whole length of the great reptile, and across the dark lake, to the threefold peaks
of Ben Cruachan. That this position was intentionally selected is evident from
the fact that the three peaks are visible from no other point.
And hence arises the not wholly fanciful conjecture that the people who erected
the great mound had some dim idea of the Triune character of GOD. The serpent
was the emblem of His wisdom, as the solar circle was of His Eternal Unity; and
this marked reverence for the triple-peaked mountain seems to indicate that with
a knowledge of His unity was combined a recognition of His threefold
manifestation.
The writer whom we have already quoted remarks that, whatever doubts may
arise on speculative points, the clearly defined outlines of the great Serpent-
mound of Oban are beyond dispute; though it may long prove a fertile subject
for discussion, whether its serpentine, or rather, Saurian form is to be accepted as
direct evidence of ophiolatry in this land, or whether we should regard it as
simply the representative of some tribe,—as, in short, a Totem of some extinct
British race answering to the Nagas, or snake-tribes of the East. The former
supposition seems the more reasonable, when we remember that the serpent and
the serpent’s egg were held sacred by the Druids. Serpent-worship prevailed in
every nation of antiquity. It flourished in Greece and Rome, in Egypt and
Chaldea, in Arabia and Central Asia; it extended throughout the Indian peninsula
from Cape Comorin to Kashmir; it was practised in Ceylon and the islands of the
eastern seas; in Mexico and Peru; throughout the whole of Africa. Passing
northward, we find that it existed in Scythia and Scandinavia, as also among vast
tribes near the Oural mountains and throughout Northern Europe, and
particularly among the tribes on the Ob or Obi river, which owes its name, it is
said, to the veneration paid to the reptile. Until the end of the fourteenth century,
when Christianity was introduced, the people of Poland worshipped domestic
serpents, which were allowed to run free in every house, and carefully tended,
every mishap that occurred being attributed to some negligence in their service.
The Lapps, the Finns, the Norwegians, the Swedes, the Danes, all fostered these
strange household gods, and shared with them the children’s milk. The Vandals
also kept them; some lived in hollow trees, and thither repaired the women, with
their offerings of milk, as is common at the present day in Ceylon and many
parts of India. Long after they had accepted the faith of CHRIST, the Lombards
continued a form of serpent-worship, adoring, or paying homage to, a golden
viper and a tree. In 663, Barbatus, Bishop of Benevento, finding the custom still
observed, made a successful appeal to the worshippers to cut down the tree, and