A small cabin of basket-work was erected near the western side of the circle, in the lowest part of the dell, with a door opening towards the Druidical circle. In this the youthful Ella was to be immolated. She was brought into the circle; a garland of oak leaves was bound round her neck, a chaplet of wild flowers placed on her head, and a piece of mistletoe in her hand. Thus adorned she was led to the centre of the circle, and supported there by two aged priests, while the bards chanted the following invocation to the sun:—
FIRST BARD.
"See, thy destined victim see,
Bright, and chaste, and pure as thee,
Let this sinless virgin please thee,
Sinful man could ne'er appease thee."
SECOND BARD.
"Round her brows the wild flowers see,
Emblems of thy purity—
Touch'd by mortal's fingers never;—
Round her breast the oak survey,
Which like thee can ne'er decay—
Innocence endures for ever."
THIRD BARD.
"Spirit! who no birth has known,
Springing from thyself alone,
We thy living emblem show
In the mystic mistletoe:—
Springs and grows without a root—
Yields without flower its fruit—
Seeks from earth no mother's care—
Lives and blooms the child of air."
FOURTH BARD.
"Thou dost thy mystic circle trace
Along the vaulted blue profound,
And, emblematic of thy race,
We tread our mystic circle round."
ALL THE BARDS.