Each
pole had in the side facing the other a socket into which a smooth
cross-piece or roller was fitted. The sockets were stuffed with
linen, and the two ends of the roller were rammed tightly into the
sockets. To make it more inflammable the roller was often coated
with tar. A rope was then wound round the roller, and the free ends
at both sides were gripped by two or more persons, who by pulling
the rope to and fro caused the roller to revolve rapidly, till
through the friction the linen in the sockets took fire. The sparks
were immediately caught in tow or oakum and waved about in a circle
until they burst into a bright glow, when straw was applied to it,
and the blazing straw used to kindle the fuel that had been stacked
to make the bonfire. Often a wheel, sometimes a cart-wheel or even a
spinning-wheel, formed part of the mechanism; in Aberdeenshire it
was called "the muckle wheel"; in the island of Mull the wheel was
turned from east to west over nine spindles of oak-wood. Sometimes
we are merely told that two wooden planks were rubbed together.
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