The great object of the young men who guided the
wheel was to plunge it blazing into the water of the Moselle; but
they rarely succeeded in their efforts, for the vineyards which
cover the greater part of the declivity impeded their progress, and
the wheel was often burned out before it reached the river. As it
rolled past the women and girls at the spring, they raised cries of
joy which were answered by the men on the top of the mountain; and
the shouts were echoed by the inhabitants of neighbouring villages
who watched the spectacle from their hills on the opposite bank of
the Moselle. If the fiery wheel was successfully conveyed to the
bank of the river and extinguished in the water, the people looked
for an abundant vintage that year, and the inhabitants of Konz had
the right to exact a waggon-load of white wine from the surrounding
vineyards. On the other hand, they believed that, if they neglected
to perform the ceremony, the cattle would be attacked by giddiness
and convulsions and would dance in their stalls.
Down at least to the middle of the nineteenth century the midsummer
fires used to blaze all over Upper Bavaria.
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