DRUIDS, 



155 



Dwids. the Druids erected enormous stone temples or altars, 



.- . still it by no means follows that the countries in which 



c imtn ^_ m these exist were formerly Druidical, or even Celtic. 

 were found. Stone monuments, nearly similar in form, and equal in 

 magnitude to those which are said to be most unequi- 

 vocally Druidical, are found in countries, into which, 

 according to the opinion of all antiquarians, the Celts 

 never penetrated. In many parts of the North of Ger- 

 many, in the island of Zealand, and in Iceland, the 

 stone monuments are similar in fonn, and seem to have 

 been erected for the same purpose with those in Bri- 

 tain and France." Edin. Review. 



The presumptive argument, therefore, drairn from 

 these stone monuments, must be abandoned as unte- 

 nable ; but there are arguments advanced for the ex- 

 i>t:'!ice of Druidism in Germany, of a different kind, 

 which require to be noticed and examined. The pas- 

 sage in Caesar has already been adverted to, in which 

 he expressly states, that the Germans had no Druids : 

 His words are; Germain multumab/iac con\uetudinc dif- 

 ferunt ; nam neque Dmides Itabent, qni rebus diviiiisjirae- 

 lial, neijite sacrificiis student. Yet notwithstanding this 

 clear and decisive authority, it is asserted by many wri- 

 ters, that Caesar was mistaken ; and they charge him 

 with ignorance or error, in consequence of what Taci- 

 tus says resecting the religion of the Druids. There 

 can be no doubt, if this latter writer differed from Cae- 

 sar on this point, that his evidence ought to outweigh 

 that of Caesar's; since he had more and better opportu- 

 nities of learning the religion and institutions of the 

 Germans : but as the evidence of Ctesar is clear and 

 decisive, that of Tacitus ought to be equally so, before 

 it can fairly be set up in opposition to his. But all 

 that he says respecting the priesU of the Germans, is, 

 that they alone possessed the power of imposing silence 

 in their public councils, and of reproving or punishing 

 offenders ; and that they were always present in their 

 wars. In these respects, they undoubtedly resembled 

 the Druids; but they also resembled the priests of most 

 other savage nations : there is no proof that they resem- 

 bled the Druids in what was peculiar to them. Other 

 antiquarians endeavour to prove, that Druidism existed 

 in (iermany, by the alleged identity of the German and 

 Celtic religions, in several of their fundamental and pe- 

 culiar points. The veneration for the misletoe certain- 

 ly distinguished the Druidic religion : and if it could be 

 shewn tliat the same veneration was paid to it in Ger- 

 many, the argument would be of considerable weight ; 

 but in the Edda, it is uniformly represented either as a 

 contemptible or mischievous plant. 1 1 is indeed not often 

 mentioned ; but where it is, it is held forth as the in- 

 strument of evil, not as the instrument of good, as 

 among the Celts ; and the learned and ingenious trans- 

 lator of Mallet very appositely remarks, that it was 

 probably held in contempt and abhorrence by the Ger- 

 man tribes, because it had been the object of veneration 

 among the Celts, whom they had conquered and ex- 

 pellcil. 



The most plausible argument, however, for the Ger- 

 man veneration for the misletoe, is advanced by Keysler, 

 who says, that the word gut/'yl, used by the vulgar in 

 Upper Germany at Christmas', as they run through the 

 ts, is the exact translation, or, to speak more cor- 

 rectly, the original of the omitia -finaiis, by which, ac- 

 cording to Pliny, the Gauls expressed the misletoe. 

 But to this it may be replied, that, by Keysler's own 

 account, the misletoe is not employed when these words 

 are used ; and they may most naturally be considered 

 a-i referring to the birth of Christ, the literal meaning 



of them being Lona salus, not omnia sanans. It is Druids, 

 worthy of observation also, that Keysler mentions the ,~~" 

 reverence paid to the misletoe in Gaul and Aquitaine, ^Jjfriiey" 

 where the appellation for it is guy ; and certainly in this were found 

 word, as existing in a Celtic country, rather than in a 

 German word, we ought to look for the original of Pli- 

 ny's omnia sanans. But even allowing that traces of 

 veneration for the misletoe were to be found in Germa- 

 ny, it would by no means prove, that Druidism wcs 

 anciently the religion of that country; for, as has been 

 already remarked, as the Celts were the original inha- 

 bitants of that part of Europe, if they were Druidical, 

 relics of that religion may be supposed to have remain- 

 ed among their Gothic conquerors. In many parts of 

 England, the rural custom is still observed of hanging 

 up a misletoe bush on Christmas eve, and trying lots, 

 by the crackling of the leaves and berries in the fire on 

 twelfth night, though, as we have proved, even so far 

 back as the invasion of the Romans, Druidism had been 

 expelled antl confined to the western part of Wales. 



The next supposed point of resemblance between the 

 Druidical and German religions, from which it is in- 

 ferred that Druidism anciently prevailed in Germany, 

 consists in the belief of the transmigration of the soul. 

 There is only one passage which seems to favour this 

 resemblance, and that, if examined, will be found in 

 fact to make strongly against the opinion that the Ger- 

 mans were Druidic. The passage occurs in an ancient 

 Ode, in the Edda of Samund Frode : " Sigruna is dead 

 through sorrow and grief. It was anciently believed 

 that men were born again, but this now is accounted 

 an old woman's fable." The same observation may be 

 applied to this passage, which was applied to the infe- 

 rence of Keysler respecting the misletoe. The Goths 

 were disposed to treat with contempt the opinions and 

 institutions of their vanquished and expelled foes the 

 Celts ; and to them most probably the author of the Ode 

 refers, when he speaks of the opinion of transmigra- 

 tion as being anciently held, but, as in his time, being 

 esteemed an old woman's fable. That the Gothic tribes 

 did not believe in the transmigration of the soul, innu- 

 merable passages from the Edda might be cited to 

 prove, all of which describe a fixed elysium and a hell, 

 where the valiant and the just were rewarded, and where 

 the cowardly and the wicked suffered punishment. Be- 

 side.-, the utter discrepancy of the religious opinions of 

 the Druids and Germans in this point, they were total- 

 ly dissimilar, as Dr Percy has shewn, in his introduc- 

 tion to his translation of Mallet, in many other impor- 

 tant and essential ceremonies and doctrines. Not only 

 therefore the direct testimony of the ancients, but all 

 presumptive evidence, is against the hypothesis that 

 Druidism existed in Germany. 



The only other countries in which Druidism is pre- On the - 

 sumed to hve existed, are Ireland and Italy ; but the istencc f 

 examination of their claims will not detain us long. Druidism 

 Respecting the existence of Druidism in Ireland, the 

 ancient authors are .wholly silent ; indeed they were 

 very little acquainted with this island. But the Irish 

 antiquarians are loud and positive in their assertions, 

 that their country not only had Druids, but that it was 

 their principal and favourite abode, and that even in the 

 time of St Patrick they were flourishing and abundant. 

 But the authorities for these positions are little better, 

 in point of validity and genuineness, than those which 

 are brought forward in support of the Milesian coloni- 

 zation, and antediluvian dynasty of Ireland. In the in- 

 troduction to the study of the history and antiquities of 

 tills country by Mr O'Halloran, we have a most charac- 



