Ophiolatreia

A Bardic Poem-Snake Stones-The Anguinum-Execution of a Roman Knight-Remains of th

n, in peculiar veneration. Cut off from all intercourse with the civilized world, partly by their remoteness and partly by their national character, the Britons retained their primitive idolatry long after it had yielded in the neighbouring countries to the polytheistic corruptions of Greece and Egypt. In process of time, however, the gods of the

vies, in his Appendix, No. 6, is the fol

rchitect; I am a prophet

name of a species of snake. Gnadr was probably

f the former many of the corruptions ingrafted upon that of the latter by the Greeks and Romans. The Druids of Gaul had among them many divinities corresponding with those of Greece and Rome. They worshipped Ogmius (a compound deity between Hercules and Mercury), and after him, Apo

Ophiolatreia, as expressed in the mysteries of Isis in Egypt. The poem is entitled "The Elegy of Uther Pendragon;" that is, of Uther, "The Dragon's Head;" an

em is the following sacrifici

estivity round

lake next

moving round

ctuary is ear

ng, before who

veil that covers

Dragon move

which con

nk off

offering is in

lden horns ar

fe is upon the

e thee, O victorio

e veil which covers the huge stones"-a history which reminds us most forcibly of the events in Paradise, under a poetic garb; but we have, likewise, beneath that veil, within the sacred circle of "the huge stones," the "Great Dragon, a Livin

offerings were very probably of the same

they were called by the Britons. Sir R. C. Hoare in his Modern Wiltshire, Hundred of Amesbury, gives an engraving of one, and says: "This is a head of imperfect vitrification representing two circular lines of opaque skylight and white, which seem to represent a snake twine

of justice wearing an anguinum about his neck was ordered by Claudius to be put to dea

lves into a mass, and from the saliva of their jaws and the froth of their bodies is engendered an egg, which is called 'anguinum.' By the violent hiss

tition in England will be found in Davies' Myths of t

tine Temple-one of the most imposing, as it certainly is one the most interesting, monuments of the British Islands. It was first accurately described by Dr. Stukeley in 1793 in his celebrated work entitled Abury, a Temple of the British Druids. It was afterwards car

Within this grand circle were originally two double or concentric circles composed of massive upright stones: a row of large stones, one hundred in number, was placed upon the inner brow of the ditch. Extending upon either hand from this grand central structure were parallel lines of huge upright stones, constituting, upon each side, avenues upwards of a mile in length. These formed the body of the serpent. Each a

our translation." Isa. (13 v. 21), speaking of the desolation of Babylon, says: "Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of ochim, and owls shall dwell

Perth, upon which appear devices strongly indicative of Ophiolatreia. They are engraved in Gordon's Itinerarium Septentrionale. The serpent is a frequent and conspicuous hieroglyphic. From the Runic characters traced upon some of these stones it

ccepted as truthful by a large majority of its inhabitants, that St. Patrick banished all snakes from Ireland by his prayers. After all, this