r
of a divine king connected with an oak and sacred well, the god or
spirit of which was incarnate in him. These divine kings may at one time
have been slain, or a bull, similarly incarnating the god or spirit, may
have been killed as a surrogate. This slaying was at a later time
regarded as a sacrifice and connected with the cure of madness.[842] The
rite would thus be on a parallel with the slaying of the oxen at the
mistletoe gathering, as already interpreted. Eilean Maree (Maelrubha),
where the tree and well still exist, was once known as Eilean mo righ
("the island of my king"), or Eilean a Mhor Righ ("of the great king"),
the king having been worshipped as a god. This piece of corroborative
evidence was given by the oldest inhabitant to Sir Arthur Mitchell.[843]
The people also spoke of the god Mourie.

Other survivals of animal sacrifice are found in cases of cattle-plague,
as in Morayshire sixty years ago, in Wales, Devon, and the Isle of Man.
The victim was burned and its ashes sprinkled on the herd, or it was
thrown into the sea or over a precipice.[844] Perhaps it was both a
propitiatory sacrifice and a scape-animal, carrying away the disease,
though the rite may be connected with the former slaying of a divine
animal whose death benefited all the cattle of the district. In the
Hebrides the spirits of earth and air were propitiated every quarter by
throwing outside the door a cock, hen, duck, or cat, which was supposed
to be seized by them. If the rite was neglected, misfortune was sure to
follow. The animal carried away evils from the house, and was also a
propitiatory sacrifice.

The blood of victims was sprinkled on altars, images, and trees, or, as
among the Boii, it was placed in a skull adorned with gold.[845] Other
libations are known mainly from folk-survivals. Thus Breton fishermen
salute reefs and jutting promontories, say prayers, and pour a glass of
wine or throw a biscuit or an old garment into the sea.[846] In the
Hebrides a curious rite was performed on Maundy Thursday. After midnight
a man walked into the sea, and poured ale or gruel on the waters, at the
same time singing:

"O God of the sea,
Put weed in the drawing wave,
To enrich the ground,
To shower on us food."

Those on shore took up the strain in chorus.[847] Thus the rite was
described by one who took part in it a century ago, but Martin, writing
in the seventeenth century, gives other details. The cup of ale was
off