2nd May
Rood Een
Beltane Fire Festival by Vince Graham. Source: BBC News
Beltane Fires remained blazing throughout this week in old Celtic Britain. In Scotland, the Beltane Carle was chosen by lot to leap through the fire to ensure good fortune throughout the summer season. He had to leap through the fire three times, which will have been dangerous for him, but in a way he was lucky. The rite was a memory of human sacrifice when, in even more ancient times, the unfortunate tribesman chosen by lot will have been thrown onto the flames to placate and please the forbidding old Celtic gods. May Week sacrifice of rams at old sacred sites also continued well into the nineteenth century.
Today is Rood Een, on which night Highland cow sheds used to be draped with honeysuckle and rowan to protect the animals from the malign magic of witches. May Week also saw hiring fairs in which itinerant labourers attended to pick up casual agricultural work for the summer. The hiring farmers of Brigg incentivised attendance at their fairs with free beer, making Brigg Fair one of the most popular.
