Editing Beltane (section)

===Ancient and medieval===
Beltane (the beginning of summer) and Samhain (the beginning of winter) are thought to have been the most important of the four Celtic festivals. [[Sir James George Frazer]] wrote in ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]'' that the times of Beltane and Samhain are of little importance to European crop-growers, but of great importance to herdsmen practising seasonal [[transhumance]]. Thus, he suggests that the festival has [[Pastoralism|pastoral]] origins.<ref>[[James George Frazer|Frazer, Sir James George]]. ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]''. Forgotten Books, 2008. p.&nbsp;644</ref>

The earliest mention of Beltane is in [[Old Irish literature]] from [[Gaelic Ireland]]. The early-[[10th century]] text {{lang|mga|[[Sanas Cormaic]]}} (Cormac's Glossary) has an entry for "Belltaine" and derives it from ''bil-tene'', "lucky fire". It says that to protect cattle from disease, the [[druid]]s used to light two fires "with great incantations" and drive the cattle between them.<ref>Stokes, Whitley (ed.) and John O'Donovan (tr.). ''Sanas Cormaic: Cormac's Glossary''. Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society. Calcutta: O.T. Cutter, 1868.</ref> In another entry, ''Sanas Cormaic'' says that Belltaine means "fire of Bel", explaining that Bel, Bil or Bial was a god and that "a fire was kindled in his name at the beginning of summer".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/sanaschormaicco00stokgoog/page/n40/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater&q=belltaine | title=Sanas Chormaic. Cormac's glossary | date=1868 | publisher=Calcutta, Printed by O. T. Cutter for the Irish Archeological and Celtic Society }}</ref> Some scholars suggest that this might have been the Celtic healing god [[Belenos]], although there is no other mention of Bel in Old Irish writings.<ref name=hutton/> Other scholars suggest that the writer was attempting to link the druidic fires with the Biblical god [[Baal]].<ref name=hutton/>

The medieval tale {{lang|mga|[[Tochmarc Emire]]}} (The Wooing of Emer) gives the same description of Beltaine. It says that it marks the beginning of summer, and calls Beltaine and Samhain (the beginning of winter) the two main divisions of the year.<ref>[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T301021/index.html ''The Wooing of Emer by Cú Chulainn'' – Translated by Kuno Meyer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214050615/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T301021/index.html |date=14 February 2013 }}. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Beltane {{!}} ancient Celtic festival|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beltane|access-date=8 March 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=14 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214060935/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beltane|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to 17th-century historian [[Geoffrey Keating]], there was a great gathering at the hill of [[Uisneach]] each Beltane in medieval Ireland, where a sacrifice was made to a god named [[Belenus|Beil]]. Keating wrote that two bonfires would be lit in every district of Ireland, and cattle would be driven between them to protect them from disease.<ref>Keating, Geoffrey. [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/index.html ''The History of Ireland'' – Translated by David Comyn and Patrick S. Dinneen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222033517/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/index.html |date=22 February 2013 }}. CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts.</ref> There is no reference to such a gathering in [[Irish annals|the annals]], but the medieval ''[[Dindsenchas]]'' (lore of places) includes a tale of a hero lighting a holy fire on Uisneach that blazed for seven years. Ronald Hutton writes that this may "preserve a tradition of Beltane ceremonies there", but adds "Keating or his source may simply have conflated this legend with the information in ''Sanas Chormaic'' to produce a piece of pseudo-history".<ref name=hutton/> Nevertheless, excavations at Uisneach in the 20th century found evidence of large fires and charred bones, and showed it to have been a place of ritual since ancient times.<ref name=hutton/><ref name="patterson2">Patterson, Nerys. ''Cattle Lords and Clansmen: The Social Structure of Early Ireland''. University of Notre Dame Press, 1994. p.&nbsp;139</ref><ref name="mackillop">MacKillop, James. ''A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford University Press, 1998. pp.&nbsp;39, 400–402, 421</ref> Evidence suggests it was "a sanctuary-site, in which fire was kept burning perpetually, or kindled at frequent intervals", where [[animal sacrifice]]s were offered.<ref>Schot, Roseanne (2006). "[https://www.academia.edu/12163521/Uisneach_Midi_a_med%C3%B3n_%C3%89renn_a_prehistoric_cult_centre_and_royal_site_in_Co._Westmeath Uisneach Midi a medón Érenn: a prehistoric cult centre and royal site in Co. Westmeath]". ''Journal of Irish Archaeology'', issue 15. pp.47–66</ref>

Beltane is also mentioned in medieval Scottish literature.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/beltane |title=Dictionary of the Scots Language :: DOST :: Beltane n. |website=www.dsl.ac.uk |access-date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=1 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501184654/https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/beltane |url-status=live }}</ref> An early reference is found in the poem 'Peblis to the Play', contained in the [[Maitland Manuscripts]] of 15th- and 16th-century Scots poetry, which describes the celebration in the town of [[Peebles]].<ref name="tracscotland.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.tracscotland.org/sites/default/files/May%20Songs%20and%20Rhymes_0.pdf |title=The Songs and Rhymes of May |website=Traditional Arts & Culture Scotland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215143738/http://www.tracscotland.org/sites/default/files/May%20Songs%20and%20Rhymes_0.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2018 |access-date=15 February 2018}}</ref>