DRUID 



2695 



Druid. Priest among the Celtic 

 peoples, especially those of Britain 

 and Gaul. The Druids were among 

 the bitterest opponents of the Ro- 

 man invaders, and in Britain were 

 virtually exterminated during the 

 Roman" domination. The earliest 

 detailed account of them is given 

 by Caesar in his Gallic War, and his 

 account is probably equally applic- 

 able to the Druids of Britain, which 

 was the headquarters of Druidism. 

 They are described as priests and 

 law-givers, among whom all nobles 

 and men of dignity were found. 



The chief of them was elected, 

 and no hereditary positions were 

 recognized. They were learned in 

 the natural sciences and astrology, 

 while some of the classic writers 

 describe them as sorcerers and 

 masters of medical knowledge 

 (Pliny) ; and as soothsayers and 

 bards (Strabo). Their worship was 

 carried on in groves, the oak being 

 their sacred tree, and the oak- 

 grown mistletoe played a particular 

 part in their rites. It was cut with 

 a golden weapon by a Druid clothed 

 in white, was received from the 

 tree on a spotless cloth by another 

 Druid, and borne away by white 

 oxen. Dmidic worship entailed 

 human sacrifices at special festi- 

 vals ; the victims being impaled, 

 shot with arrows, or burned in 

 wicker cages ; the Druids exercis- 

 ing their peculiar art of divination 

 from the movements of their dying 

 victims, as well as from the flight 

 of birds, etc. > 



The last stand of the Druids in 

 Britain was made at Mona, or 

 Anglesey, when the Romans are 

 said to have exterminated them 

 and destroyed their sacred groves 

 (Tacitus). After being extermin- 

 ated in Britain, Druids are mainly 

 heard of in Ireland, where tradition 

 associates them with witchcraft 

 and sorcery. 



Bibliography. Irish Druids and Old 

 Irish Religions, J. Bonwick, 1894: 

 Origin arid Growth of Religion as 

 Illustrated by Celtic Heathendom, 

 J. Rhys, 3rd ed- 1898; Social His- 

 tory of Ancient Ireland, P. W. Joyce, 

 1903; Les Druids et lea Dieux 

 Celtiques, M. H. d'Arbois de Jubain- 

 ville, 190G. 



Arminius, prince of the Cherusci, triumphant after a victory over 

 the Romans, brings back silver booty to his Druid priests 



After the painting by Hermann Prell 



Druid Circle. Name in popular Drum. Instrument of percussion, 

 usage for a prehistoric stone consisting of a hollow body over 

 circle. One, vested in the National 

 Trust, is near Keswick, Cumber- 

 land. Regarded by 18th century 

 antiquarians as sites for Druidic 

 worship, the exposed sepulchral 

 dolmens often found with them 

 were called Druid altars. Now 



which a membrane is stretched. 

 In primitive form the body was a 

 gourd, shell, or earthenware vessel, 

 struck often by the finger tips. 



To-day the drums in use are of 

 two main kinds : ( 1 ) Drums of 

 cauldron shape, made of metal, 



recognized to be pre-Druidic, their with single head of vellum, used 



subsequent adaptation for religious 

 rites by the British priesthood of 



in the orchestra, and known as 

 kettledrums (or Timpani). These 



Caesar's day lacks definite proof, are struck vertically by pairs of 



See Stonehenge ; Stone Circles. 



Druids, ANCIENT ORDER OF. 

 Friendly society established on 

 masonic principles and with ma- 

 sonic rites, and so called from an 

 imagined imitation of the ancient 

 Druids. The order was founded in 

 London in 1781, and spread 

 throughout England in indepen- 



padded sticks, and produce notes 

 of definite musical pitch. They 

 were formerly used in pairs tuned 

 to the tonic and dominant of the 

 key of the music, but often three 

 or more kettledrums are used in 

 modem music, and they are given 

 melodic as well as rhythmic pass- 

 ages. A pair of small kettledrums 



dent but allied lodges. These lodges is used in cavalry bands. 



were later organized into groves (2) Drums of "cylindrical shape, 



and presided over by a Great made usually of wood with two 



Arch Druid. The order was intro- 

 duced into the U.S.A. in 1883, 

 where it spread rapidly. 



vellum heads. The pitch of these 

 drums is indefinite. The smallest 

 size, the shallow side drum with 



Druid Circle. The circle near Keswick, Cumberland, about 100 ft. in diameter. It was vested in the National Trust in 1913 



