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===Modern era===<!--in Western Europe, the Medieval era ended and the Modern era began in the 16th century-->
From the late 18th century to the mid 20th century, many accounts of Beltane customs were recorded by [[folkloristics|folklorists]] and other writers. For example [[John Jamieson]], in his ''Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language'' (1808), describes some of the Beltane customs which persisted in the 18th and early 19th centuries in parts of Scotland, which he noted were beginning to die out.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.scotsdictionary.com/ |title=Jamieson's Dictionary Online |website=www.scotsdictionary.com |access-date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=5 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405045905/http://www.scotsdictionary.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Bonfires====
[[File:Beltane Festival 2019 ending ceremony, May Queen and Green Man at Bonfire.jpg|thumb|Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh, 2019]]
Bonfires continued to be a key part of the festival in the modern era. All hearth fires would be doused before the bonfire was lit, generally on a hill.<ref name="Chadwick" /><ref name="Danaher">Danaher, Kevin (1972). ''The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs''. Mercier. {{ISBN|1-85635-093-2}} pp. 86–127</ref>  [[Ronald Hutton]] writes that "To increase the potency of the holy flames, in Britain at least they were often kindled by the most primitive of all means, of friction between wood."<ref name=hutton/> This is known as a [[need-fire]], or ''tein' èiginn'' in Gaelic. It was a sacred fire that could be kindled only with a [[Fire drill (tool)|wooden drill]], by a group of certain people (usually nine men), after they had removed all metal and after all other fires in the area had been doused. Nineteenth-century writers record such fires being kindled at Beltane in the Scottish Highlands, and also in Wales.<ref name=hutton/> Its flames were believed to guard against sickness, supernatural harm and [[witchcraft]].<ref name=hutton/>

In the 19th century, cattle were still driven over flames or between two fires—as described in ''Sanas Cormaic'' almost 1000 years before—in parts of Ireland and Scotland.<ref name=hutton/> Sometimes the cattle would be driven around a bonfire or be made to leap over flames or embers. The people themselves did likewise for good luck and protection.<ref name=hutton/> On the Isle of Man, people ensured that the smoke blew over them and their cattle.<ref name=koch/>

[[File:Beltane Festival 2019 running the cattle through the fire ritual.jpg|thumb|Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh, 2019 - participants dressed as cattle]]

When the bonfire died down, people would daub themselves with its ashes and sprinkle it over their crops and livestock.<ref name=hutton/> Burning torches from the bonfire would be taken home, carried around the house or boundary of the farmstead,<ref>Evans, ''Irish Folk Ways'', pp. 274–275</ref> and used to re-light the hearth.<ref name=hutton/> From these rituals, it is clear that the fire was seen as having [[Apotropaic magic|protective powers]].<ref name=hutton/> Similar rituals were part of May Day or Midsummer customs in some other parts of the British Isles and mainland Europe.<ref>[[James George Frazer|Frazer, James George]] (1922). ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]''. [https://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb06208.htm Chapter 62, Section 8: The Need-fire]. [[Internet Sacred Text Archive]].</ref> Frazer believed the fire rituals are a kind of [[sympathetic magic|imitative or sympathetic magic]]. He suggests they were meant to mimic the Sun and "ensure a needful supply of sunshine for men, animals, and plants", as well as to symbolically "burn up and destroy all harmful influences".<ref>Frazer, James George (1922). ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]''. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb06301.htm Chapter 63, Part 1: On the Fire-festivals in general] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012203326/http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb06301.htm |date=12 October 2013 }}.</ref>

Food was also cooked at the bonfire and there were rituals involving it. In the Scottish Highlands, [[Alexander Carmichael]] recorded that there was a feast featuring lamb, and that formerly this lamb was [[Animal sacrifice|sacrificed]].<ref>Carmichael, ''[[Carmina Gadelica]] Volume 1'', p.&nbsp;191</ref> In 1769, [[Thomas Pennant]] wrote of Beltane bonfires in [[Perthshire]], where a [[caudle]] made from eggs, butter, oatmeal and milk was cooked. Some of the mixture was poured on the ground as a [[libation]]. Everyone would then take an oatmeal cake, called a {{lang|ga|bannoch Bealltainn}} or "Beltane [[Bannock (British food)|bannock]]", which had nine knobs on it. Each person would face the fire, break off a knob one-by-one and throw it over their shoulder, offering them to the spirits to protect their livestock (one to protect the horses, one to protect the sheep, and so forth) and to the predators that might harm their livestock (one to the fox, one to the eagle, and so forth). Afterwards, they would drink the caudle.<ref name=hutton/>

According to 18th-century writers [[John Ramsay of Ochtertyre]] and [[Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet|John Sinclair]], in parts of Scotland there was another ritual involving the Beltane bannock. The cake would be cut and one of the slices marked with charcoal. The slices would then be put in a [[bonnet (headgear)|bonnet]] and everyone would take one out while blindfolded. According to Ramsay, whoever got the marked piece had to leap through the flames three times. Those present pretended to throw the person into the fire and, for some time afterwards, would refer to them as the 'carline' (the hag or witch).<ref name=hutton/> This "may embody a memory of actual [[human sacrifice]]", or it may have always been symbolic.<ref name=hutton/> There was an almost identical May Day (''[[Calan Mai]]'') tradition in parts of Wales, and mock-burnings were part of spring and summer bonfire festivals in other parts of Europe.<ref>Frazer, James George (1922). ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]''. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb06402.htm Chapter 64, Part 2: The Burning of Men and Animals in the Fires] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509185559/http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb06402.htm |date=9 May 2013 }}.</ref>

====Flowers and May Bushes====
[[File:Crataegus monogyna in flower on Smeardon Down.jpg|thumb|left|A flowering hawthorn]]
Yellow and white flowers such as [[Primula vulgaris|primrose]], [[rowan]], [[Crataegus monogyna|hawthorn]], [[gorse]], [[hazel]], and [[Caltha palustris|marsh marigold]] were traditionally placed at doorways and windows; this is documented in 19th century Ireland, Scotland and Mann. Sometimes loose flowers were strewn at doors and windows and sometimes they were made into [[flower bouquet|bouquets]], [[garland]]s or crosses and fastened to them. Cows would also be decorated with them,<ref>{{Cite web|title=May Day and May Eve|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427955/4361147/4465007|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref> and they would be fastened to equipment for milking and butter making. It is likely that such flowers were used because they evoked fire.<ref name=hutton/> Similar May Day customs are found across Europe.

The May Bush or May Bough was popular in parts of Ireland until the late 19th century.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Uachtar Árd {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613696/4609620|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref> This was a small tree or branch—typically hawthorn, rowan, holly or sycamore—decorated with bright flowers, ribbons, painted shells or eggshells from Easter Sunday, and so forth. The tree would either be decorated where it stood, or branches would be decorated and placed inside or outside the house (particularly above windows and doors, on the roof, and on barns).<ref name=":1" /> It was generally the responsibility of the oldest person of the house to decorate the May Bush, and the tree would remain up until 31 May.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Uachtar Árd {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613696/4609616|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Uachtar Árd {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613696/4609619|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref> The tree would also be decorated with candles or [[rushlight]]s.<ref name="Danaher" /> Sometimes a May Bush would be paraded through the town. In parts of southern Ireland, gold and silver [[Sliotar|hurling balls]] known as May Balls would be hung on these May Bushes and handed out to children or given to the winners of a [[hurling]] match.<ref name="Danaher" /> In [[Dublin]] and [[Belfast]], May Bushes were brought into town from the countryside and decorated by the whole neighbourhood.<ref name="Danaher" /> Each neighbourhood vied for the most handsome tree and, sometimes, residents of one would try to steal the May Bush of another. This led to the May Bush being outlawed in [[Victorian era|Victorian times]].<ref name="Danaher" /> In some places, it was customary to sing and dance around the May Bush, and at the end of the festivities it may be burnt in the bonfire.<ref name=":7" /> In some areas the May Bush or Bough has also been called the "May Pole", but it is the bush or tree described above, and not the more commonly-known European [[maypole]].<ref name=":1"/>

Thorn trees are traditionally seen as special trees, associated with the {{lang|ga|[[aos sí]]}}. Frazer believed the customs of decorating trees or poles in springtime are a relic of [[tree worship]] and wrote: "The intention of these customs is to bring home to the village, and to each house, the blessings which the [[List of tree deities|tree-spirit]] has in its power to bestow."<ref>Frazer, James George (1922). ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]''. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb01000.htm Chapter 10: Relics of Tree Worship in Modern Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509182027/http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb01000.htm |date=9 May 2013 }}.</ref> [[Emyr Estyn Evans]] suggests that the May Bush custom may have come to Ireland from England, because it seemed to be found in areas with strong English influence and because the Irish saw it as unlucky to damage certain thorn trees.<ref name="folkways">{{cite book|author-link =Emyr Estyn Evans|last =Evans|first = Emyr Estyn|title =Irish Folk Ways|publisher = Routledge|date= 1957|pages =272–274|isbn = 9780415002257}}</ref> However, "lucky" and "unlucky" trees varied by region, and it has been suggested that Beltane was the only time when cutting thorn trees was allowed.<ref name="watts">Watts, D C. ''Dictionary of Plant Lore''. Academic Press, 2007. p.&nbsp;246</ref> The practice of bedecking a May Bush with flowers, ribbons, garlands and bright shells is found among the Gaelic diaspora, most notably in [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], and in some Easter traditions on the [[East Coast of the United States]].<ref name="Danaher" />

==== Warding-off harmful spirits ====
Many Beltane practices were designed to ward off harmful spirits or appease the [[Aos Sí|''aos sí'']] (often referred to as the fairies) and prevent them from stealing dairy products, which were thought to be especially at risk.<ref name="Danaher" /><ref name="McNeill2">McNeill (1959) Vol.  2. p.&nbsp;63</ref><ref name="Campbell">[[John Gregorson Campbell|Campbell, John Gregorson]] (1900, 1902, 2005) ''The Gaelic Otherworld''. Edited by Ronald Black. Edinburgh, Birlinn Ltd. {{ISBN|1-84158-207-7}} pp.&nbsp;552–554</ref> For example, May flowers were tied to milk pails or the tails of cattle to ensure the cattle's milk was not stolen, or three black coals might be placed under a butter churn to ensure the fairies did not steal the butter.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Uachtar Árd {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4613696/4609617|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

On the Isle of Man, small crosses made of [[rowan]] were worn, fastened over doorways, and tied to cattle, as protection against [[witchcraft]] and evil spirits. It was called a {{lang|gv|crosh cuirn}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crosh cuirn: A Manx tradition for Oie Voaldyn |url=https://culturevannin.im/media//media%20-%20Customs%20and%20traditions/Laa%20Boaldyn/Crosh%20Cuirn%20-%20Notes%20on%20Manx%20history%20and%20customs%20%5B1%5D.pdf |publisher=[[Culture Vannin]] |access-date=1 May 2025}}</ref>

Food was left or milk poured at the doorstep or places associated with the {{lang|ga|aos sí}}, such as 'fairy trees', as an offering.<ref name="Evans, p. 272">Evans, ''Irish Folk Ways'', p.&nbsp;272</ref><ref>Danaher, ''The Year in Ireland'', p.&nbsp;121</ref> However, milk was never given to a neighbour on May Day because it was feared that the milk would be transferred to the neighbour's cow.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Druim an t-Seagail {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4602710/4597558|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref> 

In Ireland, cattle would be brought to '[[fairy fort]]s', where a small amount of their blood would be collected. The owners would then pour it into the earth with prayers for the herd's safety. Sometimes the blood would be left to dry and then be burnt.<ref name="Evans, p. 272" />  

To protect farm produce and encourage fertility, farmers would lead a procession around the boundaries of their farm. They would "carry with them seeds of grain, implements of husbandry, the first well water, and the herb [[Verbena|vervain]] (or rowan as a substitute). The procession generally stopped at the four cardinal points of the compass, beginning in the east, and rituals were performed in each of the four directions".<ref>Danaher, ''The Year in Ireland'', pp. 116–117</ref> People made the sign of the cross with milk for good luck on Beltane, and the sign of the cross was also made on the backsides of cattle.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Baile an Daingin (C.) {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427840/4349345|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Baile an Daingin (C.) {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427840/4349346|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref>

====Beltane blessings====
In the 19th century, folklorist [[Alexander Carmichael]] (1832–1912), collected the [[Scottish Gaelic]] song {{lang|gd|Am Beannachadh Bealltain}} ("The Beltane Blessing") in his ''[[Carmina Gadelica]]'', which he heard from a [[Crofting|crofter]] in [[South Uist]].<ref name="tracscotland.org" /> The first two verses were sung as follows:

<blockquote><poem>{{lang|gd|Beannaich, a Thrianailt fhioir nach gann,}} (Bless, O Threefold true and bountiful,)
{{lang|gd|Mi fein, mo cheile agus mo chlann,}} (Myself, my spouse and my children,)
{{lang|gd|Mo chlann mhaoth's am mathair chaomh 'n an ceann,}} (My tender children and their beloved mother at their head,)
{{lang|gd|Air chlar chubhr nan raon, air airidh chaon nam beann,}} (On the fragrant plain, at the gay mountain [[shieling]],)
{{lang|gd|Air chlar chubhr nan raon, air airidh chaon nam beann.}} (On the fragrant plain, at the gay mountain shieling.)

{{lang|gd|Gach ni na m' fhardaich, no ta 'na m' shealbh,}} (Everything within my dwelling or in my possession,)
{{lang|gd|Gach buar is barr, gach tan is tealbh,}} (All [[wikt:kine|kine]] and crops, all flocks and corn,)
{{lang|gd|Bho Oidhche Shamhna chon Oidhche Bheallt,}} (From Hallow Eve to Beltane Eve,)
{{lang|gd|Piseach maith, agus beannachd mallt,}} (With goodly progress and gentle blessing,)
{{lang|gd|Bho mhuir, gu muir, agus bun gach allt,}} (From sea to sea, and every river mouth,)
{{lang|gd|Bho thonn gu tonn, agus bonn gach steallt.}} (From wave to wave, and base of waterfall.)<ref name="tracscotland.org" /></poem></blockquote>

====Other customs====
[[File:Holy Well, Slieve League, Co. Donegal (31636807885).jpg|thumb|Men visiting a holy well in County Donegal in the 1890s]]
[[Holy well]]s were often visited at Beltane, and at the other Gaelic festivals of Imbolc and Lughnasadh. Visitors to holy wells would pray for health while walking [[sunwise]] (moving from east to west) around the well. They would then leave offerings; typically coins or [[wikt:clootie|clootie]]s (see [[clootie well]]).<ref name="Danaher" /> The first water drawn from a well on Beltane was thought to be especially potent, and would bring good luck to the person who drew it. Beltane morning [[dew]] was also thought to bring good luck and health. At dawn or before sunrise on Beltane, maidens would roll in the dew or wash their faces with it.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Baile an Churraigh {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4591100/4591003|access-date=25 December 2021|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref> The dew was collected in a jar, left in sunlight, then filtered. The dew was thought to increase sexual attractiveness, maintain youthfulness, protect from sun damage (particularly freckles and sunburn) and help with skin ailments for the ensuing year.<ref name=koch/><ref name="Danaher" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Baile an Daingin (C.) {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427840/4349344|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref> It was also thought that a man who washed his face with soap and water on Beltane will grow long whiskers on his face.<ref name=":1" />

It was widely believed that no one should light a fire on May Day morning until they saw smoke rising from a neighbour's house.<ref name=":2" /> It was also believed to be bad luck to put out ashes or clothes on May Day, and to give away coal or ashes would cause the giver difficulty in lighting fires for the next year.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Druim an t-Seagail {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4602710/4597559|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> Also, if the family owned a white horse, it should remain in the barn all day, and if any other horse was owned, a red rag should be tied to its tail.<ref name=":1" /> Any foal born on May Day was fated to kill a man, and any cow that calved on May Day would die.<ref name=":3" /> Any birth or marriage on May Day was generally believed to be ill-fated.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Baile an Daingin (C.) {{!}} The Schools' Collection|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427840/4349343|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|title=Festivals of the Year – May Day|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5044699/5032924/5146080|access-date=12 February 2022|website=dúchas.ie|language=en}}</ref> On May Night a cake and a jug were left on the table, because it was believed that the Irish who had died abroad would return on May Day to their ancestral homes, and it was also believed that the dead returned on May Day to visit their friends.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6" /> A [[European robin|robin]] that flew into the house on Beltane was believed to portend the death of a household member.<ref name=":7" />

The festival persisted widely up until the 1950s, and in some places the celebration of Beltane continues today.<ref name=mackillop/><ref name="McNeill2" /><ref name="Campbell" />