"On the eve of samhain bonfires were lighted on the highest hills, and from these fires the celts very solemnly and religiously rekindled the hearth fires of their homes. In Wales the hilltop were carefully watched by the people of the village until all the red flames had turned to grey ashes. Then there would be a mad race down the hill with much shouting and excitment for it was the belief that the devil would get the last one down.
The original observances of Samhain have been traced as far back as the time of Ancient Greece and the cult of Dionysus. Many of the rites performed by the Celts and their Druids were very cruel and terrible. But these horrors were eleminated when the Cristian religion was brought to Britain by the Romans."
