Whalton and its Vicinity, by the Rev. J. E. Elliot. 245 



bonefire forms a leading characteristic. Its connection with 

 the festivities which I have noticed as among the village 

 amusements at Yule, is thus traced by Brand in his " Popular 

 Antiquities." " The Pagan rites of this festival (viz., c Mid- 

 summer Eve,') may be considered as a counterpart of those 

 used at the winter solstice at Yule-tide. There is one thing 

 that seems to prove this beyond the possibility of a doubt. 

 In the old Runic Fasti, a wheel was used to denote the festival 

 of Christmas. The learned Gebelin derives Yule from a 

 primitive word, carrying with it the general idea of evolution 

 and a wheel ; and it was so called, says Bede, because of the 

 return of the sun's annual course after the winter solstice. 

 This wheel is common to both festivities." Again, the horse- 

 races, which I have also noticed as connected with the Yule 

 or New Year amusements — the money collected at that time 

 being devoted to their celebration at Easter — may have had a 

 similar origin, as also the theatrical entertainments which 

 were common in Whalton at the same period. Herodian, a 

 Greek historian of Rome, a.d. 238, relates that Heliogabalus 

 erected a splendid temple to his god Baal at Rome ; and at 

 his festival " Ludi curiales et scenici" theatricals and chariot 

 races formed part of the ceremonial. Vestiges of a cursus for 

 similar purposes are noticed by Professor Nilsson as existing 

 at Stonehenge ; and among the reforms of Josiah (23 ch., 2 

 Kings) it is noticed that "he took away the horses that the 

 kings of Judah had given to the sun," " and burned the 

 chariots of the sun with fire." 



In the preceding observations, I have endeavoured to trace 

 the connection between the different popular amusements 

 common up to a comparatively recent period in the district, 

 and to shew that they were based upon a religious principle 

 and form of worship ; the earliest with which we are acquainted, 

 that of the principle of Life, of which the sun or the element 

 of fire was the most significant emblem. The only other 

 popular custom to which I shall allude is one which, though 



of the rectangle (nearly a square) points 34J degrees east of south. There is 

 a remarkable coincidence of the bearings above given — and I was at 

 first led to believe that they pointed to the rising of the sun at the winter 

 solstice ; but on calculating the latter point, I find it is 10 degrees further 

 from the south. May these remains not have the direction of what may at 

 one time have been the magnetic meridian ? 4. A little west of Blindburn, 

 near the head of Coquet, is a small conical hill with a trench dug round its 

 base. This trench is circular, but on the eastern side there is a portion of it 

 straight, and this I found pointed exactly to the sun at noon-day." &c 



