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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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druids
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The priests of the ancient *Celts. Little is known about their ceremonies, except that they took place in sacred groves (oak and mistletoe being particularly significant) and that they involved human sacrifice; it is possible that *Lindow Man was a victim. Their supposed link with the much earlier *Stonehenge derives from a mistaken assumption by the antiquary John *Aubrey. Various self-appointed groups perform modern druidical rituals at the summer solstice. The earliest was the United Ancient Order of Druids, founded in London in 1781 as something akin to a masonic order (with groves instead of lodges), but operating since 1833 mainly as a *friendly society.
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