The custom of lighting the bonfires lasted in
various places far into the eighteenth century, and the descriptions
of the ceremony by writers of that period present such a curious and
interesting picture of ancient heathendom surviving in our own
country that I will reproduce them in the words of their authors.
The fullest of the descriptions is the one bequeathed to us by John
Ramsay, laird of Ochtertyre, near Crieff, the patron of Burns and
the friend of Sir Walter Scott. He says: "But the most considerable
of the Druidical festivals is that of Beltane, or May-day, which was
lately observed in some parts of the Highlands with extraordinary
ceremonies. . . . Like the other public worship of the Druids, the
Beltane feast seems to have been performed on hills or eminences.
They thought it degrading to him whose temple is the universe, to
suppose that he would dwell in any house made with hands. Their
sacrifices were therefore offered in the open air, frequently upon
the tops of hills, where they were presented with the grandest views
of nature, and were nearest the seat of warmth and order.
Pages:
1701
1702
1703
1704
1705
1706
1707
1708
1709
1710
1711
1712
1713
1714
1715
1716
1717
1718
1719
1720
1721
1722
1723
1724
1725