Section 4. The Beltane Fires.
IN THE CENTRAL Highlands of Scotland bonfires, known as the Beltane
fires, were formerly kindled with great ceremony on the first of May, and
the traces of human sacrifices at them were particularly clear and
unequivocal. The custom of lighting the bonfires lasted in various places
far into the eighteenth century, and the descriptions of the ceremony by
writers of that period present such a curious and interesting picture of
ancient heathendom surviving in our own country that I will reproduce
them in the words of their authors. The fullest of the descriptions is the one
bequeathed to us by John Ramsay, laird of Ochtertyre, near Crieff, the
patron of Burns and the friend of Sir Walter Scott. He says: "But the most
considerable of the Druidical festivals is that of Beltane, or May-day,
which was lately observed in some parts of the Highlands with
extraordinary ceremonies. ... Like the other public worship of the Druids,
the Beltane feast seems to have been performed on hills or eminences.
They thought it degrading to him whose temple is the universe, to suppose
that he would dwell in any house made with hands. Their sacrifices were
therefore offered in the open air, frequently upon the tops of hills, where
they were presented with the grandest views of nature, and were nearest
the seat of warmth and order. And, according to tradition, such was the
manner of celebrating this festival in the Highlands within the last hundred
years. But since the decline of superstition, it has been celebrated by the
people of each hamlet on some hill or rising ground around which their
cattle were pasturing. Thither the young folks repaired in the morning, and
cut a trench, on the summit of which a seat of turf was formed for the
company. And in the middle a pile of wood or other fuel was placed, which
of old they kindled with tein-eigin-i.e., forced-fire or need-fire. Although,
for many years past, they have been contented with common fire, yet we
shall now describe the process, because it will hereafter appear that
recourse is still had to the tein-eigin upon extraordinary emergencies. 1
"The night before, all the fires in the country were carefully extinguished,
and next morning the materials for exciting this sacred fire were prepared.
The most primitive method seems to be that which was used in the islands
of Skye, Mull, and Tiree. A well-seasoned plank of oak was procured, in
the midst of which a hole was bored. A wimble of the same timber was then
applied, the end of which they fitted to the hole. But in some parts of the
mainland the machinery was different. They used a frame of green wood,
of a square form, in the centre of which was an axle-tree. In some places
three times three persons, in others three times nine, were required for
turning round by turns the axle-tree or wimble. If any of them had been
guilty of murder, adultery, theft, or other atrocious crime, it was imagined
either that the fire would not kindle, or that it would be devoid of its usual
virtue. So soon as any sparks were emitted by means of the violent friction,
they applied a species of agaric which grows on old birch-trees, and is
very combustible. This fire had the appearance of being immediately
derived from heaven, and manifold were the virtues ascribed to it. They
esteemed it a preservative against witch-craft, and a sovereign remedy
against malignant diseases, both in the human species and in cattle; and
by it the strongest poisons were supposed to have their nature
changed. 2
"After kindling the bonfire with the tein-eigin the company prepared their
victuals. And as soon as they had finished their meal, they amused
themselves a while in singing and dancing round the fire. Towards the
close of the entertainment, the person who officiated as master of the feast
produced a large cake baked with eggs and scalloped round the edge,
called am bonnach bea-tine-i.e., the Beltane cake. It was divided into a
number of pieces, and distributed in great form to the company. There was
one particular piece which whoever got was called cailleach
beal-tine-i.e., the Beltane carline, a term of great reproach. Upon his
being known, part of the company laid hold of him and made a show of
putting him into the fire; but the majority interposing, he was rescued. And
in some places they laid him flat on the ground, making as if they would
quarter him. Afterwards, he was pelted with egg-shells, and retained the
odious appellation during the whole year. And while the feast was fresh in
people's memory, they affected to speak of the cailleach beal-tine as
dead." 3
In the parish of Callander, a beautiful district of Western Perthshire, the
Beltane custom was still in vogue towards the end of the eighteenth
century. It has been described as follows by the parish minister of the time:
"Upon the first day of May, which is called Beltan, or Baltein day, all the
boys in a township or hamlet, meet in the moors. They cut a table in the
green sod, of a round figure, by casting a trench in the ground, of such
circumference as to hold the whole company. They kindle a fire, and dress
a repast of eggs and milk in the consistence of a custard. They knead a
cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the embers against a stone. After the
custard is eaten up, they divide the cake into so many portions, as similar
as possible to one another in size and shape, as there are persons in the
company. They daub one of these portions all over with charcoal, until it
be perfectly black. They put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet. Every
one, blindfold, draws out a portion. He who holds the bonnet, is entitled to
the last bit. Whoever draws the black bit, is the devoted person who is to
be sacrificed to Baal, whose favour they mean to implore, in rendering the
year productive of the sustenance of man and beast. There is little doubt of
these inhuman sacrifices having been once offered in this country, as well
as in the east, although they now pass from the act of sacrificing, and only
compel the devoted person to leap three times through the flames; with
which the ceremonies of this festival are closed." 4
Thomas Pennant, who travelled in Perthshire in the year 1769, tells us
that "on the first of May, the herdsmen of every village hold their Bel-tien,
a rural sacrifice. They cut a square trench on the ground, leaving the turf
in the middle; on that they make a fire of wood, on which they dress a
large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal and milk; and bring besides the
ingredients of the caudle, plenty of beer and whisky; for each of the
company must contribute something. The rites begin with spilling some of
the caudle on the ground, by way of libation: on that every one takes a
cake of oatmeal, upon which are raised nine square knobs, each
dedicated to some particular being, the supposed preserver of their flocks
and herds, or to some particular animal, the real destroyer of them: each
person then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and flinging it over
his shoulders, says, `This I give to thee, preserve thou my horses; this to
thee, preserve thou my sheep; and so on.' After that, they use the same
ceremony to the noxious animals: `This I give to thee, O fox! spare thou my
lambs; this to thee, O hooded crow! this to thee, O eagle!' When the
ceremony is over, they dine on the caudle; and after the feast is finished,
what is left is hid by two persons deputed for that purpose; but on the next
Sunday they reassemble, and finish the reliques of the first
entertainment." 5
Another writer of the eighteenth century has described the Beltane
festival as it was held in the parish of Logierait in Perthshire. He says: "On
the first of May, O.S., a festival called Beltan is annually held here. It is
chiefly celebrated by the cow-herds, who assemble by scores in the
fields, to dress a dinner for themselves, of boiled milk and eggs. These
dishes they eat with a sort of cakes baked for the occasion, and having
small lumps in the form of nipples, raised all over the surface." In this last
account no mention is made of bonfires, but they were probably lighted, for
a contemporary writer informs us that in the parish of Kirkmichael, which
adjoins the parish of Logierait on the east, the custom of lighting a fire in
the fields and baking a consecrated cake on the first of May was not quite
obsolete in his time. We may conjecture that the cake with knobs was
formerly used for the purpose of determining who should be the "Beltane
carline" or victim doomed to the flames. A trace of this custom survived,
perhaps, in the custom of baking oatmeal cakes of a special kind and
rolling them down hill about noon on the first of May; for it was thought that
the person whose cake broke as it rolled would die or be unfortunate
within the year. These cakes, or bannocks as we call them in Scotland,
were baked in the usual way, but they were washed over with a thin batter
composed of whipped egg, milk or cream, and a little oatmeal. This custom
appears to have prevailed at or near Kingussie in Inverness-shire. 6
In the north-east of Scotland the Beltane fires were still kindled in the
latter half of the eighteenth century; the herdsmen of several farms used to
gather dry wood, kindle it, and dance three times "southways" about the
burning pile. But in this region, according to a later authority, the Beltane
fires were lit not on the first but on the second of May, Old Style. They
were called bone-fires. The people believed that on that evening and
night the witches were abroad and busy casting spells on cattle and
stealing cows' milk. To counteract their machinations, pieces of rowan-tree
and woodbine, but especially of rowan-tree, were placed over the doors
of the cow-houses, and fires were kindled by every farmer and cottar. Old
thatch, straw, furze, or broom was piled in a heap and set on fire a little
after sunset. While some of the bystanders kept tossing the blazing mass,
others hoisted portions of it on pitchforks or poles and ran hither and
thither, holding them as high as they could. Meantime the young people
danced round the fire or ran through the smoke shouting, "Fire! blaze and
burn the witches; fire! fire! burn the witches." In some districts a large round
cake of oat or barley meal was rolled through the ashes. When all the fuel
was consumed, the people scattered the ashes far and wide, and till the
night grew quite dark they continued to run through them, crying, "Fire!
burn the witches." 7
In the Hebrides "the Beltane bannock is smaller than that made at St.
Michael's, but is made in the same way; it is no longer made in Uist, but
Father Allan remembers seeing his grandmother make one about
twenty-five years ago. There was also a cheese made, generally on the
first of May, which was kept to the next Beltane as a sort of charm against
the bewitching of milk-produce. The Beltane customs seem to have been
the same as elsewhere. Every fire was put out and a large one lit on the
top of the hill, and the cattle driven round it sunwards (dessil), to keep off
murrain all the year. Each man would take home fire wherewith to kindle
his own." 8
In Wales also the custom of lighting Beltane fires at the beginning of May
used to be observed, but the day on which they were kindled varied from
the eve of May Day to the third of May. The flame was sometimes elicited
by the friction of two pieces of oak, as appears from the following
description. "The fire was done in this way. Nine men would turn their
pockets inside out, and see that every piece of money and all metals were
off their persons. 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." 9
The belief of the people that by leaping thrice over the bonfires or
running thrice between them they ensured a plentiful harvest is worthy of
note. The mode in which this result was supposed to be brought about is
indicated by another writer on Welsh folk-lore, according to whom it used
to be held that "the bonfires lighted in May or Midsummer protected the
lands from sorcery, so that good crops would follow. The ashes were also
considered valuable as charms." Hence it appears that the heat of the fires
was thought to fertilise the fields, not directly by quickening the seeds in
the ground, but indirectly by counteracting the baleful influence of
witchcraft or perhaps by burning up the persons of the witches. 10
The Beltane fires seem to have been kindled also in Ireland, for Cormac,
"or somebody in his name, says that belltaine, May-day, was so called
from the `lucky fire,' or the `two fires,' which the druids of Erin used to make
on that day with great incantations; and cattle, he adds, used to be
brought to those fires, or to be driven between them, as a safeguard
against the diseases of the year." The custom of driving cattle through or
between fires on May Day or the eve of May Day persisted in Ireland
down to a time within living memory. 11
The first of May is a great popular festival in the more midland and
southern parts of Sweden. On the eve of the festival huge bonfires, which
should be lighted by striking two flints together, blaze on all the hills and
knolls. Every large hamlet has its own fire, round which the young people
dance in a ring. The old folk notice whether the flames incline to the north
or to the south. In the former case, the spring will be cold and backward; in
the latter, it will be mild and genial. In Bohemia, on the eve of May Day,
young people kindle fires on hills and eminences, at crossways, and in
pastures, and dance round them. They leap over the glowing embers or
even through the flames. The ceremony is called "burning the witches." In
some places an effigy representing a witch used to be burnt in the bonfire.
We have to remember that the eve of May Day is the notorious Walpurgis
Night, when the witches are everywhere speeding unseen through the air
on their hellish errands. On this witching night children in Voigtland also
light bonfires on the heights and leap over them. Moreover, they wave
burning brooms or toss them into the air. So far as the light of the bonfire
reaches, so far will a blessing rest on the fields. The kindling of the fires on
Walpurgis Night is called "driving away the witches." The custom of
kindling fires on the eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) for the purpose of
burning the witches is, or used to be, widespread in the Tyrol, Moravia,
Saxony and Silesia. 12