It was a
gulph of darkness, where the baneful animal crept, where the cold,
gliding serpent maddened the sinner with his envenomed tooth, and
hissed the dirge of horror, while the lion prowled along with his
noiseless paw, and hungry wolves devoured those whom for their crimes
on earth the Druids (unable to conquer or correct) condemned to
"Those dark solitudes and awful cells."
No sacred ceremonies could be performed but in the Druid's presence:
they were the guardians of religion, the interpreters of mysteries;
and the foolish "_cunning man_" of the north, who is often consulted
in these days relative to strayed cattle, intended matches, &c. is a
relic of the _"druidh," the wise man_ of the ancient Celts.
[8] Gaelic Antiquities, p. 21.
Sun worship was the original creed; but as abuses crept in, other gods
were variously introduced at the altars, Mercury being the most noted.
The Druids were astronomers, and they divided time, not by the days
but nights;[9] a custom as old as any with which we are acquainted, as
it appears Genesis i.5: "And the _evening_ and the morning were the
first day." Whence we say, to this day, a "se'en _night_"--a "fort
_night_."
[9] Vide Richard of Cirencester.
As the sun was the object of adoration, no wonder that mysteries were
also performed to the moon, riding in silver splendour through azure
space; smiling from her height upon the departed and unseen luminaries
which had sunk over the distant hill, the fearful mind would watch the
lamp of night as a guardian world, or deity, and in the fervour of
gratitude, or under the impulse of fear, would address her as the
mediatrix between man and his deity.
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