Need-fire
Encyclopedia
Need-fire, or Wild-fire a term used in folklore
to denote a curious superstition
which survived in the Scottish Highlands
until a recent date.
Like the fire-churning still customary in India
for kindling the sacrificial fire, the need- or wild-fire is made by the friction of one piece of wood on another, or of a rope upon a stake. Need-fire is a practice of shepherd peoples to ward off disease from their herds and flocks. It is kindled on occasions of special distress, particularly at the outbreak of a murrain
, and the cattle are driven through it. Its efficacy is believed to depend on all other fires being extinguished.
The kindling of the need-fire in a village near Quedlinburg
was impeded by a night light burning in the parsonage (Heinrich Pröhle
, Harzbilder, Leipzig, 1855). According to one account, in the Highlands of Scotland the rule that all common fires must be previously extinguished applied only to the houses situated between the two nearest running streams (Kelly, Curiosities of Judo-European Tradition and Folklore, p. 53 seq.).
In Bulgaria
even smoking during need-fire is forbidden. Two naked men produce the fire by rubbing dry branches together in the forest, and with the flame they light two fires, one on each side of a cross-road haunted by wolves. The cattle are then driven between the two fires, from which glowing embers are taken to rekindle the cold hearths in the houses (A Strauss, Die Bulgaren, p. 198).
In Caithness
the men who kindled the need-fire had previously to divest themselves of all metal. In some of the Hebrides
the men who made the fire had to be eighty-one in number and all married. In the Halberstadt district in Germany, the rope which was wound round the stake, must be pulled by two chaste boys; while at Wolfenbüttel
, contrary to usual custom, it is said that the need-fire had to be struck out of the cold anvil by the smith. In England the need-fire is said to have been lit at Birtley within the last half of the 18th century. The superstition had its origin in the early ideas of the purifying nature of flame.
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Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
to denote a curious superstition
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
which survived in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
until a recent date.
Like the fire-churning still customary in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
for kindling the sacrificial fire, the need- or wild-fire is made by the friction of one piece of wood on another, or of a rope upon a stake. Need-fire is a practice of shepherd peoples to ward off disease from their herds and flocks. It is kindled on occasions of special distress, particularly at the outbreak of a murrain
Murrain
Murrain is a highly infectious disease of cattle and sheep. It literally means "death" and was used in medieval times to represent just that. The population of that era had no way of identifying specific diseases in their livestock so they simply put all illnesses under one heading...
, and the cattle are driven through it. Its efficacy is believed to depend on all other fires being extinguished.
The kindling of the need-fire in a village near Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg is a town located north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1994 the medieval court and the old town was set on the UNESCO world heritage list....
was impeded by a night light burning in the parsonage (Heinrich Pröhle
Heinrich Pröhle
Prof. Dr. Christoph Ferdinand Heinrich Pröhle was a German literary historian, teacher , writer, and folk tale—fairy tale collector .-Disambiguation of Heinrich:The given name »Heinrich« occures in several cases among the...
, Harzbilder, Leipzig, 1855). According to one account, in the Highlands of Scotland the rule that all common fires must be previously extinguished applied only to the houses situated between the two nearest running streams (Kelly, Curiosities of Judo-European Tradition and Folklore, p. 53 seq.).
In Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
even smoking during need-fire is forbidden. Two naked men produce the fire by rubbing dry branches together in the forest, and with the flame they light two fires, one on each side of a cross-road haunted by wolves. The cattle are then driven between the two fires, from which glowing embers are taken to rekindle the cold hearths in the houses (A Strauss, Die Bulgaren, p. 198).
In Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
the men who kindled the need-fire had previously to divest themselves of all metal. In some of the Hebrides
Hebrides
The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...
the men who made the fire had to be eighty-one in number and all married. In the Halberstadt district in Germany, the rope which was wound round the stake, must be pulled by two chaste boys; while at Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick...
, contrary to usual custom, it is said that the need-fire had to be struck out of the cold anvil by the smith. In England the need-fire is said to have been lit at Birtley within the last half of the 18th century. The superstition had its origin in the early ideas of the purifying nature of flame.
Authorities
- GrimmJacob GrimmJacob Ludwig Carl Grimm was a German philologist, jurist and mythologist. He is best known as the discoverer of Grimm's Law, the author of the monumental Deutsches Wörterbuch, the author of Deutsche Mythologie and, more popularly, as one of the Brothers Grimm, as the editor of Grimm's Fairy...
, Deutsche Mythologie, i. 50, sqq. - KellyWalter KellyWalter C. Kelly was a Vaudeville comedian. He was the uncle of actress Grace Kelly . He appeared in several Broadway productions and in several movies. He was sometimes credited as Walter "Judge" Kelly.Kelly toured for years as The Virginia Judge...
, Curiosities of Indo-European Tradition and Folklore, p. 48 sqq. - EltonCharles EltonCharles Elton may refer to:* Charles Isaac Elton , English lawyer, politician, writer and antiquarian* Charles Sutherland Elton , English biologist* Charles Elton , Chief of Police in Los Angeles, California...
, Origins of English History, p. 293 sqq. - JG Frazer, The Golden Bough, iii. 301.
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