The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-02-16
The Monuments of the Past on
Salisbury Plains.
THE TEMPLES OF THE DRUIDs
Something Of the History of this Peculiar sect
The Significance of the Mistletoe-
Unique Ceremony.
For THE SUNDAY HERALD. !

Id SN00o OoAlPiotc anu Ills reputation as a trs
a Weller fully sustained, without a persons
at inspection of the famous ruins at Ston
st henge
"a Inese strange monuments of the past al
ne situated on the great Salisbury plain
Within less than ten miles of the histori
Town OF Salisbury, and nearer still t
oarum, the site of an ancient British for
m ress, and of still more ancient hall. tn
Is hoors OF which were trod by Caesar an
s. his fierce followers. Many great scene
y have been enacted upon that spot Their
e IL was that the Saxon Alfred received rec
It ognition of his title as emperor, and had hi
u name enrolled among that small brother
q mood OF men known as 1.-The Great;n Their,
: TOO In latter day the Danes taught humil
= lty and submission to the Saxons: anG
a there William of Normandy extorted from
1 all the Warllke leaders of Britain an oath
OF allegiance to his authority and power.
G Inc massive walls as now standing are
1our yards through, and if their component
' parts were the 'stones that speak, surely
+ they could tell story that would cast the
shadows of insignifcance upon many of the
! wonders of written history.
, But let this suffice for Sarum. it is of
Stonehelge that we propose to speak The
observer OF these ancient structures ex-
perlences other pleasures than that of curl
oslty gratltied. We speak of these ruins in
the plural, because of the many separate
monollths that stand exposed to view,
though they were without doubt erected as
glgantlc parts of one stupendous whole. all
IN realization of single predominant idea.
Approaching the place from the city. one
llfst observes an upright pillar of stone
sixteen feet in height, and of other propor
lions correspondingly massive; and nextis
seen horizontal block, slightly followed
On the upper surface; this latter is popu
larly called the death stone.u beca 1se of a
belief soon to be mentioned The main
structure consists of two circles of heavy
pillars, the outer ring at least hundred
yards around, and the smaller one near
half these dimensions. There are in all 14O
pillars, many of which are now PROSTATE.
The stones are not of uniform size but all
are massive, many of them weighing from
twenty-five to thirty tons apiece. On the
tops of the uprights, passing from one to
another, blocks are laid, so as to form when
all was complete two uninterrupted circles
OF stone. Within these enclosures an altar
and accessories are found
we can but theorize (why shall we not
not use the proper term, and say we can
put guess as to the origin and purpose of |
this strange edifice. Its appearance is sug
gestlve OF an ancient temple, perhaps dedi- !
Gated to the rites of some form of Pagan |
worship. BY visiting other parts of Eng
land, and certain portions of France and Of |
Germany, we conclude that Stonehenge is
not entirely unique occurrence, though it
IS undoubtedly the chief of it's kind. for in
the regions named similar though smaller
ruins abound
historians generally believe these to
nave been the temples of the Druids-a
class of priests frequently mentioned bv
the early writers, but whose nature is en-
yeloped in clouds of mystery Caesar in
the sixth book OF his Gallo war, states that
In ancient Gaul the order of the Druids
ranked in dignity andpower next the mon
arch. These priests were not only the re-
iiglous teachers of the people, but likewise
tne makers and eXpounders of the law. and
thelf decisions were final For disrespect
TO their Judgments they had the power to
inlet heavy penalties, among which ostra-
clSm or even perpetual bauishmeot from
society was common.
Inc road to this station of dignity and
power was not an easy one to travel.
twenty years of arduous labor being de-
manded as training. The novices received
all their instruction orally from priests of
long standing, and the branches studied in
cleoed astrology. mythology, some natural
science, and theology. Among the Druids s
there were three classes or ranks, the t
oards, the Yates or junior prophets, and the
priests proper, and all were presided over
by the Arch Druid, whose authority in tenn {
poral matters was supreme. i
Ihefc is uncertainty as to the derivation I
and meaning of the word Druid ole ex !
planatlon which was accepted as long ago !,
as the days Of Pliny the elder, is that il '
sprang from the Greek "drusn-an oak. so /
applied because of the veneration in which
that tree was held by the priests. tt is
known that the Druids loved to spend their v
June u IN oak forests because of the peaceful
there to be found. Everything C
pertaining to the tree was considered by a
them sacred, but especially was this true +
o1 the mlstletoe, parasitic evergreen fire. ;,
luently found upon the stems of apple and l
other fruit trees, and rarely on the oak. It
was only when growing upon the king of v
)1 the forest however, that the mistletoe
possessed any special significance to these
Vorshlpers; but when SO found, it was il
;alied by them ''all heal - and was consid Il
'red to be imbued with great medicinal p
'irtues In such cases it was cut from the :.
rec with golden blade and was caught as y
u Iell III waite clotn held below; the sew q
ring was performed with great ceremony W
'y whlte-robed priest, q pair Of white 81
pulls being sacrificed on the spot y
Tney had among tnem a most Incredible III
story concerning the anguineum or SER b
'ents egg, which the priest constantly W
Eore suspended by string about the neck. +,
his egg they claimed WAS no comm On pro- "
lucbon OF the reptiles body, but was a
m own from the frothy emanations Of ser L
,entS' mouths when several of them were
tot cher in deadly combat. and
was Of efficacy only to the priest who
ucceeded II catching it before it touched q,
he ground y
liz is certain that animal sacrifices formed VI
ID important part o the Druid's rites and III
hat upon special occasions human beings d
net their fate upon the sacred affairs In A.
consequence OF this one Of the blocks at \,
,tonenenge has been named the death "
tone, as already stated. The main altar &c
ituated within the inner court of this vast q,
emple was so placed that at the mon emit of /,
unrise on the morning of the summer SOL 10 =,
tice the shadow of the chief pillar fell IL
cross the centre, and this was one of the V
ines at which human heart was torn re
rom the living body and held aloft as a
reputation to the SUM-
The Romans soon after their invasion of OF
'ritain, showed their disgust for these al
ractlceS, which they did not hesitate TO II,
eclare barbaious. During their supre :.
lacy in the island, Druidism was greatly VI
lrrailed: in fact its observances were
rae ilcally prohibited except upon the isle lie
Mona, now called Anglesea Finally, ".
uetonlus Polinius determined to storm :,
nd aemoiish this last stronghold of the u
Ger. Tacitus has left US vigorous de- fe
:riptlon OF the impassioned manner in til
men the Inflated priests assembled be- Cd
ne Ine kom an leglons. as they landed. -
'terlng lEprecatlons over Unelr neaus. ~
rrlDle That the valiant warriors were for To
time completely awed. Druidesses-for Rt
omen were admitted to certain degrees of or
e pilestiy poWer-ran among the combat co
no oply, /