*!;88 ant'rquities in Scotland, April 2^* 



within the fliade, indeed, of secret groves, which confer* 

 red upon them that kind of solemn gloom that seems 

 to have been in general considered as favourable for 

 exciting in the mind imprefsions of devotion. Whe- 

 ther the circles of loose detached stones, to be met 

 with so frequently in the northern parts of Europe, 

 constituted a part of the druidic ritual, as has been 

 generally supposed, or whether they were the tem- 

 j)les of another clafs of religionists, or whether thej 

 A\'ere merely courts of civil justice, I mean not at pre- 

 sent to inquire ; but as these differ in many of thfe 

 most efsential particulars from the dhunes, I think we 

 must conclude, that these last were built by a people 

 who profefsed a religion different from that which 

 was in general practised, either by the inhabitants of 

 south Britain, or by the greatest part of the inhabi- 

 •tants of Scotland, before the introduction of Chris- 

 tianity into those regions. 



Where certainty cannot be attained in inquiries of 

 this nature, it is allowable to luake use of such helps 

 as lead only to prohahle conclusions. With this 

 view, in examining the poems of Ofsian, I have met 

 with several hints that some may perhaps think will 

 tend to unravel this mystery a little. Scandinavia 

 is often mentioned in these poems, and always' in 

 terms which denote that the religion of that country 

 was very different from that which prevailed in Bri- 

 tain before the days of our bard. The religion of 

 thai people is always represented as being accompa- 

 nied with circumstances peculiarly awful and tre- 

 inenduous ; and their worfhip is said to have con-* 

 -isted of incantations which drew frcm their suppo- 



