"In the parish of Callander, in Perthshire, the people have two customs, which, as they are fast wearing out, not only here but all over the Highlands, ought to be taken notice of while they yet remain. Upon the first day of May, "which is also called Beltan, or Bal-tein day, all the boys of the town-ship or ham"let meet in the moors: they cut a table in the sod of a circular form, by casting a trench in the ground, of such circumference as to hold the whole company: 'they then kindle a fire and dress a repast of eggs and milk, in the consistence of a custard; they also knead a cake of oatmeal, which is baked at the embers against

a stone: after the custard is eaten up, they divide the cake into as many 'pieces as there are persons present, and as similar to one another in size and "shape as possible; they then daub one of the picces all over with char"coal, until it be perfectly black. Having put all the pieces of cake into a bonnet, every one, blindfold, draws out one: he who holds the bonnet is entitled to the "last piece; whoever draws the black bit is the person to be sacrificed to BAAL, "whose favour they mean to implore in rendering the year productive of the sustenance of man and beast. There is little doubt of these inhuman sacrifices having once been offered up in this country as well as in the East, although they now pass over the act of sacrificing and only compel the devoted person to leap through "the fire three times." JAMIESON.. In some places they raise sinall lumps, like nipples, all over the cake, and pour a little of the repast on the ground before they partake of it. There is a very striking parallel to this ceremony in the following passage in the scriptures; "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the "fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to "pour out drink offerings to other gods." Jer. c. vii. v. 18. Comparing the Beltane ceremonies with the above text, we can be at no loss to what origin to refer

these ancient British superstitions; and the Barrows, No. 10, receive a better illustration from it, than from the supposed celts sometimes found in them. I apprehend the large circular trench at Tonbridge Wells to have been one of these Beltane tables, or verdant altars. Is it not probable that the Flat Barrow, with a lump or nipple in the centre, may have been exclusively dedicated to Bealta, and distinguished from those of Baal by this feminine characteristic ?

"In Ireland Bel-tein is celebrated on the 21st of June. In that part of “Britain, having kindled fires on the top of the hills, each member of every family "is made to pass through the flames to insure good fortune through the ensuing "year." JAMIESON. The Irish put out all their fires on this day and rekindle them from the fires of Baal. When at Newport Pagnel, about three years since, I was shown a small Barrow in the vicinity of that town, and was told by some persons present, that when they were children there was a prevailing opinion, that if any one ran nine times round this Barrow without stopping the fairies would appear. My informants added, that several attempted it, but when near the termination of the ceremony, a timid foreboding of what sort of visitors these sprites might be, damped their ardour so that they desisted, before they had fully completed the introductory ceremony. This was, no doubt, a relic of the same superstition existing in the very heart of the country and in the most enlightened times. The practice of jumping through the flames of bon-fires was most probably derived from the thanksgiving fires kindled in honour of Baal, in consequence of victories gained and the human sacrifices, that were offered up on the occasion.

We have now to see what further proofs of the settlement of the Phenicians in this country are to be derived from the different articles found in the ancient

British sepulchres. Of these, a very few will be sufficient for our purpose: I have accordingly selected the following only the first four are from that rich and beautiful storehouse Sir R. C. Hoare's Ancient Wiltshire: the fifth is taken from Borlase's Cornwall; and the remaining two from that excellent work the Nenia Britannica.

The first of this selection, No. 12, is an Urn, taken from a Barrow close to the road from Stonehenge to Amesbury: Sir Richard describes it thus; "This "Barrow produced the largest sepulchral Urn we have yet found; it measures 15 "inches in diameter at top, and is 22 inches high. It varies also most decidedly "in shape and pattern from any other in our collection, on which account we have "named it the STONEHENGE URN.

No. 13 is the drawing of a large elegantly-formed Urn found within the Amesbury station, with four smaller Urns from different Barrows in the same district.

No. 14 exhibits a beautiful Drinking-Cup, about the size of a large tumbler. The dotted circles, and the lines forming the net-work, appear to have been made with the point of a bone or stick, while the clay was moderately soft.

No. 15. Part of a wooden handle of a spear or dagger. In describing this subject, Sir Richard says, "This article exceeds anything we have yet seen both "in design and execution, and could not be surpassed, if indeed equalled, by the "most able workmen of modern times. The British zig-zag, or modern vandyke,