which occasioned the noisomest Smell to be burnt, knowing that thereby the Dragons would be driven away. And forasmuch as this Custom was observed about the Time we now celebrate St. John Baptist's Feast, it is therefore still observed among some People. And agreeable to this it is, that Mr. Cambden tells us, that Barnwell, a Village near Came bridge, got its Name from the Children playing about a Well on St. John Baptist's Eve. f The Custom of kindling such Fires, was severely censur'd by the Church: And therefore in the Council of Trullus, this Canon was made against it, * That if any Clergy-man or › Lay-man observed the Rite of making on Fires on the New-Moon, (which some were wont to observe, and according to an old Custom, to leap over them in a mad and foolish Manner,) he should be deposed, if the Former, if the Latter, he should be excommunicated. The Scholiast upon this Canon hath these Words: The New-Moon was always the first Day of the Month, and it was customary among the Jews and Greeks, to hold then a Feast, and pray that they might be lucky dur * Can. 65. n Synod. Trull. ex Bals. P. 440. ing ing the continuance of the Month. Of these it was, that GOD spake by the Prophet: My Soul hateth your New-Moons and your Sabbaths. And not only this, but they also kindled Fires before their Shops and Houses, and leaped over them; imagining that all the Evils which had befallen them formerly, would be burnt away, and that they should be more successful and lucky afterwards. Now about the Sitting of this Synod, there were some of the Christians, who observed this Custom upon the same Accounts that the Heathens did, which occasioned its being forbid by the Council; and that if a Clergyman was Guilty of it, he should be deposed; if a Lay-man, excommunicated. He also tells us, that on St. John Baptist's Eve, the Vulgar were wont to make on Fires for the whole Night, and leap over them, and draw Lots, and Divine about their good or evil Fortune. But whatever Reason the Heathens had for kindling these Fires; whether as Durandus thinks, that the lustful Dragons might be driven away, or as the Canon, that their evil Fortune might be burnt, it is certain that the Custom was invented and practised by them ; and because of the Superstition attending the Obser Observation of it, was very justly forbidden by the Council. And undoubtedly was the Making of such Fires now, attended with any such Superstition, it would be equally crimi nal to observe them, But* when they are only kindled as Tokens of Joy, to excite innocent Mirth and Diversion, and promote Peace and good Neighbourhood, they are lawful and innocent, and deserve no Censure. And therefore when on Midsummer-Eve, St. Peter's-Eve, and at some other Times, we make + Bonfires before Shops and Houses, there would be no Harm in doing so; was it' not, that some continue their Diversion to too late Hours, and others are guilty of excessive Drinking. * Rogos quos nos Angli Bonefires vocamus, & in publica lætitia & gaudiis adhibemus, non obstante isto canone. Mountag. P. 130. ↑ I suppose they were called Bonefires, because that generally they were made of Bones. For as Belithus tells us, Adversus hæ ergo hujusmodi inventum est remedium, ut videlicet rogus ex ossibus construereter, & ita fumus hujusmodi animalia fugaret. Belith. in Vigil. S. Joan. That to prevent the Infection before mentioned, they were wont to make on Fires of Bones, that the Smoke might drive away the Dragons. OBSERVATIONS ON CHAP. XXVII. Srow tells us in his Survey of London, "That on the Vigil of St. John Baptist, every Man's "Door being shadowed with green Birch, long * *The subsequent Extract from the antient Calendar of the Romish Church, shews what doings there were at Rome on this Eve. Junius. tistæ. June, 23. Vigilia natalis Joannis Bap- 23. The Vigil of the Nativity of John Baptist. Spices are given. Aromata dantur Vesperis. Puella cum parvo Tympano, avaros. Fires made on. A Girl with a little Drum, that proclaims the Garland. Boys are dressed in Girls' Cloaths. Carrols to the liberal, Imprecations to the avaritious. Aquæ in nocte natantur: & pen- | Waters are swum in during the siles ad vaticinium feruntur. Night: They are fetched in Vessels that hang for the Pur poses of Divination. Filix vulgo in precio est propter | Fern is of vulgar Estimation be semen, Herba diversi generis quæruntur | et multa fiunt. Carduus puellarum legitur, & ab eisdem centum cruces. cause of the Seed. Herbs of different Kinds are sought and many Things done. Girls' Thistle is gathered hundred Crosses by the same. a 24. Nativitas Joannis Baptistæ:24. John Baptist's Birth Day: dew ros et novæ frondes in precio. Solstitium vulgare. and new Leaves in Estimation. The vulgar Solstice. The following Extract from Dr. Moresin illustrates not a little both these Observations in the antient Calendar, and Stow's Account. Apud nostros quoque Proavos, inolevit longa Annorum serie persuasio artemesiam in Festis Divo Joanni Baptistæ sacris, ante domos suspensam, item alios frutices et plantas, atque etiam Candelas, facesque designatis quibusdam diebus celebrioribus aqua lustrali rigatas, &c. contra Tempestates, fulmina, Tonitrua & adversus Diaboli potestatem, &c.-quosdam incendere ipso die Joannis Bap, tistæ fasciculum lustratarum herbarum contra tonitrua, fulmina, &c. Deprav. Rel. Orig. p. 28. "Fennel, "Fennel, St. John's Wort, Orpin, white Lillies, and "such like, garnished upon with Garlands of beau"tiful Flowers,* had also Lamps of Glass, with "Oil burning in them all the Night: Some hung "out Branches of Iron, curiously wrought, con taining Hundreds of Lamps lighted at once." He mentions also the Bone-firest in the Streets, every, Man bestowing Wood or Labour towards them.He seems to hint that these were kindled to purify the Air... Dr. Moresin seems to be of Opinion, that the Custom of leaping over these Fires is a Vestige of the Ordeal, where passing through Fires with Safety, * Toral, seu Toralium antiquo tempore dicebatur florum et herbarum suaveolentium manipulus, seu plures in restim colligati, qui suspendebantur ante Thalamorum & Cubilium fores: et in papatu ad S. Joannis mutuato more suspendunt ad Oslia & januas hujusmodi Serta est restes & sæpius ad aras. Moresini Deprav. Rel. Orig. 171. Mr. Bourne supposes these to have been called Bone-Fires, because they were generally made of Bones.-Stow in the cited Passage above, tells us of Men's finding Wood or Labour towards them. This seem to oppose his Opinion.-The learned Dr. Hickes also gives a very different Etymon. He defines a Bone-Fire to be a Festive or triumphant Fire. In the Islandic Language, says he, Baal signifies a Burning. In the Anglo Saxon, Bæl-fyr by a Change of Letters of the same Organ is made Bæn-fyr, whence our Bone-Fire. See that stupendous Monument of learned Industry his Thesaurus. Flammam transiliendi mos videtur etiam priscis Græciæ temporibus usurpatus fuisse, deque eo versus Sophoclis in Antigone quosdam intelligendos putant: Cum enim rex Creon Polynicis cadaver humare prohibuisset, Antigone autem ipsius Soror illud humo contexisset, custodes, ut mortis pœnam à rege constitutam vitarent, dicebant se paratos esse ferrum candens manibus contrectare & per pyram incedere. Hotom. disput. de Feudis. Cap. 44. hic mos Gallis, Germanis, et post Christianismum remansit etiam Pontificibus: et |