This was called the _Lamuralia_, and its
purport was to propitiate the favour of the ghosts or spirits of their
ancestors. I am of opinion that the English May feasts are a survival of
the _Floralia_, and, as kept during the middle ages, were not free from
some of the indecencies of the _Floralia_. In my remembrance, the first
of May, in the country west of Glasgow, was honoured by decking the
houses with tree branches and flowers. Horses were also similarly
decked. The Church did not attempt to abolish these heathen festivals,
but endeavoured to dominate them, and substitute for legends of heathen
origin connected with them legends of Church origin. In this they
partly succeeded. The following account of the Beltane festival, as it
was kept in some districts in Perthshire at the close of last century,
taken from the statistical accounts of certain parishes, will shew how
persistent these ancient customs were, and also how some other festivals
latterly became amalgamated and identified with Beltane:--
"In the Parish of Callander, upon the first day of May," says the
minister of the parish, "all the boys in the town or hamlet meet on the
moors.
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