- Chapter Twenty-Three -
were already in the habit of uniting the two offices of priest and king. The festival
may have been held at Beltain (1 May) or Lughnasa (1 August), as it was customary
to deck the dogs with flowers. Goats were sacrificed.
As mentioned above, Caesar refers to assemblages of the Carnutes at 'the centre
of Gaul'. It seems probable that the holy place set aside for these formal gatherings
was under or near Chartres Cathedral (Ross 1979-80: 260-9).
As would be expected, the oenaich or assemblies still had some place in the Irish
laws in the eighth century. We learn from Kelly that the king 'also convenes the
aenach, a regular assembly for political, social and perhaps commercial purposes. In
the case of an overking, such an assembly may be attended by people from a number
of tuatha (tribes, peoples). For example, the Oenach Tailten, 'Fair of Tailtiu', is held
each year at the festival of Lughnasad (early August), under the auspices of the
king of Tara. An interesting fragment follows in Kelly (1988: 4) showing the close
organization of these gatherings; 'by attendance at an aenach a person is evidently
felt to have willingly exposed himself to the risk of being killed or injured by horses
or chariots, and there is consequently no recompense for such accidents'.
The king of Meath (Mid e) held the Samain oenach at Uisnech. At the same time,
the king of Tara held his Samain assembly. The king of Meath was exempt from
contribution to the Feast of Tara. Mide comes from the Celtic word ':·medion,
'centre'. The Metrical Dindshenchas (rv.298-9) states: 'for it was great wealth for the
king of Meath, alone among the kings of Erinn, not to contribute to the feast of Tara
Car ba mar an main do righ Midhe seach cach righ a nErinn cen imthuilled fessi
Teamrach]'.
The word ritual in the context of the druids inevitably connotes the human
sacrifice to which the Romans, newly freed from the same practice themselves, took
strong exception. There can be no doubt whatsoever that the druids included this
in their ritual repertoire, but to what extent, how frequently and on what occasions
we have, to date, little knowledge. Archaeology can suggest but can rarely testify
to the practice, but this may not always be the case. New techniques and scientific
developments may provide us with more convincing evidence. Some of the bog
bodies from northern Europe, including Lindow Moss, Cheshire, are generally
accepted as sacrificial victims. Others are marginal cases, and may have been
executions for social sins.
ANIMAL SACRIFICEIt is clear that animals were ritually slain for sacrificial purposes; there is much
evidence both textual and archaeological for this widespread practice. Some of the
most interesting examples of animal sacrifice come from Gaelic Scotland, where
traditions of a clearly archaic nature have survived in remote and rural Celtic
contexts. One of these, much abhorred by the church, persisted at least into the late
eighteenth century. It took place in the month of August on Inis Maree, a little
island "in the loch of that name in Ross and Cromarty. The island is sacred to the
saint Maelrubha. Clearly a Lughnasa ceremony, it consisted of sacrificing bulls to
the saint by the people of the region. An invaluable account of this and other