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Another ceremony is mentioned by Pennant. " On the 
first of May the herdsmen of every village hold their 
Beltein, a rural sacrifice. They cut a square trench in the 
ground, leaving the turf in the middle. On that they make 
a fire of wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, 
butter, oatmeal, and milk. The rites begin with spilling 
some of the caudle on the ground by way of libation. On 
that, every one takes a cake of oatmeal, on which are raised 
nine square knobs, each dedicated to some particular being, 
the supposed preserver of then flocks and herds, or to some 
particular animal, the real destroyer of them. Each person 
then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and flinging 
it over his shoulders, says, ' This I give to thee, preserve 
thou my horses ; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep ; this 
I give to thee, O fox, spare thou my lambs/ kc. When 
all is over they dine on the caudle." — Tour in Scotland, 
1769. 
The writer of the article " Baal," in Calmet's Dictionary 
of the Bible, states that he has witnessed the Beltein on 
Midsummer eve in public streets of towns in the diocese of 
Durham. Another writer, Hayman Rook, states that 
summer fires were lighted at Brimham in 1786. In North 
Wales, though for some cause the day got altered, the fires 
were kept up with great spirit, and certain ceremonies, 
among which was running through the fire and smoke, and 
casting a stone into the fire. On the following morning the 
stones were searched for in the fire ; if any were missing, 
their owners na d to make up their minds to encounter 
mischief. There is a town in Perthshire called "Tillie," or 
Tullie-beltane, i.e., the "eminence of the fire of Baal." On 
Beltane morning, people went to a sacred well in the 
locality, and walked in procession round it nine times. The 
reverend writer adds that "many who reckoned themselves 
good Protestants would not neglect this, even when Beltane 
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