Shetland Folk-Lore
erected on the occasion of some remarkable event, as a battle; or they may have been set up to perpetuate the memory of some brave chief. Perhaps they have been raised as witnesses to some covenant between contending or stipulating parties; or lastly, they may have been to the ancient Picts what the Parish Kirk is to the modern inhabitants—a place of worship, where they devoutly assembled under the canopy of heaven to offer their devotions to the Sun-god.
The worship of Baal was perhaps the most widespread of all the ancient beliefs. Its mysteries and bloody rites were observed in the plains of India and on the “high places” of these remote islands. Still a faint memory of it lingers in the fires the children in some places light on midsummer night (Johnsmas), and as of old the priests of Baal danced round their sacred fires, so the boys leap over the flame—thus passing through the fire to
Baal. On the other hand, the standing
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