In fact, it
seemed to him natural enough, as all tenure of land ends at that time,
and as all servant men begin their service then."[571] In ancient
Ireland, as we saw, a new fire used to be kindled every year on
Hallowe'en or the Eve of Samhain, and from this sacred flame all the
fires in Ireland were rekindled.[572] Such a custom points strongly to
Samhain or All Saints' Day (the first of November) as New Year's Day;
since the annual kindling of a new fire takes place most naturally at
the beginning of the year, in order that the blessed influence of the
fresh fire may last throughout the whole period of twelve months.
Another confirmation of the view that the Celts dated their year from
the first of November is furnished by the manifold modes of divination
which, as we shall see presently, were commonly resorted to by Celtic
peoples on Hallowe'en for the purpose of ascertaining their destiny,
especially their fortune in the coming year; for when could these
devices for prying into the future be more reasonably put in practice
than at the beginning of the year? As a season of omens and auguries
Hallowe'en seems to have far surpassed Beltane in the imagination of the
Celts; from which we may with some probability infer that they reckoned
their year from Hallowe'en rather than Beltane. Another circumstance of
great moment which points to the same conclusion is the association of
the dead with Hallowe'en.
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