JSTOR Druid's Scholar Series: Footprints of the Druids

April 30,2017
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Footprints of the Druids
Author(s): Ella Rodman Church
Source: The Aldine, Vol. 8, No. 3 (1876), pp. 90-91
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20637237


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>>
 FOOTPRINTS OF THE DRUIDS.
 Christianity has its Bible, Brahminism its Shastas,
 Mohammedanism its Koran, and Druidism its stones.
 Not stones like those of Luxor, and Karnac, and
 Elephanta, and Elora ?that tell their stories so
 eloquently in volumes of sculptured beauty ? but
 huge, unmeaning masses of naked rock, of which the
 use and intention is, even to the most learned, a
 matter of mere conjecture.
 By common consent, however, many of these stones
 are looked upon in the light of altars ; often, perhaps,
 for no better reason than that it. is impossible to tell
 what else they can be. Their crude and unsuggestive
 forms seem to illustrate the words of Holy Writ:
 "If thou shalt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt
 not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool
 upon it, thou hast polluted it."
(Exodus 20:25 : And if you will make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone: for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it.) TDK
 Of beauty, so far as their temples were concerned,
 the Druids had not the slightest idea. Their architec
 ture rose no higher than the block structures of child
 hood ; for all they did was to stand big stones on end,
 or to balance them one upon another in a mannei
 that brings up the puzzle of royalty over the dump
 ling. Unlike the created forms that represent the
 Pantheism of Egypt, the hero-worship of Greece, or
 the Christianity of later times, these monuments of
 Druidism express nothing whatever of the customs of
 the people; and they only prove, in the way of his
 tory, that the entire north of Europe, before the in
 vasion of the Romans, was the property of the Celtic
 race ? a people utterly devoid of anything like aes
 thetic taste.
 Modern knowledge of the Druidical priesthood is
 almost as dim and indistinct as the dryads and satyrs
 who were supposed to inhabit the woody recesses
 where the Druidical mysteries were celebrated; for
 their oral instructions and traditions could not survive
 the aggressions and conquests of Christianity. It was
 considered an unhallowed thing to commit their lore
 to writing; and the candidate for holy orders, in those
 days, found it necessary to possess a better memory
 than falls to the lot of many now ? for the Druid
 bible was not visible to profane eyes, but was taught
 orally by priest to neophyte. This, laborious style of
 teaching was also prevalent in their schools; and a
 school-term of twenty years was not an uncommon
 thing.
 The priesthood consisted of three orders : Bards,
 Druids, and Ovates. The Bards were poets only.
 The Druids filled the two-fold office of priest and
 judge; and their name was generally given to all
 three. The Ovates were taken from among the people,
 and might be called the schoolmasters of the com
 munity ; their time was spent in the study of science
 and art, and their life was more quiet and retired than
 that of the other orders.
 The priestly dress of Druidism was a white robe,
 which represented truth and holiness, as well as the
 solar light A magnificent figure was that of the
 Arch-Druid in his robes of office. His stole of spot
 less white was worn over a closer garment of the
 same, fastened at the waist with a girdle ; and on the
 girdle flashed the crystal augur in its case of gold.
 The breastplate of judgment encircled his neck?and
 a corrupt judgment was said to insure a most uncom
 fortable squeeze from the breastplate. Below this
 salutary restraint hung the Glain Neidr, or serpent
 jewel, a mighty talisman, formed of the poisonous
 spittle of numerous serpents twined together, and
 gathered always by moonlight. A golden tiara
 crowned the priestly head ; and on each of two fingers
 of his right hand he wore a ring ? one plain, the
 other the chain ring of divination. This luminous
 figure standing beside the rough stone altar was an
 impressive sight; and as he stood, his. hand rested on
 the elucidator?which was formed of several stones
 called Coelbrenan, omen-sticks, on which the judicial
 maxims were cut
 The popular ideas of Druidism are inseparable from
 bloody sacrifices and dark and horrible mysteries ; and
 the Druids of Armorica
[Armorica or Aremorica is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and Loire rivers, that includes the Brittanypeninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic coast.]
are thus represented by Julius
 Caesar, who found them formidable obstacles to his
 conquest of Gaul. He speaks of a colossal figure,
 made of wicker-work, and hollow inside, that was
 filled with human victims, and then set on fire as a pro
 pitiatory offering to the god of battles. Most writers
 concur in the belief that the Druids did offer human
 sacrifices on particular occasions ; but there was much
 in their belief that savored more of a Christian than a
 Pagan age. They had faith in the doctrine of one
 Supreme Being; in that of Divine Providence; in
 man's moral responsibility ; in the immortality of the
 soul; and in a final judgment

 They celebrated two high festivals in the year. The
 month of May is peculiarly a festival month ; and it
 was near the beginning of this season of blossoms
 that the Feast of Beltane, or '' Fire of God," was held
 by the Druids. There was a peculiar beauty and fit
 ness in this festival?rits characteristic feature being a
 large fire kindled on some hill or rock, to welcome
 the warm spring sunshine, that had returned in all its
 power and brightness after the chill grayness of
 winter. It is quite probable that on this joyful occa
 sion, as their prince of Bards declares was the case at
 "the Feast of Aunir, son of echoing Morven," "they
 rejoiced in the shell," which we are kindly told means
 "feasting sumptuously and drinking freely."
 The name of this spring festival is still given to
 Whitsunday in some parts of Scotland ; and, Pagan
 though it be, there is a beautiful appropriateness in
 calling the anniversary of Pentecost by a name which
 signifies '' Fire of God."
 The other large festival was the Samh'in, or "Fire
 of Peace," and was celebrated on the first of Novem
 ber. Christianity has converted this into Hallow-Eve
 and All Saints ; but among the highlands of Scotland
 it retains the old name. This was a solemn meeting
 of the Druids in their judicial character, and was not
 unlike "court week" in our shire towns. All the
 crimes that had been committed during the past year,
 and all disputed questions, were solemnly discussed
 and judgment awarded.

 Many superstitious ceremonies were connected with
 this festival?the most important of which was the
 kindling of the sacred fire. All the fires in the
 neighborhood had been extinguished, that they might
 be relighted at this consecrated flame.

The bonfires on Hallow-Eve had their origin in the Samh'in of
 the Druids; but the urchins who dance with such
 wild glee around their lighted pile, on the last night
 of October, are quite untroubled by the shadows of
 those sylvan priests on whom first shone the fitful
 flames of autumn fires kindled beneath the stars.
 The stars are there, and the fires; but the grand,
 solemn forms have been dust for centuries.

 Cutting the mistletoe was another season of rejoicing.
 This parasitical plant, when growing on an oak,
 was an object of especial reverence ? its # wonderful
 powers, expressed by a Celtic word which meant
 "heal-all," quite putting to the blush the modern
 patent medicine. Solemn preparations for feasting
 and sacrifice were made under the favored tree; and
 two snow-white bulls, whose horns were then bound
 for the first time, were driven thither. A priest in
 sacerdotal
[relating to or denoting a doctrine that ascribes sacrificial functions and spiritual or supernatural powers to ordained priests.]
robe then ascended the tree, and with a
 golden sickle severed the mistletoe from its support.
 A white mantle was held to receive it; and then the
 oxen Were slain, while prayer was made that the gift
 might be rendered prosperous.

 The nearest approach to a temple made with hands,
 among the Druids, was a circle of huge stones, which
 inclosed a space of from twenty feet to thirty yards in
 diameter. In the centre was the cromlech, or altar ?
 a flat stone, resting on upright ones placed at either
 end. Large stones, or piles of stones, on the sum
 mits of hills, were used as the base of their sacred
 fires, kindled for the worship of the Deity under the
 symbol of the sun.

 Stones and inscriptions have been prolific subjects
 of dispute among the antiquarians of all ages, and
 none more so than the Druidical remains. Science
 makes dreadful work of them ; and the unlearned
 reader flounders hopelessly among "megaliths,"
 "monoliths," and "ortholiths,"?of which big
 stones, single stones, and upright stones, are the very
 simple solutions.

 The Menhir is a long, single stone, planted on one
 end. It may have been intended for a beacon, or land
 mark?or possibly as a monument of some person or
 event. But, as in those dim, past ages, religion
 glistened like a vein of fine gold through all the circumstances
 of life ? making it seem as if men were" ? Nearer heaven,

In the days of long ago," these stones, whatever may
 have been their original use, soon became objects of religious veneration.
 The menhir may, sometimes, have answered the purpose of a pillar of witness?such as that raised by Jacob and Laban ; or a commemorative altar, like
 that which Jacob set up at Bethel, '' and poured oil
 upon the top of it" It has also been likened to the
 '' standing image," forbidden in that solemn charge to
 Moses after the exodus from Egypt?to many other
 idols denounced in holy writ?and to the Dii Termini
 of Rome.

 The Kistvaen, or Cistvaen, is a chamber formed of
 one, sometimes of two, large flat stones, laid upon
 several smaller upright ones. These are placed so
 close together that they completely shut in the sides.
 The only way to get inside is to lift off one of the flat
 stones on top.

 The Cromlech proper, or witches' stone,?for the
 simple cromlech is as often called dolmen?is a
 collection of dolmens communicating with one anther,
and having the sides closed, except at the common entrance.

There is a fine cromlech at Gavr'-Innis,
 or Goat's Island, in the Morbihan. Another form is
 peculiar to Stonehenge, where flat stones are placed
 on the tops of menhirs, elsewhere left as solitary
 obelisks, and fastened with mortise and tenon.

 The Peulvan, or rocking-stone, is, perhaps, the
 greatest triumph of Druidical art. The largest specimen
has been found at Perros-Guirec, in Brittany.
 It measures over twenty feet in length, and weighs a
 million of pounds. Several smaller peulvans are to
 be seen in different parts of Brittany; and the struc
 ture consists of one huge mass of stone so accurately
 balanced upon another mass, that, although great
 strength and repeated efforts are necessary to move it
 from its place, it may be moved in its place by a sim
 ple touch of the hand. *

 No one knows how, or why, these stones were bal
 anced ; but a popular conclusion is, that the peulvan
 was used by the Druids as an oracle. This was done
 by counting the movements made by the stone after it
 had been set in motion, before it reposed again on its
 pivot. It has been thought, too, that the guilt or
 innocence of an accused person was settled by trying
 whether his touch could make the stone move?only
 the Druids holding the secret of the exact point of
 touch at which the stone would oscillate.
 Many other Druidical stones of various forms are
 found ; among which are sepulchral chambers, cairns
 or galyals, and needle-rocks.
 The most famous monuments are those of Stone
 henge, on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire. These stones
 are gigantic menhirs, or obelisks?varied, in some
 instances, with flat stones fastened table-wise on
 their tops. Besides these obelisks, there are a num
 ber of mounds, in which ancient British remains have
 been discovered; and Salisbury Plain is, therefore,
 doubly interesting to the antiquary and historian.
 The number of the stones at Stonehenge, before
 the work of destruction began, is supposed to have
 been a hundred and forty. They are arranged around
 a centre, which consists of ten stones placed in the
 form of an oval; they are from, sixteen to twenty-two
 feet high, and stand in pairs, with imposts?which
 scientific people call 1 i trilithons." Within this oval
 were a number of smaller single stones, of which only
 six now remain. The altar, a large slab of coarse
 blue marble, is crushed down by the weight of the
 huge stones that have fallen upon it.
 Antiquarianism has exhausted itself upon the re
 mains at Stonehenge, without coming to any satis
 factory conclusion. The human bones discovered in
 the mounds, and the heads of oxen, deer, and other
 animals, dug up in the vicinity, stamp it as a place of
 sepulture; and it is supposed to have been erected
 about the time of the Roman Conquest. Celtic
 monuments are frequently met with in all the British
 islands, and especially in Ireland and Wales.
 But the province of Brittany, old Armorica, may be
 said to be literally sown with them. In the district
 of Morbihan especially,?a gloomy, lead-colored re
 gion, where the sun rarely appears, and the inhabitants
 partake of the nature of the leaden skies, are abund
 ant traces of Druidical power. Fragments of huge
 menhirs surround the town of Carnac, which is built
 almost entirely of these stones, and has been the
 Mecca of antiquarians from time immemorial.
 The county of Vannes, or Gwennet, in which the
 town of Carnac is situated, is the very head-quarters
 of Druidical remains. It is composed principally of
 vast barren plains, of which dolmens, cromlechs,
 menhirs, galyals, peulvans, in countless numbers,
 seem to be the natural growth. At Pheherlin, the
 menhirs have been numbered at over two thousand ;
 but Carnac, Plouharnel, Loc-Marin-Ker, and the Isle
 of Gavr'-Innis, are the most famous.
 Near Plouharnel is a menhir crowned with the
 symbol of the Christian faith, placed there, probably,
 by the first Armorican missionaries, who sought in
 this way to turn the people from their idols to the
 living God. The picture of that barren tract, rising
 as it approaches the obelisk, and the pillar itself
 towering toward heaven and raising on high the sign
 of man's redemption ? while, perhaps, one or two
 solitary figures, in quaint peasant costume, relieve the
 general monotony?is a strange picture of past and
 present; and though it inspires feelings of gloom, it is
 nevertheless tinged with the light that streams from
 the Cross.
 The menhir of Plumeur, which is twenty-five feet
 high, not only has the cross on its summit, like the
 menhir of Plouharnel, but one of the sides , is carved
 with various emblems of Christianity. This, of course,
 is the work of the apostles of Armorica, who *' sought
 to divert in form, at least, the worship which they
 could not prevent the people from offering to these
 stones, to the symbols of a truer faith."
 From Carnac to Loc-MarinrKer, dolmens and men
 hirs abound ?this wild region yielding little besides a
 harvest of stones. The cromlech of Dol-au-Marchant
 measures ninety feet; and just beside it is the famous
 prostrate menhir, whfch is broken in three pieces.
 This must have been sixty feet in height. It is sup
 posed to have been an object of special worship to the I
 Druids, and to have "outranked" all the other
 monuments.
 Many of the stones are marked with channels, or
 scars ; and when these are found on the upper part of
 a dolmen, those who maintain the altar theory affirm
 that they were intended to carry off the blood of the
 victims offered thereon. But as these channels also
 appear on the menhirs, which could not possibly have
 answered the purpose of altars, the proof is of no
 value. The cromlech of Gavr'-Innis, and those of
 Lowth, in Ireland, are marked like the tattooing of a
 New Zealander, according to some travelers; while
 others compare them to the ornamentation on book
 covers, and other objects of enlightened regions.
 Men now living can testify that these puzzling
 stones were regarded by the peasantry around them as
 objects of superstitious belief; and that, in. past ages,
 they were actually worshiped, is confirmed by tradition.
 In the provinces of Gwennet and Cornouailles, in
 the month of June, is celebrated a festival that bears
 undoubted marks of Druidical origin. The youths
 and maidens of the district gather around a moss
 grown dolmen,?except those under sixteen years of
 age, who are strictly excluded. Those who^have per
 petrated matrimony since the previous festival are
 blackballed without compunction. The young men
 wear in their hats green ears of corn; while the young
 women adorn themselves more poetically, with clus
 ters of flax-blossoms. These they lay on the dolmen,
 devoutly believing that, if those they love can be de
 pended upon, the corn and the flowers will retain
 their pristine freshness at least for a twelvemonth.
 The only Druidical histories to be found are tradi
 tional narratives, that commemorate the prowess of
 heroes dead and gone when Druidism was in power.
 These legends were related in a rough sort of verse,
 and they constituted the principal part of Celtic
 poetry. The poems of Ossian, if not universally
 regarded as belonging to the Druidical era, are con
 sidered faithful representations of the songs of the
 Bards.
 The Bards were an important part of the Druidical
 hierarchy, and were regarded as inspired prophets.
 Their burning words thrilled the people to prodigies
 of valor in resisting the Roman invaders ; and Caesar
 pursued them, in consequence, with savage ferocity.
 They fled to lonely Anglesey and Iona, and there
 practiced their mysterious rites in undisturbed peace,
 until again conquered by the spiritual weapons of St.
 Columba, who won them from their stone idols to
 Christianity.
 The memory of the First Edward has been black
 ened by the traditional charge of cruelly persecuting
 the Welsh Bards, because, like the Druids of Armor
 ica, they inspired the people to resist the invading foe.
 Fresh life has been given to the tradition in Gray's
 ode of '' The Bard."
 Gatherings have been held, even in modern times,
 of those who desired to rescue Welsh poetry and
 music from oblivion; and these gatherings have
 always been called by the old Welsh name of Eis
 teddfod. One was held in London, in 1822; when
 Mrs. Hemans wrote a poem for the occasion. It
 contains a graphic description of the ancient assembly
 that met
 " Midst the eternal cliffs, whose strength defied
 The crested Roman in his hour of pride ;
 And where the Druids' ancient cromlech frowned,
 And the oaks breathed mysterious murmurs round,
 There thronged the inspired of yore ! on plain or height,
 In the sun's face, beneath the eye of light,?
 And baring unto heaven each noble head,
 Stood in the circle where none else might tread."
 ? Ella Rodman Church.
 <<