s of the lovely Loch Katrine, the Hallowe'en bonfires
were still kindled down to near the end of the eighteenth century. When
the fire had died down, the ashes were carefully collected in the form
of a circle, and a stone was put in, near the circumference, for every
person of the several families interested in the bonfire. Next morning,
if any of these stones was found to be displaced or injured, the people
made sure that the person represented by it was _fey_ or devoted, and
that he could not live twelve months from that day.[590] In the parish
of Logierait, which covers the beautiful valley of the Tummel, one of
the fairest regions of all Scotland, the Hallowe'en fire was somewhat
different. Faggots of heath, broom, and the dressings of flax were
kindled and carried on poles by men, who ran with them round the
villages, attended by a crowd. As soon as one faggot was burnt out, a
fresh one was lighted and fastened to the pole. Numbers of these blazing
faggots were often carried about together, and when the night happened
to be dark, they formed a splendid illumination.[591]

[Hallowe'en fires on Loch Tay; Hallowe'en fires at Balquhidder.]

Nor did the Hallowe'en fires die out in Perthshire with the end of the
eighteenth century. Journeying from Dunkeld to Aberfeldy on Hallowe'en
in the first half of the nineteenth century, Sheriff Barclay counted
thirty fires blazing on the hill tops, and saw the figures of the people
dancing like phantoms round the flames.[592] Again, "in 1860, I was
residing near the head of Loch Tay during the season of the Hallowe'en
feast. For several days before Hallowe'en, boys and youths collected
wood and conveyed it to the most prominent places on the hill sides in
their neighbourhood. Some of the heaps were as large as a corn-stack or
hayrick. After dark on Hallowe'en, these heaps were kindled, and for
several hours both sides of Loch Tay were illuminated as far as the eye
could see. I was told by old men that at the beginning of this century
men as well as boys took part in getting up the bonfires, and that, when
the fire was ablaze, all joined hands and danced round the fire, and
made a great noise; but that, as these gatherings generally ended in
drunkenness and rough and dangerous fun, the ministers set their faces
against the observance, and were seconded in their efforts by the more
intelligent and well-behaved in the community; and so the practice was
discontinued by adults and releg