Bealtaine's coming up, and with it the annual problem: how do we decide who to sacrifice this year?

Well, I don't know how they go about it where you live, but one tried-and-true method is the Bealtaine Bannock.

You cook a barley-cake over an open fire and break it up into pieces. One piece you mark black with charcoal from the fire. Then everyone draws a piece and eats it. Whoever gets the black piece wins. Or loses. Whatever.

It's a old method of Choosing. The stomachs of several bog bodies have been found to contain remnants of charred bannock. Hey, if it was good enough for Lindow Man, it's good enough for me.

The name is old, too. Back in Anglo-Saxon times the Tribe of Witches called it a bannuc, which derives (at some remove or other) from Scots Gaelic bannach, and (ultimately) from Latin panicium  (< panis, “bread”).

 

It's interesting to note that the Bealtaine Bannock is traditionally made from barley, not wheat, flour. Barley is one of the very oldest cultivated grains. In Northwestern Europe, they've been eating it for the last 7000 years or so. If the Tribe of Witches has a sacred grain, barley is probably it: “whitest of grains,” it's long been sacred (probably because of its whiteness) to the Moon, Mother of Witches. “Barley Mother” is one of her titles, of course, and to this day you know you're at a witch wedding if they throw barley instead of that newfangled stuff, rice (or whatever they call it).

Here's my recipe for Bealtaine Bannock: nutty, moist, sweet, cakey. If you had to pick a last meal, you could do worse.

So then, I'm off to cut willow withies.

A Wicker Man isn't built in a day, you know.

Bealtaine Bannock

 

24 hours before you plan to make the bannock, mix:

 

2 cups barley flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon yeast

a goodly dollop of honey

1 cup buttermilk

 

The dough will be moist and sticky. Turn it out into a lightly-oiled bowl. Cover and seal with plastic wrap. Raise in a warm, dry place (I usually use the oven) 24 hours.

Next day, flour your hands well. Pat the dough into a round about 9 inches in diameter and 1/3 inch thick.

Bake on an ungreased griddle over medium heat 7-10 minutes, or until set and golden brown. Flip and cook other side.

 

Serves 13.

Of course.