One instance of gross superstition, as connected with rocks, is too important to be omitted. The trial by ordeal appears to have been very early practised among the Celtic tribes of Europe, who were always under the influence of an artful and domineering priesthood. Thus, it is said that in cases of doubtful accusation the Druids made use of the rocking-stones which were common in Britain, and that the culprit was acquitted or condemned according as he succeeded or failed in shaking them. Mason alludes to this trial in the following lines:—
“Behold yon huge
And unknown sphere of living adamant,
Which, poised by magic, rests its central weight
On yonder pointed rock; firm as it seems,
Such is its strange and virtuous property,
It moves obsequious to the gentlest touch
Of him whose heart is pure; but to a traitor,
Though e’en a giant’s prowess nerved his arm,
It stands as fixed as Snowdon.”