Section 1. The Fire-festivals in general.
ALL over Europe the peasants have been accustomed from time
immemorial to kindle bonfires on certain days of the year, and to dance
round or leap over them. Customs of this kind can be traced back on
historical evidence to the Middle Ages, and their analogy to similar
customs observed in antiquity goes with strong internal evidence to prove
that their origin must be sought in a period long prior to the spread of
Christianity. Indeed the earliest proof of their observance in Northern
Europe is furnished by the attempts made by Christian synods in the eighth
century to put them down as heathenish rites. Not uncommonly effigies are
burned in these fires, or a pretence is made of burning a living person in
them; and there are grounds for believing that anciently human beings
were actually burned on these occasions. A brief view of the customs in
question will bring out the traces of human sacrifice, and will serve at the
same time to throw light on their meaning. 1
The seasons of the year when these bonfires are most commonly lit are
spring and midsummer; but in some places they are kindled also at the end
of autumn or during the course of the winter, particularly on Hallow E'en
(the thirty-first of October), Christmas Day, and the Eve of Twelfth Day.
Space forbids me to describe all these festivals at length; a few specimens
must serve to illustrate their general character. We shall begin with the
fire-festivals of spring, which usually fall on the first Sunday of Lent
(Quadragesima or Invocavit), Easter Eve, and May Day. 2