In Münsterland these Easter fires are always kindled upon certain definite hills， which are hence known as Easter or Paschal Mountains. The whole community assembles about the fire. The young men and maidens， singing Easter hymns， march round and round the fire， till the blaze dies down. Then the girls jump over the fire in a line， one after the other， each supported by two young men who hold her hands and run beside her. In the twilight boys with blazing bundles of straw run over the fields to make them fruitful. At Delmenhorst， in Oldenburg， it used to be the custom to cut down two trees， plant them in the ground side by side， and pile twelve tar-barrels against each. Brush-wood was then heaped about the trees， and on the evening of Easter Saturday the boys， after rushing about with blazing bean-poles in their hands， set fire to the whole. At the end of the ceremony the urchins tried to blacken each other and the clothes of grown-up people. In the Altmark it is believed that as far as the blaze of the Easter bonfire is visible， the corn will grow well throughout the year， and no conflagration will break out. At Braunr？de， in the Harz Mountains， it was the custom to burn squirrels in the Easter bonfire. In the Altmark， bones were burned in it.
Near Forchheim， in Upper Franken， a straw-man called the Judas used to be burned in the churchyards on Easter Saturday. The whole village contributed wood to the pyre on which he perished， and the charred sticks were afterwards kept and planted in the fields on Walpurgis Day (the first of May) to preserve the wheat from blight and mildew. About a hundred years ago or more the custom at Althenneberg， in Upper Bavaria， used to be as follows. On the afternoon of Easter Saturday the lads collected wood， which they piled in a cornfield， while in the middle of the pile they set up a tall wooden cross all swathed in straw. After the evening service they lighted their lanterns at the consecrated candle in the church， and ran with them at full speed to the pyre， each striving to get there first. The first to arrive set fire to the heap. No woman or girl might come near the bonfire， but they were allowed to watch it from a distance. As the flames rose the men and lads rejoiced and made merry， shouting， We are burning the Judas！ The man who had been the first to reach the pyre and to kindle it was rewarded on Easter Sunday by the women， who gave him coloured eggs at the church door. The object of the whole ceremony was to keep off the hail. At other villages of Upper Bavaria the ceremony， which took place between nine and ten at night on Easter Saturday， was called burning the Easter Man. On a height about a mile from the village the young fellows set up a tall cross enveloped in straw， so that it looked like a man with his arms stretched out. This was the Easter Man. No lad under eighteen years of age might take part in the ceremony. One of the young men stationed himself beside the Easter Man， holding in his hand a consecrated taper which he had brought from the church and lighted. The rest stood at equal intervals in a great circle round the cross. At a given signal they raced thrice round the circle， and then at a second signal ran straight at the cross and at the lad with the lighted taper beside it； the one who reached the goal first had the right of setting fire to the Easter Man. Great was the jubilation while he was burning. When he had been consumed in the flames， three lads were chosen from among the rest， and each of the three drew a circle on the ground with a stick thrice round the ashes. Then they all left the spot. On Easter Monday the villagers gathered the ashes and strewed them on their fields； also they planted in the fields palmbranches which had been consecrated on Palm Sunday， and sticks which had been charred and hallowed on Good Friday， all for the purpose of protecting their fields against showers of hail. In some parts of Swabia the Easter fires might not be kindled with iron or steel or flint， but only by the friction of wood.
The custom of the Easter fires appears to have prevailed all over Central and Western Germany from north to south. We find it also in Holland， where the fires were kindled on the highest eminences， and the people danced round them and leaped through the flames or over the glowing embers. Here too， as often in Germany， the materials for the bonfire were collected by the young folk from door to door. In many parts of Sweden firearms are discharged in all directions on Easter Eve， and huge bonfires are lighted on hills and eminences. Some people think that the intention is to keep off the Troll and other evil spirits who are especially active at this season.
4. The Beltane Fires