The Religion of the Ancient Celts

422 Pages·2012·20.23 MB·English

by  John Arnott MacCulloch

6L
THE RELIGION
'
OF THE
ANCIENT CELTS
BY
MacGulloch
A.
J.
HON. D.D.(ST. ANDREWS); HON. CANON OF CUMBRAE CATHEDRAL
AUTHOR OF "COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY"
"religion: its origin and forms" "the misty isle OF skye"
THECHILDHOODOFFICTION ASTUDYOFFOLK-TALESANDPRIMITIVETHOUGHT'
' :
Edinburgh: T. & T. CLARK, 38 George Street
1911
Printedby
Morrison & Gibb Limited,
for
T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH.
LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED.
NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
TO
ANDKEW LANG
PREFACE
The scientific study of ancient Celtic religion is a thing of
recent growth. As a result of the paucity of materials for
such a study, earlierwritersindulged in the wildest speculative
flights and connected the religionwith the distant East, or saw
in it the remains of a monotheistic faith or a series of esoteric
doctrines veiled under polytheistic cults. With the works of
MM. Gaidoz, Bertrand, and D'Arbois de Jubainville in
France, as well as by the publication of Irish texts by such
scholars as Drs. Windisch and Stokes, a new era may be said
to have dawned, and a flood of light was poured upon the
scanty remains of Celtic religion. In this country the place
of honour among students of that religion belongs to Sir John
Rhys, whose Hibbert Lectures On the Origin and Growth of
Religion as illustrated by Celtic Heathendom (1886) was an
epoch-making work. Every student of the subject since
that time feels the immense debt which he owes to the
indefatigable researches and the brilliant suggestions of Sir
John Khys, and I would be ungrateful if I did not record my
indebtedness to him. In his Hibbert Lectures, andin his later
masterly work on The Arthurian Legend, however, he took the
standpoint of the " mythological" school, and tended to see in
PREFACE
viii
the old stories myths of the sun and dawn and the darkness,
and in the divinities sun-gods and dawn-goddesses and a host
of dark personages of supernatural character. The present
writer, studying the subject rather from an anthropological
point of view and in the light of modern folk survivals, has
found himself in disagreement with Sir John Rhys on more
than one occasion. But he is convinced that Sir John would
be the last person to resent this, and that, in spite of his
mythological interpretations,his HibbertLecturesmustremain
as a source ofinspiration toall Celticstudents. More recently
the studies of M. Salomon Reinach and of M. Dottin, and the
valuablelittle bookon Celtic Religion,byProfessorAnwyl, have
broken fresh ground.1
In this book I have made use of all the available sources,
and have endeavoured to study the subject from the compara-
tive point of view and in the light of the anthropological
method. I have also interpreted the earlier cults by means of
recent folk-survivals over the Celtic area wherever it has
seemed legitimate to do so. The results are summarised in
the introductory chapter of the work, and students of religion,
and especially of Celtic religion, mustjudge how far they form
a true interpretation of the earlier faith of our Celtic fore-
fathers, much of which resembles primitive religion and folk-
belief everywhere.
Unfortunatelyno Celt left an account of his own religion,
1 Seealsorayarticle 'Celts'inHastings' EncyclopaediaofReligionandEthics,
vol. iii.
PREFACE
ix
and we are left to our own interpretations, more or less valid,
of the existing materials,and to the light shed on them by the
comparative study of religions. As this book was written
during a long residence in the Isle of Skye, where the old
language of the people still survives, and where the genius
loci speaks everywhere of things remote and strange, it may
have been easier to attempt to realise the ancient religion
there than in a busier or more prosaic place. Yet at every
point I have felt how much would have been gained could
an old Celt or Druid have revisited his former haunts, and
permitted me to question him on a hundred matters which
must remain obscure. But this, alas, might not be !
I have to thank Miss Turner and Miss Annie Gilchrist for
valuable helprendered in the work of research,and the London
Library for obtaining for me several works not already in its
possession. Its stores are an invaluable aid to all students
working at a distance from libraries.
J. A. MaoCulloch.
The Rectory,
Bridge of Allan,
October 1911.
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I. INTRODUCTORY . 1
II. THE CELTIC PEOPLE 8
III. THE GODS OF GAUL AND THE CONTINENTAL CELTS 22
IV. THE IRISH MYTHOLOGICAL CYCLE 49
V. THE TUATHA D£ DANANN 63
VI. THE GODS OP THE BRYTHONS . 95
VII. THE CUCHULAINN CYCLE 127
VIII. THE FIONN SAGA 142
IX. GODS AND MEN. 158
X. THE CULT OP THE DEAD 165
'"XI. PRIMITIVE NATURE WORSHIP . 171
XII. RIVER AND WELL WORSHIP 181
1. XIII. TREE AND PLANT WORSHIP 198
XIV. ANIMAL WORSHIP 208
XV. COSMOGONY 227
....
XVI. SACRIFICE, PRAYER, AND DIVINATION 233
XVII. TABU 252
u
XVIII. FESTIVALS 256
5. XIX. ACCESSOR.IES O.F CUL.T . . 279
(, • XX. THE DRUIDS 293
"\, XXI. MAGIC 319
v(XXII. THE STATE OF THE DEAD 333
....
XXIII. REBIRTH AND TRANSMIGRATION 348
XXIV. ELYSIUM 362
,,
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES
THROUGHOUT THIS WORK
(This listisnotaBibliography.)
Brand Rev. J. Brand, Observations on the Popular An-
tiquitiesofGreatBritain. 3 vols. 1870.
Blanchet A. Blanchet, Traitedesmonnaiesgauloises. 2vols.
Paris, 1905.
Bertrand A. Bertrand, Religiondesgaulois. Paris, 1897.
WHT
Campbell, J. F. Campbell, Popular Tales of the WestHigh-
lands. 4 vols. Edinburgh, 1890.
LF. . ,, LeabharnaFeinne. London, 1872.
Campbell, Superstitions J. G. Campbell, SuperstitionsoftheHighlandsand
IslandsofScotland. 1900.
,, Witchcraft , WitchcraftandSecondSightintheHigh•
landsandIslandsofScotland. 1902.
CORMAC . Cormac's Glossary. Tr. by J. O'Donovan. Ed.
byW. Stokes. Calcutta, 1868.
Courcelle-Seneuil J. L. Courcelle-Seneuil, Les dieux gaulois d'aprLs
lesmonumentsfiguris. Paris, 1910.
CCIML . CorpusInscriptionumLatinarum. Berlin, 1863f.
. CelticMagazine. Inverness, 1875f.
Curtin, HTI . J. Curtin,Hero TalesofIreland. 1894.
,, Tales . , Tales ofthe Fairiesand Ghost World.
1895.
Dalzell . SirJ. G. Dalzell, DarkerSuperstitionsofScotland.
1835.
D'Arbois . H. D'Arbois de Jubainville, Cours de litterature
celtique. 12 vols. Paris, 1883-1902.
,, LesCeltes ,, Les Celtes. Paris, 1904.
,, LesDruides ,, Les Druides et les dieux celtiques a
formesd'animaux. Paris, 1906.
PH
„ ,, Les premiers habitants de VEurope.
2 vols. Paris, 1889-1894.
Dom Martin Dom Martin, Le religion des gaulois. 2 vols.
Paris, 1727.
Dottin G. Dottin, Manuelpour servir a Vttude de Van-
tiquiticeltique. Paris, 1906.
Elton C. I. Elton, OriginsofEnglishHistory. London,
1890.
Frazer, GB* J. G. Frazer, GoldenBough2. 3 vols. 1900.
xiii
XIV LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Guest Lady Guest, The MaMnogion. 3 vols. Llan-
dovery, 1849.
Hazlitt . W. C. Hazlitt,FaithsandFolk-lore: ADictionary
ofNationalBeliefs, Superstitions,and
Popular Customs. 2 vols. 1905.
HOLDER A. Holder, Altceltischer Sprachschatz. 3 vols.
.
Leipzig, 1891f.
Hull MissE. Hull, TheCuchullinSaga. London,1898.
IT. See Windisch-Stokes
JA1 . JournaloftheAnthropologicalInstitute. London,
1871f.
Joyce, OCR P.W. Joyce, OldCelticRomances2. London, 1894.
„ P& ,, History of Irish Names of Places*.
2vols. London, 1901.
„ SR ,, Social History of Ancient Ireland.
2 vols. London, 1903.
JULLIAN C. Jullian, Recherches sur la religion gauloise.
Bordeaux, 1903.
Keating Keating, History of Ireland. Tr. O'Makony-
London, 1866.
Kennedy P. Kennedy, LegendaryFictionsoftheIrish Celts.
1866.
Larminie W.Larminie, WestIrishFolk-TalesandRomances.
1893.
Leahy Leahy, Heroic Romances of Ireland. 2 vols.
London, 1905.
Le Braz A. LeBraz, LaLegende delaMortchezlesBretons
armoricains. 2vols. Paris, 1902.
LL . Leabhar Laignech (Book of Leinster), facsimile
reprint. London, 1880.
Loth Loth, LeMabinogion. 2vols. Paris, 1889.
LU . Leabhar na h-Uidhre (Book of the Dun Cow),
facsimilereprint. London, 1870.
MacBain . A. MacBain,EtymologicalDictionaryofthe Gaelic
Language. Inverness, 1896.
Macdougall Macdougall, FolkandHero Tales. London, 1891.
Mackinlay J. M. Mackinlay, Folk-lore of Scottish Lochs and
Springs. Glasgow, 1893.
Martin . M. Martin, Description of the Western Islands of
Scotland'2. London, 1716.
Maury A. Maury, Croyances et legendes du Moyen Age.
Paris, 1896.
MONNIER . D. Monnier, Traditions populaires compares.
Paris, 1854.
Moore A. W. Moore, Folk-lore oftheIsleofMan. 1891.
Nutt-Meyer A. Nutt and K. Meyer, The Voyage of Bran.
2 vols, London, 1895-1897.
.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xv
O'CURRY, MC . E. O'Curry, Manners and Customs of theAncient
Irish. 4 vols. London, 1873.
MS. Mat. . ,, MS. MaterialsofAncientIrishHistory.
Dublin, 1861.
O'Grady . S. H. O'Grady, Silva Gadelica. 2vols. 1892.
Rees . Rev. W. J. Rees, Lives of Cambro-BritishSaints.
Llandovery, 1853.
Reinach, BF . S. Reinach, BronzesFigure's de la Gauleromaine.
Paris, 1900.
,, Catal. Sommaire ,, Catalogue Sommaire du MusdedesAn-
tiquesNationales4. Paris.
CMR ,, Cultes, Mythes, et Religions. 2 vols.
Paris, 1905.
RC . Revue Celtique. Paris, 1870f.
Renel C. Renel, Religionsde la Gaule. Paris, 1906.
Rhys, AL SirJohn Rhys, The Arthurian Legend. Oxford,
1891.
CB* ,, CelticBritain*. London, 1908.
CFL ,, CelticFolk-Lore. 2vols. Oxford, 1901.
HL ,, Hibbert Lectures on Celtic Heathendom.
London, 1888.
Sebillot . P. Sebillot, La Folk-lore de la France. 4 vols.
Paris, 1904f.
Skene W.F.Skene,FourAncientBooksofWales. 2vols.
Edinburgh, 1868.
Stokes, TIG . Whitley Stokes, ThreeIrish Glossaries. London,
1862.
,, Trip. Life ,, The TripartiteLifeofPatrick. London,
1887.
US . ,, Urkeltischer Sprachschatz. Gottingen,
1894(inFick's Vergleichende Wiirter-
buch4
).
Taylor . I. Taylor, Origin oftheAryans. London, n.d.
TSC TransactionsofSociety ofCymmrodor.
TOS. Transactions of the Ossianic Society. Dublin,
1854-1861.
Trip. Life. SeeStok
Wilde LadyWilde, Ancient LegendsandSuperstitionsof
Ireland. 2vols. 1887.
Windisch, Tdin E. Windisch, Die altirische Heldensage Tain B6
Cualgne. Leipzig, 1905.
Windisch-Stokes, IT E. Windisch and W. Stokes, Irische Texte. Leip-
zig, 1880f.
Wood-Martin . Wood-Martin, Elder Faiths ofIreland. 2 vols.
London, 1903.
ZCP. Zeitschriftfilr CeltischePhilologie. Halle, 1897f.