Lexicographical Neighbors of Needfires
Literary usage of Needfires
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Primitive Manners and Customs by James Anson Farrer (1879)
"... said to be still lighted in Scotland when any man thinks himself the victim
of witchcraft,1 agree closely in ceremonial with the needfires for cattle. ..."
2. Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions by James Bonwick (1894)
"... or needfires. Regular Baal-fires continued in Ayrshire till 1780, and milkmaids
still like to drive their cows through the flames with a rowan stick. ..."
3. Folk-etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions Or Words Perverted in by Abram Smythe Palmer (1882)
"—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth, note to ch. xxvi. needfires used to be lighted
on the occasion of epidemics occurring among cattle, and the custom is ..."
4. Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folk-lore by Walter Keating Kelly (1863)
"In Sweden the smoke of the needfires was believed to have much virtue; it made
fruit- trees productive, and nets that had been hung in it were sure to catch ..."
Other Resources:
