On Beltane eve it was common to light
two fires and drive the cattle between them for 'saining' [purifying].
A special bannock was prepared, divided by the number of people
attending, then, before putting the pieces in a bag, one was charred.
Everyone chose one, then the person with the blackened segment jumped
across the embers of the dying fire for good luck. At dawn everyone
arose to welcome the sun and to wash in the May dew, thought to
have been the holy water of the Druids, but, according to oral tradition,
believed to assure beauty. The widespread May dew custom outlasted
the Beltane fire which died out in the 19th century, though 1988
saw the revival of it in Edinburgh. Since then, the Beltane Fire
Festival is held annually on Calton Hill, and combines tradition
with theatre. It is presided over by the May Queen, a Green Man,
several Red and Blue Men, many drummers and dancing maidens. In
1988 approximately 300 people attended, in 1994, over 3,000 and
by 1999 it attracted over 10,000 people.
[Margaret Bennett, SCOTTISH CALENDAR CUSTOMS, in The Oxford Book
of Scottish History, (ed. M. Lynch, 2001)]
Beltane morning is the most special day of the year for visiting
Holy wells such as those at Culloden and Munlochy in the Black Isle.
These wells are known to have healing powers, a belief shared by
many countries (including Ireland, Russia, Latvia and others.) John,
who lives near a well in the Scottish Highlands, was recorded on
Beltane morning:
It's the one day of the annual pilgrimage. I can always remember
one lady that came here and took water from the well for some
friend who was very ill, and who the doctors had said there was
no hope for, and the person had lived for quite considerable
months afterwards, getting the water from the well… Yes,
she did believe it had special powers, [one of which was healing].
["Waters of Life and Health: Well-Worshipping in Scotland",
[in Russian, summary in English],Proceedings of the International
Conference on Ethnic Traditional Culture and Folk Knowledge,
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy
of Sciences, Moscow, 1995.]
Margaret Bennett has a new book in preparation
