bale-fire
(ˈbeɪlfaɪə(r))
Forms: 1 bǽl-f{yacu}r, 5– bale-; also Sc. 5 bayle-, 6 baill-, bald-, 6–9 bail-, 8 beal-, 9 bele- beal-, bael, baal-fire.
[Found in OE. poetry: then not till the 14th c.; and till lately confined to Scotch. Not in Johnson, nor in Todd 1818. Compd. of bale n.2 + fire; the former part was apparently at times confused with bale n.1: cf. balowe-fire ‘fatal or evil fire’ already in 15th c., and the use of bale-fire by various modern writers as if = ‘lurid, ghastly fire.’ Antiquaries, with theories of Celtic or Canaanitish idolatry, have written beal-, Baal-fire: cf. Beltane.]
1. A great fire in the open air, a blazing pile or heap kindled to consume anything. In OE. spec. the fire of a funeral pile.
| a 1000 Beowulf 6278 Ongunnon þá on beorᵹe bǽl-f{yacu}ra mæst..weccan. c 1400 Melayne 488 Thay tuke þ⊇ grete lordes with Ire, And brynte þam in þat bale fire. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 718 Bot thou tell in bayle fire sall thou de. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 355 In ane baill fyre thai brint it all in as. 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 42 As plutois paleis hed been birnand in ane bald fyir. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xxxviii, The fires of death, The bale-fires flash on high. 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 83 They set ane bele-fire him about, And they burnit him skin and bone. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. II. 190 The horrible illumination flung by the bale-fires of martyrdom upon the palace and gardens of the Beast. |
2. A great fire kindled as a signal; a beacon-fire. (Only 19th c.: apparently first used by Sir W. Scott. The contemporary name was simply bale.)
| 1805 Scott Last Minstr. iv. i, Sweet Teviot! on thy silver tide The glaring bale-fires blaze no more. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos II. xx. 220 The bail fire announced the appearance of the enemy. 1861 Black's Guide Sussex 536 Crowborough was one of the beacon stations..where the bale-fire was lighted. |
3. Any great fire, a bonfire, feu de joie.
| 1800–24 Campbell O'Connor's Child vii, Beal-fires for your jubilee Upon a thousand mountains glow'd. 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) III. xxiii. 62 He caused the city to be illuminated with torches and balefires. 1852 D. Moir Burns Fest. Wks. II. 7 Stir the beal-fire, wave the banner, Bid the thundering cannon sound. |
4. ? Associated with bale n.1
| 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. vi. i. (1866) 774 The focus of discord..from whence radiated..the bale-fires of murderous licence and savage anarchy. 1872 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. lxxvii. 17 With blue bale-fires revealing the innermost caverns of the hungry sea. |