balefire
/ˈbeɪlfʌɪə/noun US
A large open-air fire.When the solstice lordship settled upon him, he had rousted the minstrels and set great back-alley feasts, lighting the lives of London's poor like a balefire on a barren heath....
- In many parts of the British Isles these balefires are still lighted on Samhain to honor the old ways.
- Even today, balefires are lit all over Britain and Ireland on May Eve, just as they were in the past.
Origin
Old English (recorded in poetry), from obsolete bale 'great fire' + fire.