Cabiri were the artificers, and reserved to themselves the monopoly of working in metals; they made the arms, armour, and all other metallic articles, in great secrecy, as did the ovates among the Druids. The chief workmen of the Druids guarded the centre fire to which so much mysterious importance was attached.[1]
But, it may be asked, if the Gauls and the Germans, long before the Romans came in contact with them, shod their horses with iron plates nailed to the hoofs, why was a practice of so much utility, and indeed of necessity, not adopted by the Romans, and mentioned in their writings, when they became acquainted with these races? This, like so many others, is a difficult question to answer. Unless we admit that the soleæ ferreæ were the nail-shoes of the Teutons and Gauls, or that the glantæ ferreæ only once found in the Roman writings were attached by nails to the hoofs, we have nothing whatever in the way of written evidence, as before stated, to show that this device was resorted to by the Romans. The custom was, in all likelihood, prevalent in Gaul, Switzerland, Germany, and perhaps also in Britain, when invaded by the imperial armies, and it would appear that in time the Romans did resort to it. If we admit that the soleæ
- ↑ Megnin. Op. cit., p. 9. 'La nuit du 1er Novembre, les traditions Irlandaises rapportent que les druides se rasseniblaient autour du "perefeu" gardé par un pontife-forgeron et l'éteignaient. A ce signal, de proche en proche s'éteignaient tous les feux de l'île; partout regnait un silence de mort; la nature entière semblait plongée dans une nuit primitive. Tout à coup le feu jaillissait de nouveau de la montagne sainte, et des cris d'allégresse éclataient de toutes parts; la flamme empruntée au "pere-feu" courait, de foyer en foyer, d'un bout à l'autre de l'ile et ranimait partout la vie.' Martin. Op. cit., vol. i.
