Then the men went into
the nearest woods, and collected sticks of nine different kinds of
trees. These were carried to the spot where the fire had to be
built. There a circle was cut in the sod, and the sticks were set
crosswise. All around the circle the people stood and watched the
proceedings. One of the men would then take two bits of oak, and rub
them together until a flame was kindled. This was applied to the
sticks, and soon a large fire was made. Sometimes two fires were set
up side by side. These fires, whether one or two, were called
_coelcerth_ or bonfire. Round cakes of oatmeal and brown meal were
split in four, and placed in a small flour-bag, and everybody
present had to pick out a portion. The last bit in the bag fell to
the lot of the bag-holder. Each person who chanced to pick up a
piece of brown-meal cake was compelled to leap three times over the
flames, or to run thrice between the two fires, by which means the
people thought they were sure of a plentiful harvest. Shouts and
screams of those who had to face the ordeal could be heard ever so
far, and those who chanced to pick the oatmeal portions sang and
danced and clapped their hands in approval, as the holders of the
brown bits leaped three times over the flames, or ran three times
between the two fires.
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