The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 10 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 10 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
Of late years this is
less attended to, but about the beginning of the present century it was
regarded as a sure prediction. The Hallowe’en fire is still kept up in
some parts of the Low country; but on the western coast and in the Isles
it is never kindled, though the night is spent in merriment and
entertainments.”(589) In the Perthshire parish of Callander, which
includes the now famous pass of the Trossachs opening out on the winding
and wooded shores of the lovely Loch Katrine, the Hallowe’en bonfires were
still kindled down to near the end of the eighteenth century. When the
fire had died down, the ashes were carefully collected in the form of a
circle, and a stone was put in, near the circumference, for every person
of the several families interested in the bonfire. Next morning, if any of
these stones was found to be displaced or injured, the people made sure
that the person represented by it was _fey_ or devoted, and that he could
not live twelve months from that day.(590) In the parish of Logierait,
which covers the beautiful valley of the Tummel, one of the fairest
regions of all Scotland, the Hallowe’en fire was somewhat different.
Faggots of heath, broom, and the dressings of flax were kindled and
carried on poles by men, who ran with them round the villages, attended by
a crowd. As soon as one faggot was burnt out, a fresh one was lighted and
fastened to the pole. Numbers of these blazing faggots were often carried
about together, and when the night happened to be dark, they formed a
splendid illumination.(591)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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