In
the Highlands of Scotland the proper places for performing the rite
seem to have been knolls or small islands in rivers.
The regular method of producing the need-fire was by the friction of
two pieces of wood; it might not be struck by flint and steel. Very
exceptionally among some South Slavs we read of a practice of
kindling a need-fire by striking a piece of iron on an anvil. Where
the wood to be employed is specified, it is generally said to be
oak; but on the Lower Rhine the fire was kindled by the friction of
oak-wood or fir-wood. In Slavonic countries we hear of poplar, pear,
and cornel wood being used for the purpose. Often the material is
simply described as two pieces of dry wood. Sometimes nine different
kinds of wood were deemed necessary, but rather perhaps to be burned
in the bonfire than to be rubbed together for the production of the
need-fire. The particular mode of kindling the need-fire varied in
different districts; a very common one was this. Two poles were
driven into the ground about a foot and a half from each other.
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