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Irish Druids And Old Irish Religions

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Crissy Herrell
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« Reply #180 on: February 22, 2009, 12:17:04 am »

black bit, hidden in the cake, was considered worthy of sacrifice to Baal, as the cailteach bealtine. He was pushed into the fire, though soon rescued, and afterwards had to leap three times through the flames. The term Beltane carline was ever a name of reproach.

In other places, at the Bealtine, a trench was cut round the fire, the young men assembled in the circle, and cast lots who should be the threefold leaper. Before eating the consecrated oatcake, a libation, in heathen style, was poured upon the ground. The Scotch generally are not now so given to sacramentarianism. Dr. Donald Clark conceives that the Beltane is not derived from Baal.

The Isle of Man, coming more under the influence of Ireland than any neighbouring land, has survivals of the old worship. Waldron asserts, "Not a family in the old Island, of natives, but keeps a fire constantly burning--or the most terrible devastations and mischief would immediately ensue" Train, in his account of the people, writes--"Almost down to the present time, no native of the Isle of Man will lend anything on either of the great Druidical festivals."

The Deas-iul dance, anciently in honour of the sun, is, still practised there, going, like the sun, from east to south, in its course, not ear-tuia-iul, or going round by east to north. Fires were kept up on the first of November, as at Hallowe'en.

Plowden, another historian of the place, remarks that--"The Scotch, Irish, and Manx call the first day of May Beiltein, or the day of Baal's fire." A newspaper of I837 has this paragraph--"On May-day the people of the Isle of Man have, from time immemorial, burned all the whin bushes in the Island, conceiving that they thereby burn all the witches and fairies, which they believe take refuge there."

p. 209

In like manner, in
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