retained the love of its country and relations, and
that the spirits of the good sometimes returned to earth, and became
prophets among mankind, that they might assist in teaching divine
things, and oppose the evil one.

The Druids were worshippers of Bel, Beal, Bealan, from whence come the
Beltane or Bealteine feasts, of which they observed four of
considerable importance every year, viz. those of May-eve,
Midsummer-eve, and of the eve of the 1st of November, and of the eve
of the 10th of March. With Druidical religious rites were blended
Arkite and Sabian superstition. Dancing round the May-pole, old
authors say, took its rise from the Druidical custom of dancing on the
green to the song of the cuckoo. Taliesin, the Druidical bard,
informs us that those who joined in the mystical movements went
according to the course of the sun, as they attached much importance
to the ceremony of going three times round their sacred circle from
the east to west. At the celebration of sacred mysteries there was a
caldron for the preparation of a decoction from plants held in high
esteem. This liquor being holy, possessed rare virtues, one of which
was the power of inspiring those who partook thereof, or to whom it
was applied. The caldron was kept boiling a year and a day. During
this time, at certain hours and under particular planets, plants
possessed of peculiar properties were collected and added to the
caldron's contents.

Not only did the sacred liquor, properly applied, enable one to see
into futurity, but it was supposed to confer immortality on those who
bathed in it. Further, by its application, the dead might have been
brought to life again. All the sacred utensils and the company
assembled at mystical feasts were purified with the decoction.

Initiation into the Druidical mysteries was something dreadful. None
but those of strong nerve could successfully pass through the ordeal,
all of which took place at night. Every one admitted into the
fraternity bound himself by a solemn oath, like a freemason, not to
commit to writing or divulge the secrets revealed to him.

In various parts of the country there were "the goodmane's land and
the guidman's fauld," to cultivate which it was supposed would be
followed by dire calamities. These places were, according to popular
opinion, frequented by fairies and other supernatural beings. Music
was often heard, and dancing seen, at such places. There, too, people
are reported to ha