See also:

• BONFIRE (in Early English " bone-fire," Scottish " bane-fire ")

BONFIRE (in See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

Early See also:

• ENGLISH

English " See also:

• BONE (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages, in many of which it is confined to the shank of the leg, as in the German Bein)
• BONE, HENRY (1755-1834)

bone-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," Scottish " bane-fire ")  , originally a 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 of bones, now any large fire lit in the open See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air on an occasion of rejoicing . Though the spelling "See also:

• BONFIRE (in Early English " bone-fire," Scottish " bane-fire ")

bonfire" was used in the 16th See also:

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

century, the earlier "See also:

• BONE (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages, in many of which it is confined to the shank of the leg, as in the German Bein)
• BONE, HENRY (1755-1834)

bone-fire" was See also:

• COMMON

common till 176o . The earliest known instance of the derivation of the word occurred as See also:

• BAN

ban fyre ignis ossium in the Catholicon Anglicism, A.D . 1483 . Other derivations, now rejected, have been sought for the word . Thus some have thought it See also:

• BAAL

Baal-fire, passing through Bael, Baen to Bane . Others have declared it to be boon-fire by See also:

• ANALOGY (Gr. avaXo-yLa, proportion)

analogy with boen-harow, i.e . "harrowing by See also:

• GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift," the See also:

• SUGGESTION

suggestion being that these fires were " contribution " fires, every one in the neighbourhood contributing a portion of the material, just as in See also:

• NORTHUMBERLAND
• NORTHUMBERLAND, EARLS AND DUKES OF
• NORTHUMBERLAND, JOHN DUDLEY, VISCOUNT LISLE, EARL OF WARWICK
• NORTHUMBERLAND, JOHN NEVILLE, EARL OF (c. 1430-1471)

Northumberland the " contributed Ploughing Days" are known as Bone-daags . Whatever the origin of the word, it has See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long had several meanings—(a) a fire of bones, (b) a fire for corpses, a funeral See also:

• PILE

pile, (c) a fire for immolation, such as that in which heretics and proscribed books were burnt, (d) a large fire lit in the open air, on occasions of See also:

• NATIONAL

national rejoicing, or as a See also:

• SIGNAL

signal of alarm such as the bonfires which warned See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England of the approach of the See also:

• ARMADA, THE

Armada . Throughout See also:

• EUROPE

Europe the peasants from See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time immemorial have lighted bonfires on certain days of the See also:

• YEAR

year, and danced around or leapt over them . This See also:

• CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom can be traced back to the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle ages, and certain usages in antiquity so nearly resemble it as to suggest that the bonfire has its origin in the See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early days of See also:

• HEATHEN

heathen Europe . Indeed the earliest See also:

• PROOF (in M. Eng. preove, proeve, preve, &°c., from O. Fr . prueve, proeve, &c., mod. preuve, Late. Lat. proba, probate, to prove, to test the goodness of anything, probus, good)

proof of the observance of these bonfire ceremonies in Europe is afforded by the attempts made by See also:

• CHRISTIAN
• CHRISTIAN, WILLIAM (1608-1663)

Christian synods in the 7th and 8th centuries to suppress them as See also:

• PAGAN
• PAGAN (Lat. paganus, of or belonging to a pagus, a canton, county district, village, commune)

pagan .

Thus the third See also:

• COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council of See also:

• CONSTANTINOPLE
• CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCILS OF

Constantinople (A.D . 68o), by its 65th See also:

• CANON

canon, orders: " Those fires that are kindled by certaine See also:

• PEOPLE

people on new moons before their shops and houses, over which also they use ridiculously and foolishly to leape, by a certaine antient custome, we command them from henceforth to cease." And the Synodus Francica under See also:

• POPE (Gr. irarraas, post-classical Lat. papa, father)
• POPE, ALEXANDER (1688–1744)
• POPE, ALEXANDER (1763-1835)
• POPE, JANE (1742-1818)
• POPE, JOHN (1822-1892)
• POPE, SIR THOMAS (c. 1507-1559)

Pope Zachary, A.D . 742, forbids " those sacrilegious fires which they See also:

• CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call Nedfri (or bonefires), and all other observations of the Pagans whatsoever." Leaping over the fires is mentioned among the superstitious See also:

• RITES

rites used at the Palilia (the feast of See also:

• PALES

Pales, the shepherds' goddess) in See also:

• OVID [PUBLIUS OvID1us NASO] (43 B.C.–A.D. 17)

Ovid's See also:

• FASTI

Fasti, when the shepherds lit heaps of See also:

• STRAW

straw and jumped over them as they burned . The See also:

• LIGHTING

lighting of the bonfires in Christian festivals was significant of the See also:

• COMPROMISE (pronounced compromize; through Fr. from Lat. compromittere)

compromise made with the heathen by the early See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

Church . In See also:

• CORNWALL

Cornwall bonfires are lighted on the See also:

• EVE

eve of St 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 the Baptist and St See also:

• PETER
• PETER (Lat. Petrus from Gr. irfpos, a rock, Ital. Pietro, Piero, Pier, Fr. Pierre, Span. Pedro, Ger. Peter, Russ. Petr)
• PETER (PEDRO)
• PETER, EPISTLES OF
• PETER, ST

Peter's 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, and midsummer is thence called in Cornish Goluan, which means both " See also:

• LIGHT

light " and " festivity." Some-times See also:

• EFFIGIES, MONUMENTAL

effigies are burned in these fires, or a pretence is made of burning a living See also:

• PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person in them, and there are grounds for believing that anciently human sacrifices were actually made in the bonfires . See also:

• SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

Spring and midsummer are the usual times at which these bonfires are lighted, but in some countries they are made at Hallowe'en (See also:

• OCTOBER

October 31) and at See also:

• CHRISTMAS (i.e. the Mass of Christ)

Christmas . In spring the 1st See also:

• SUNDAY

Sunday in See also:

• LENT (0. Eng. lenclen, " spring," M. Eng. lenten, lente, lent; cf. Dut. lente, Ger. Lenz, " spring," 0. H. Ger. lenzin, lengizin, lenzo, probably from the same root as " long " and referring to " the lengthening days ")

Lent, See also:

• EASTER

Easter eve and the 1st of May are the commonest See also:

• DATES

dates . See J . G . Frazer, See also:

• GOLDEN

Golden Bough, vol. iii., for a very full See also:

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

account of the bonfire customs of Europe, &c .