THE recent chapters have, I think, established, by the evidence derived from folklore and tradition, that there was in the long past a combined worship of trees, wells and streams in the neighbourhood of sacred places, the sacred place being a stone circle or some other monument built up of stones. We have gathered also that the chief times of worship were on or near the most important dates defined for us by the May year, the original year marked out by the various agricultural and other operations proper to the various seasons. It is again imperative that I should point out that if the basis of this worship was not utility it must have been started by men sufficiently skilled to indicate by their astronomical knowledge the proper times for the various operations to which I have referred. In this we see the reason for the local combination of the worship in the neighbourhood of the stones, for the stones were really the instruments which enabled the astronomer-priest to be useful to What the analysis in the recent chapters, taken in connection with the astronomical results previously stated, has done is perhaps to give a clear reason for the connection. Not only were the cults started together, but they remained together for a long time; it is only in quite late years that the traditions have become so dim that practices once closely connected are now dealt with apart from the rest. Hope points out (p. xxii) that the 16th of the canons of the reign of Edgar, A.D. 963, which enjoins the, clergy to be diligent, advance Christianity, and extinguish heathenism, mentions especially the worship of stones, trees, and fountains. The laws of Knut (A.D. 1018) specify the worship "of heathen gods, the sun, moon, fire, rivers, fountains, rocks, or trees." Now, although the folklore evidence I have brought together has been, gathered for the most part from the British Isles, my inquiries have not been limited to that area.
"It is interesting to notice that the pre-Christian custom called dessil, or circuit around a venerated spot; which is practised in Ireland in the case of one dolmen at least, as well as at wells and Churches innumerable, is found also in Portugal." In the Pyrenees, too, fairies and spirits are thought much of in this connection. Borlase tells us: 2 "They are the presiding genii of certain wells." He adds: "It is not in Ireland alone that dolmens are associated with the notion of wells and water springs. The Portuguese names, Anta do Fontao, Fonte Coberta, Anta do Fonte-de Mouratao, and the French names, Fonte de Bourre, and Fonte nay le Marmion, show this to be the case. 3 In Persia Sir Wm. Ouseley saw a tree covered with rags, and similar trees in the Himalayas are associated with large heaps of stones (Gomme, p. 105).
The idea that the waters of certain wells have marvellous healing powers is also not confined to the British Isles, for in a great many parts of Europe, perhaps more especially in France, Spain and Portugal, we find instances. The practice of worshipping in connection with wells and the sacred stones and sacred trees which were associated with them, as we have seen, was indeed in ancient days almost, if not quite, universal wherever man existed. The traditions of the past, therefore, are to be gathered over a very wide area. I quote a summary of the universality of this practice given by the late General Pitt-Rivers in the paper already noticed: "Burton says it extends throughout northern Africa from west to east; Mungo Park mentions it in western Africa; Sir Samuel Baker speaks of it on the confines of Abyssinia, and says that the people who practised it were unable to assign a reason for doing so Burton also found the same custom in Arabia during his pilgrimage to Mecca; in Persia Sir William Ouseley saw a tree close to a large monolith covered with these rags, and he describes it as a practice appertaining to a religion long since proscribed in that country; in the Dekkan and Ceylon. Colonel Leslie says that the trees in the neighbourhood of
The astronomical facts given in this book, gathered from a study of the monuments in these islands, can only give us information touching the introduction of the combined worship here. My investigations have strongly suggested, to say the least, that there were men here with knowledge enough to utilise the movements of the sun and stars for temple, and no doubt practical purposes before 2000 B.C., that is, a thousand years before Solomon was born, and at about the time that the Hecatompedon was founded at Athens. If this is anywhere near the truth, these men must have been representatives of a very old civilisation. Now the civilisation principally considered by archæologists in connection with the building of the monuments which I have studied is the Aryan, of which the Celts formed a branch. This view, however, is not universally held; the late General Pitt-Rivers, and I know of no higher authority, stated his opinion that "The megalithic monuments . . . take us back to pre-Aryan people, and suggest the spread of this people over the area covered by their remains." 1 Mr. Gomme is of the same opinion (p. 27): "Ceremonies which are demonstrably non-Aryan in India, even in the presence of Aryan people, must in origin have been non-Aryan in Europe, though the
Sergi also points out:— "Indo-Germanism led to almost entire forgetfulness of the most ancient civilisations of the earth, those born in the valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris, and in the valley of the Nile; no influence was granted to them over Greco-Roman classic civilisation, almost none anywhere in the Mediterranean." 1 It is not necessary for me to deal at length with the great Aryan controversy in this book, even if the subject were within my competence, which it is not; but now that we have a large number of monuments dated, say, within twenty years of their use, it is important to bring forward some dates arrived at by archæologists and philologists to compare with those which the astronomical method of inquiry has revealed. Hall 2 gives evidence to show that the Aryans did not reach Greece till after the earlier period of the Mycenæan age, which he dates at about 1700 B.C. With regard to the date of the Aryan invasion of Britain, Mr. Read, of the Department of Ethnography, British Museum, informs me that it may be taken as about 1000 B.C.; it was associated with cremation. It is highly probable that these Aryans were the Goidels or the Gael. These were followed some 700 years later by another Aryan sept—the Brythons. Mr. Read is also of opinion that the Goidels reached Britain from the country round the South Baltic, and the Brythons from or through north-east France.
Gomme (p. 39) also tells us that one of the May practices at Stirling is for boys of ten and twelve years, old to divest themselves of their clothing, and in a state of nudity to run round certain natural or artificial circles. "Formerly the rounded summit of Demyat, an eminence in the Ochil range, was a favourite scene of this strange pastime, but for many years it has been performed at the King's Knot, in Stirling, an octagonal mound, in the Royal Gardens. The performances
Baring-Gould (p. 21) provides us with a practice in Brittany which would seem to be a remnant of a pre-clothing age. Near Carnac is a menhir, at which a singular "ceremony took place till comparatively recently, and may perhaps still be practised, in secret. A married couple that have no family repair to this stone when the moon is full, strip themselves stark naked and course one another round it a prescribed number of times, whilst their relations keep guard against intrusion at a respectful distance." Now it is in connection with this question that I am in hopes that some help may be got from the astronomical results recorded in the present volume. The dates revealed by the orientation of the circles and outstanding stones already dealt with (and there is a large number to follow) indicate that it is among the records of some people of whom the civilisation is very ancient that we must look in the first instance with a view of tracing the origin of our British. monuments. Further, now that we have been able to follow their astronomical methods, to note how sound they were, and to gather, the purposes of utility they were intended to serve, it is simply common sense to inquire, in the first instance, if they may have been connected with these ancient peoples whose astronomical skill is Now, calling in the Babylonians as the originators of what went on in Britain 4,000 years ago may seem to some to be far-fetched in more ways than one; but the Babylonians were a remarkable people; according to some they originated all the voyaging of the early world, though other authorities point out that the first ships in the eastern seas must have been Indian. Ihering 2 adduces a series of facts which indicate clearly that the Babylonians carried on maritime navigation at least as early as about 3500 B.C. But, whatever this time was, the Semites and Egyptians had already a rich culture behind them at a time when the Aryans, whatever or wherever their origin; had not made themselves a place in the world's history. An ancient
It is seen then that it is possible that Semites might have built our stone monuments between 2000 and 1200 B.C., while it is quite certain that the Aryans did not build them, if the archæologists are not widely wrong in their dates. Let us, then, begin our inquiries by considering the information available with regard to the Semites. Let us see in the first instance whether they had stone monuments, and sacred trees and sacred wells; a system of worship; and whether this worship was connected with the sun and stars. It is fortunate for us in this matter that one of the most fully equipped scholars which the last century produced, Robertson Smith, devoted his studies for many years to The Religion of the Semites, and information on the points raised is to our hand; all I need do is to give as shortly as possible a statement of the various conclusions he had reached on the points to which our attention may in the first instance be confined. I quote from his book The Religion of the Semites. The Semites include the Babylonians, who spoke a Semitic dialect, for there were Sumerian speaking peoples among them, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Arabs and Aramæans, who in ancient times occupied the
Monolithic pillars or cairns of stones are frequently mentioned in the more ancient parts of the Old Testament as marking sanctuaries; Shechem, Bethel, Gilead, Gilgal, Mizpah, Gibeon, and En-Rogel are referred to (p. 186). There is evidence that in very early times the sanctuary was a cave (p. 183). The obvious successors of a natural cave are, (1) an artificial cave made in the earth like the natural one, and (2) a model or representation of a cave built of stone, with a small entrance which would be barred, and covered over with earth, thus protecting the priests from wild animals and .the weather: The dolmens and cromlechs which are found in the Semitic area where there are stones doubtless had this origin.
We next learn (pp. 170 and 183) that no Canaanite high place was complete without its sacred tree standing beside the altar. In tree-worship pure and simple as in Arabia, the tree is adored at an annual feast (? May), when it is hung with clothes and women's ornaments (p. 169). The tree at Mecca to which offerings are made is spoken of as a "tree to hang things on." The references to "groves" given in the Bible as associated with temple worship are misleading, "groves" being a wrong translation of the word Asherah, which was a pole made of wood which the Jews adopted from the Canaanites. It was ornamented and perhaps draped, and was most probably originally a tree. It may have been used in the "high places" because single trees would not grow there in the East any more than on the moors in Devon and Cornwall. The antiquity of this emblem is proved by Smith's statement (p. 171) that in an Assyrian monument from
The draping of the tree seems to be proved by the passage which suggested the mistranslation to me before I wrote to some Hebrew scholars among my friends who allowed me to consult them. The passage is as follows (II. Kings, xxiii., 6, 7):— "And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. "And he brake down the houses of the Sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove." To show how little variation there was in the Semitic practices to those recorded in British folklore I may state that one of my friends—one of the revision committee—informed me that his impression was that the Asherah was furnished with pegs or hooks, so that the garments, &c., might be easily hung on it. I next come to the sacred waters. A sacred fountain, as well as the sacred tree, was a common symbol at Semitic sanctuaries (p. 183). Nevertheless, they were sometimes absent, the main place being given to altar worship. Further, Robertson Smith was of opinion that this altar worship did not originate with tree [? or water] worship (p. 170); but still, sacred wells are among the oldest and most ineradicable It is interesting to note that special sanctity was attached to groups of seven wells (p. 167), and that one such group was called Thorayga = Pleiades (p. 153). 1 We may gather from this that one of the most sacred times for Semitic worship was at the May festival, marked by the rising of the Pleiades. Although I do not find many references in Robertson Smith's book as to great festival days, there is other evidence which shows that the May festival was the greatest, and represented New Year's Day. I have already shown that the May-November year is the one recognised in the present Turkish, Armenian and I believe Persian calendars (p. 29). As; this was the year used at Thebes 3200 B.C., we may, take it that at that time it was universal in W. Asia and the adjacent lands. The Jews afterwards adopted the equinoctial year. It seems highly probable that we may learn from
I give some references to these fire practices. "And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech."—Leviticus, xviii., 21. “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, "Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer."—Deuteronomy, xviii., 10, 11. "He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire."—II. Kings, xvi., 3. "And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments."—II. Kings, xvii., 17. "And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son. or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech."—II. Kings, xxiii., 10. (See also 4 and 5.) Fire sacrifices which were interpreted as offerings of fragrant smoke were prevalent among the settled Semites (p. 218). Sacrificial fat was burned on the altar. Smith remarks: "This could be done without any fundamental modification of the old type of sacred stone or altar pillar, simply by making a hollow on the top to receive the grease, and there is some reason to think that fire-altars of this simple kind, which in certain With regard to the worship of the sun and stars by the Semites, we read that the Semite addressed his God as Baal or Bal. The simple form of Baal was the sun. 1 By the Semites the stars were, on account of their movements, held to be alive; they were therefore gods, and it was in consequence of this widespread belief that the stars were worshipped (p. 127). The worshippers "burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, to the moon and to the planets, and, to all the hosts of heaven" (II. Kings, xxiii., 5). Job congratulated himself that his heart had not been enticed, nor his mouth kissed his hand, if he beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in her brightness" (Job, xxxi., 26-27). The worship of the morning star as a god is the old Semitic conception (Isa., xiv., 12), "Lucifer son of the Dawn." We gather from the later practices of the Saracens that the sacrifices to the morning star could not be made after the star had disappeared in the dawn. 2 The God had to be in the presence of the worshippers. The Semitic worship was generally carried on in "high places"; in the Babylonian temples built in a river valley the "high places" were secured by building towers with the sanctuary on the top.
This conclusion practically implies that the bulk of the population of these islands, before the arrival of the Celts, spoke dialects allied to those of North Africa. The syntactical peculiarities must have represented
233:1 Wood-Martin, p. 265. 234:1 Dolmens of Ireland, ii., p. 696. 234:2 Ibid., ii., p. 580. 234:3 Ibid., p. 772. 235:1 Journal Eth. Soc., N.S., i., 64 236:1 Journ. Eth. Soc., N.S., i., 64. 237:1 The Mediterranean Races, p. 4. 237:2 The Oldest Civilisation of Greece, p. 105. 241:1 This I gather from the plan prepared by Lieut. Glascott, R.N., who apparently accompanied Mr. Layard. He indicates the true north point with a sailor's precision in such matters. (See p. 305). 241:2 Evolution of the Aryan, Translation by Drucker, § 32. 243:1 The prevalence of solstitial customs in Sardinia and Corsica, with apparently no trace of the May year, tends to support this view, which is also strengthened by the fact that the solstitial customs in Morocco are very similar to those we read of in Britain: the May year is unnoticed, and there is a second feast at Easter (March 16th). See Westermarck in Folk-lore, vol. xxi., p. 27. 244:1 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.—Exodus, xx., 25. 245:1 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.—Genesis, xxviii., 18, 22. 247:1 Herodotus, iii., 8, refers to an Arabian rite in which seven stones are smeared with blood among peoples whose only gods were Dionysos and Urania, whom they called Orotalt and Alilat. 249:1 Sayce, Babylonians and Assyrians, p. 234. 249:2 Nili op. quaedam (Paris, 1639), pp. 28, 117, quoted by Robertson Smith, p. 151. 250:1 "Pre-Aryan Syntax in Insular Celtic," in the Welsh People, by Rhys and Brynmor-Jones, pp. 617-641.WHERE DID THE BRITISH WORSHIP ORIGINATE?
Footnotes