Matheson Collection > Popular tales of the west Highlands > Volume 4

352 CELTIC ART.
prised within a circle, and these spiral lines are charac-
teristic of Celtic art according to Owen Jones. In the
silver ornament this symbol is twice repeated, and is
associated with the "Z ornament," the "crescents," and
the head of some creature which seems to have horns.
The question is, what do these symbols mean 1 for they
are frequently repeated on sculptural stones in Scot-
land.
I have imagined that they have an astronomical
signification, and that they may have related to solar
worship before they were adopted as ornaments on
crosses. — See page 356, vol. iii.
The Isle of Man has always been the stronghold of
fairies, and it was the refuge of the Druids ; the Druids
were astronomers, as it is said, and the Manxs penny
bears a device which is the same in principle as the
three spiral lines, though these have grown into three
armed legs; and thereby hangs a popular tale, and it is
this : — ■
"Some fishermen long ago arrived on the shore of an
island which they had never seen or heard of, because
it was always enveloped in a magic cloud, raised by
little Manain, the Son of the Sea. They landed, and
presently there came rolling on the mist something like
a wheel of fire, with legs for spokes, and the portent so
frightened the men that they fled to their boats." But
the charm was broken, the Isle of Man had been dis-
covered, and its possession has been disputed by men
and fairies ever since.
The "legs of Man" then have to do with a wheel of
fire.
It is common in the Highlands now to speak of the
"wheel" of the sun, and it was the custom not long
ago to ascend some high hill on Easter Sunday to see