Excerpt from The Häling and the Scottish Templars where young Templar Squire Adam de Dalrymple finds relief from the long ride from Dunbar.
On this Beltane Eve, bonfires lit hilltops to purify and cleanse all lingering weakness from winter’s hardships. Blazes twinkled across the Forth of Firth and beyond, dotting the landscapes along the northern horizon. At Soutra, canons and recovering patients sat on stones or tufts of grass to savor the magical convergence of moonlight and fire. Three fires roared inside giant tower beacons behind Soutra House, in compliance with folk traditions. Legends claimed fires protected mankind from roaming spirits, who visited earth on this night, when the veil between worlds were thinnest.
L.S. Berthelsen 