who cut it for his amusement.— See Trans. of the Kilkenny Archæ. Soc. 1851.

P

SUPERSTITIONS AND CUSTOMS.

of the worship of this season; as did the Firebrand Sunday of Burgundy, and the more general observance of St. Blaze's day. The Beltain is generally understood to belong to the first of May, and in Scotland especially, where it was continued according to the old style. Lammas, or the first of August, has left fewer traces, but there is no doubt it was once celebrated with fireworship; whilst the observance of the first of November appears to have been more widely spread than any of the other seasons. The teine Tlachdgha, or fire of Tlachdgha, in Meath, was kindled on the latter day, when all other fires were extinguished, and a tax paid to the Druids for permission to rekindle them from the sacred fire.* The Hallowe'en Bleeze of Scotland was very generally observed, fires being made on all the rising grounds; the Autumnal fires of Wales were kindled on the same evening, and the Teanlay night of the Fylde of Lancashire is a part of the same observance.

The Midsummer rejoicings are most generally known under the name of bone-fires, being so called from the custom of burning bones on that night. These are the bane-fyers of Scotland, and in the Irish language they have a name of identical meaning. In all the country parts of England the Midsummer fires were continued to a late period, together with sports, which were kept up in some places till midnight, in others till cockcrow.† The old writer, Naogeorgus, 1570, tells us of bonefires in every town, of young men and maids dancing in every street. Stow speaks of several bone-fires in June and July, on the vigils of festivals, and of oil lamps being hung at the doors in London, on the eve of St. John. The famous Midsummer Watch of London was a part of these observances, and was continued both on the eve of St. Peter and of St. John to the reign of Edward the sixth. The same custom, we are informed, was observed in Nottingham, when “ every inhabitant of any ability set forth a man.” This was clearly keeping the vigil by proxy, and had nothing to do with the peace of the

town.

O'Reilly's Irish Dictionary.

+ Sports and Pastimes of England, by Joseph Strutt.

THE BONE-FIRES.

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115

According to the general opinion of the old writers, the bonefires were intended to drive away dragons and evil spirits by their offensive smell. Stow thinks that a great fire purges the "infection of the air;" but another author declares that dragons hate nothyng more than the stenche of brennynge bones." At Burford in Oxfordshire, it must be observed, a dragon was carried in procession on Midsummer-eve; but evidently the dragon superstition is a late addition to the fireworship. On the contrary, in the west of England the St. John's fire was called the Blessing Fire.

The bone-fires of Ireland, though they have declined much of late years, still form a general custom. They are lit on St. John's eve, new style, only, and are doubtless in connexion with the solstice, when the sun is about to attain his greatest height in the heavens. On the afternoon of that day, a deputation from the band who propose to officiate at the ceremony of the night, go round the neighbourhood to collect donations for the purchase of faggots, the ringleader, or Arch-druid, carrying in his hand the skull of a horse or other animal as a symbol of his priestly functions. With the larger bone-fires considerable pains are taken, the bones being regularly laid in; and if possible a tree is procured round which the faggots are placed. Leaping through the flame, with the face blackened, is now only regarded as a matter of amusement; and on retiring, each of the assembly is supposed to carry away a brand.

We are informed by Pennant (Tour in Scotland) that "till of late years the superstition of the Beltain was kept up in these parts (Cumberland), and in this rude sacrifice it was customary for the performers to bring with them boughs of the mountain ash." It seems probable that the February fires were likewise a custom of this district, for we have a Blaze Fell near Hesket, and another in Westmorland, as if so called from the saint of that name. The observances properly belonging to St. Bridget's eve were transferred in some parts to that of St. Blaze. Village wakes, when coming on or near the day of the periodical celebration, frequently appropriated to themselves the customs of the seasons. We are