BELTINE BELTENE See also:

• BELTINE BELTENE BELTANE

BELTANE  , Or BEAL-TENE (Scottish Gaelic, bealltain), the See also:

• CELTIC

Celtic name for May-See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day, on which also was held a festival called by the same name, originally See also:

• COMMON

common to all the Celtic peoples, of which traces still linger in See also:

• IRELAND
• IRELAND, CHURCH
• IRELAND, CHURCH OF
• IRELAND, JOHN (1761-1842)
• IRELAND, JOHN (1838- )
• IRELAND, WILLIAM HENRY (1777-1835)

Ireland, the See also:

• HIGHLANDS, THE

Highlands of See also:

• SCOTLAND
• SCOTLAND, CHURCH OF
• SCOTLAND, EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF

Scotland and See also:

• BRITTANY

Brittany . This festival, the most important ceremony of which in later centuries was the See also:

• LIGHTING

lighting of the bonfires known as "See also:

• BELTANE, BELTENE, BELTINE

beltane fires," is believed to represent the Druidical See also:

• WORSHIP (i.e. " worth-ship," O. Eng. weor8scipe)

worship of the See also:

• SUN
• SUN (0. Eng. sonne, Ger. sonne. Fr. soleil, Lat. sol, Gr. ijXior, from which comes helio- in various English compounds)

sun-See also:

• GOD

god . The See also:

• FUEL (O. Fr. feuaile, popular Lat. focalia, from focus, hearth, fire)

fuel was piled on a See also:

• HILL
• HILL (0. Eng. hyll; cf. Low Ger. hull, Mid. Dutch hul, allied to Lat. celsus, high, collis, hill, &c.)
• HILL, A
• HILL, AARON (1685-175o)
• HILL, AMBROSE POWELL
• HILL, DANIEL HARVEY (1821-1889)
• HILL, DAVID BENNETT (1843–1910)
• HILL, GEORGE BIRKBECK NORMAN (1835-1903)
• HILL, JAMES J
• HILL, JOHN (c. 1716-1775)
• HILL, MATTHEW DAVENPORT (1792-1872)
• HILL, OCTAVIA (1838– )
• HILL, ROWLAND (1744–1833)
• HILL, SIR ROWLAND (1795-1879)

hill-See also:

• TOP (cf. Dan. top, Ger. Topf, also meaning pot)

top, and at the See also:

• FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire the beltane cake was cooked . This was divided into pieces corresponding to the number of those See also:

• PRESENT

present, and one piece was blackened with See also:

• CHARCOAL

charcoal . For these pieces lots were See also:

• DRAWN

drawn, and be who had the misfortune to get the See also:

• BLACK
• BLACK, ADAM (1784-1874)
• BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN (1810–1883)
• BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898)

black See also:

• BIT (from the verb " to bite," either in the sense of a piece bitten off, or an act of biting, or a thing that bites or is bitten)

bit became cailleach bealtine (the beltane carline)—a See also:

• TERM

term of See also:

• GREAT

great reproach . He was pelted with See also:

• EGG (O.E. aeg, cf. Ger. Ei, Swed. aegg, and prob. Gr. u,ov, Lat. ovum)
• EGG, AUGUSTUS LEOPOLD (1816-1863)

egg-shells, and afterwards for some See also:

• WEEKS, EDWIN LORD (1849-1903)

weeks was spoken of as dead . In the See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

north-See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

east of Scotland beltane fires were still kindled in the latter See also:

• HALF

half of the 18th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . There were many superstitions connecting them with the belief in See also:

• WITCHCRAFT

witchcraft . According to Cormac See also:

• ARCHBISHOP (Lat. archiepiscopus, from Gr. apxceatorcoros)

archbishop of See also:

• CASHEL

Cashel about the See also:

• YEAR

year . 908, who furnishes in his glossary the earliest See also:

• NOTICE

notice of beltane, it was customary to See also:

• LIGHT

light two fires See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close together, and between these both men and See also:

• CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle were driven, under the belief that See also:

• HEALTH

health was thereby promoted and disease warded off . (See Transactions of the Irish See also:

• ACADEMY, GREEK
• ACADEMY, ROYAL

Academy, xiv. pp . 100, 122, 123.) The Highlanders have a See also:

• PROVERB (Lat. proverbium, from pro, forth, publicly, verbum, word; the Greek equivalent is irapolµia, from 7rapa, alongside, and oiµos, way, road, i.e. a wayside saying; Ger. Sprichwort)

proverb, " he is between two beltane fires." The Strathspey Highlanders used to make a hoop of rowan See also:

• WOOD, ANTHONY A2 (1632-1695)
• WOOD, JOHN GEORGE (1827—1889)
• WOOD, MRS HENRY [ELLEN] (1814—1887)
• WOOD, SEARLES VALENTINE (1798—188o)

wood through which on beltane day they drove the See also:

• SHEEP
• SHEEP (from the Anglo-Saxon sceap, a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages; e.g. the German Schaf)

sheep and See also:

• LAMBS

lambs both at See also:

• DAWN (the 16th-century form of the earlier " Jawing " or " dawning," from an old verb " daw," O. Eng. dagian, to become day; cf. Dutch dagen, and Ger. tagen)

dawn and sunset .

As to the derivation of the word beltane there is considerable obscurity . Following Cormac, it has been usual to regard it as representing a See also:

• COMBINATION (Lat. combinare, to combine)

combination of the name of the god See also:

• BEL

Bel or See also:

• BAAL

Baal or Bil with the Celtic teine, fire . And on this See also:

• ETYMOLOGY (Gr. grvµos, true, and X6yos, "account)

etymology theories have been erected of the connexion of the Semitic Baal with Celtic See also:

• MYTHOLOGY

mythology, and the See also:

• IDENTIFICATION (Lat. idem, the same)

identification of the beltane fires with the worship of this deity . This etymology is now repudiated by scientific philologists, and the New See also:

• ENGLISH

English See also:

• DICTIONARY

Dictionary accepts Dr Whitley See also:

• STOKES, SIR G
• STOKES, SIR GEORGE GABRIEL, BART
• STOKES, WHITLEY (1830-1909)

Stokes's view that beltane in its Gaelic See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form can have no connexion with teine, fire . Beltane, as the 1st of May, was in See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient Scotland one of the four See also:

• QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter days, the others being Hallowmas, See also:

• CANDLEMAS (Lat. festum candelarum live luminum)

Candlemas, and See also:

• LAMMAS (0. Eng. hlammaesse, hlafmaesse, from hlaf, loaf, and maesse, mass, "loaf-mass")

Lammas . For a full description of the beltane celebration in the Highlands of Scotland during the 18th century, see See also:

• JOHN
• JOHN (1167–1216)
• JOHN (1290-c. 1320)
• JOHN (1296-1346)
• JOHN (1371–1419)
• JOHN (1468-1532)
• JOHN (1801-1873)
• JOHN (Heb. llni')
• JOHN (ZAPOLYA) (1487-1540)
• JOHN, 4TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (c. 1695-1762)
• JOHN, DON (1545-1578)
• JOHN, DON (1629–1679)
• JOHN, GOSPEL OF ST
• JOHN, or HAYS (1513–1571)
• JOHN, THE APOSTLE
• JOHN, THE EPISTLES OF

John See also:

• RAMSAY, ALLAN (1686-1758)
• RAMSAY, ALLAN (1713-1784)
• RAMSAY, ANDREW MICHAEL (1686-1743)
• RAMSAY, DAVID (1749—1815)
• RAMSAY, SIR WILLIAM (1852– )
• RAMSAY, SIR WILLIAM MITCHELL (185r– )

Ramsay, Scotland and Scotsmen in the 18th Century, from See also:

• MSS

MSS. edited by A . Allardyce (1888) ; and see further J . See also:

• ROBERTSON, FREDERICK WILLIAM (1816-1853)
• ROBERTSON, GEORGE CROOM (1842-1892)
• ROBERTSON, JOSEPH (1810-1866)
• ROBERTSON, THOMAS WILLIAM (1829-1871)
• ROBERTSON, WILLIAM BRUCE (182o-1886)

Robertson in See also:

• SINCLAIR
• SINCLAIR, SIR JOHN, BART

Sinclair's Statistical See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

Account of Scotland, xi . 620; See also:

• THOMAS
• THOMAS (c. 1654-1720)
• THOMAS (d. 110o)
• THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850-1892)
• THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811-1896)
• THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802)
• THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816-187o)
• THOMAS, ISAIAH (1749-1831)
• THOMAS, PIERRE (1634-1698)
• THOMAS, SIDNEY GILCHRIST (1850-1885)
• THOMAS, ST
• THOMAS, THEODORE (1835-1905)
• THOMAS, WILLIAM (d. 1554)

Thomas See also:

• PENNANT, THOMAS (1726-1798)

Pennant, Tour in Scotland (1769–1770) ; \V . Gregor, " Notes on Beltane Cakes," See also:

• FOLKLORE

Folklore, vi . (1895), p . 2; and " Notes on the Folklore of the North-East of Scotland," p .

167 (Folklore See also:

• SOC

Soc. vii . 1881) ; A . See also:

• BERTRAND, HENRI GRATIEN, COMTE (1773-1844)

Bertrand, La See also:

• RELIGION
• RELIGION, FOLKLORE, CUSTOM

Religion See also:

• DES

des Gaulois (1897) ; See also:

• JAMIESON, JOHN (1759-1838)
• JAMIESON, ROBERT (c. 1780-1844)

Jamieson, Scottish Dictionary (1808) . Cormac's Glossary has been edited by O'See also:

• DONOVAN, EDWARD (1768–1837)

Donovan and Stokes (1862) .