Essay on the Druids, (ePub)

"e;Irish round towers (Irish: Cloigtheach (singular), Cloigthithe (plural); literally 'bell house') are early mediaeval stone towers of a type found mainly in Ireland, with two in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man. As their name Cloigtheach indicates, they were originally bell towers, though they may have been later used for additional purposes.A tower of this kind is generally found in the vicinity of a church or monastery, with the door of the tower facing the west doorway of the church. Knowledge of this fact has made it possible, where towers still exist, to determine without excavation the approximate sites of lost churches that once stood nearby."e;-Wiki"e;WHEN the first Christian Missionary landed in Ireland he found the Druids and their religion strongly established there. The Druids were the priests of the ancient Celts. The word Druid is formed from the Irish name, Draoi (pronounced Dhree), which is believed to be a compound of the words dair, "e;oak,"e; and ai, "e;learned or wise,"e; that is, the learned or wise man of the oak. The oak was held in great veneration by the Druids. Under its branches, on the mountain tops and in the deep valleys, were performed the rites and mysteries of their religion; and it was in the woods and wilds they and their people sojourned while leading a roving life and subsisting on their flocks, during the early periods of their history.It appears that the Celts were a branch or colony, sprung from ancient Scythia. A wandering hardy people were the Scythians, who, disdaining to live in cities or towns, moved about from one place to another with their families and their flocks. In the course of ages they spread over a large portion of Asia, and even occupied many countries of Europe."e;-Foreword