donian lake. In this same lake there is a row of stepping-stones extending into it; and if any one steps on the stones and throws water so as to wet the furthest stone of the series, which is called the Red Altar, it is but a chance that you do not get rain before night, even when it is hot weather.' This helps us to understand the others; for the fact of the furthest stone being called the Red Altar, even supposing it to have been naturally red, which is not suggested, leaves us the word allawr, 'altar,' which cannot be explained except on the supposition, that the slab in the other stories was originally an altar on which to sacrifice to the god. What the sacrifices consisted of, we cannot tell; but it is not improbable that the victims were now and then human, especially in times of great distress or national calamity: in the Celtic instances, the water was thrown on the god's altar instead of being touched with the sacred twig of oak as in Arcadia, when rain was the object of the ceremony.
One at least of these sacred spots retains to this day some of its ancient prestige, namely, the Fountain of Baranton: it is true that it is no longer regarded with the awe which made one of the romancers speak of it as la périlleuse fontaine;[1] for owing to its mineral nature, and the bubbling of its water when a bit of iron or copper is thrown into it, little children amuse themselves, we are told by M. de Villemarqué, by dropping pins into it, whilst addressing it in the most familiar manner, Ris done, fontaine de Berendon. But it still retains its pluvial importance; for in seasons of drought the inhabitants
- ↑ Guest's Mab. note, i. 220.
