Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: When did Druids exist?
The earliest known references to the druids date to the fourth century BCE and the oldest detailed description comes from Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico (50s BCE). They were also described by later Greco-Roman writers such as Cicero,[2] Tacitus,[3] and Pliny the Elder.[4] Following the Roman invasion of Gaul, the druid orders were suppressed by the Roman government under the 1st century CE emperors Tiberius and Claudius, and had disappeared from the written record by the 2nd century.
Following the death of David Thomson, aged 29, in 1878 Druids lost the use of the Plasmadoc Ground. Because of this, Druids were forced to withdraw form the 1878–79 edition of the Welsh Cup. This inconvenience meant Druids could no longer play home games, which resulted in many players, including Kenrick, leaving the club. The club briefly folded and did not play any further games until November 1879. 
Druids can claim to originate from the oldest existing team located in Wales, thus making it also the oldest football club in the world outside England. This is reflected in club's nickname, 'The Ancients'. However, Oswestry Town does predate Druids but is geographically in England, though the team has always participated in the Welsh system and were early members of the Welsh FA, and would thus consider themselves a Welsh side (see the New Saints).
Unlike most classes, druids know a third at-will attack power, however they must have at least one and at most two at-will attack powers with the "Beast Form" keyword. Each of the two Druid builds presented in the "Player's Handbook 2" emphasizes one of the class's two secondary roles. Guardian druids lean towards the Leader role, focus on Constitution and ranged evocations, and take the "Primal Guardian" class feature, which allows them to use their Constitution bonus in place of their Dexterity or Intelligence bonus when determining AC while wearing light armour, as well as giving some druid evocations additional effects, many of which are based on Constitution. Predator druids lean towards the Striker role, focus on Dexterity and melee and short range evocations, and take the "Primal Predator" class feature, which makes them more mobile while wearing light armor, as well as giving some druid evocations additional effects, many of which are based on Dexterity.
Ronald Hutton in his book The Druids writes that the Druid Order in its current form started around 1909 or 1912 when George Watson MacGregor Reid (1862?-1946) led the group, influenced by universalists. When Thomas Maughan (1901–1976), who practised homeopathy, was elected chief in 1964, some senior members and the Order's Maenarch (Chairman) Ross Nichols (1902–1975) left to form the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Ross Nichols in 'The Book of Druidry' wrote that MacGregor Reid told of a history in which John Toland, on the day of the Autumn Equinox 1716 at Primrose Hill, (where began the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards), called for Druids to meet at the Apple Tree Tavern, Covent Garden, London a year and a day later, and that the meeting which formed An Druidh Uileach Braithreachas i.e. The Druid Circle of the Universal Bond took place on 22 September 1717 with representatives from London, York, Oxford, Wales, Cornwall, The Isle of Man, Scotland, Anglesey, Ireland and Brittany. It was also claimed that John Aubrey, the eighteenth-century antiquarian, revitalised the Mount Haemus Grove, founded in Oxford in 1245. The claim of Toland and Aubrey as members of any druid order is thought now to be unlikely from a historical perspective. Ronald Hutton, in his book 'Blood and Mistletoe: A History of the Druids in Britain,' takes the lineage prior to George Watson Reid to be merely part of the legend of the order's origins.
In the fourth round, Albion faced Welsh side, Druids, who did not take to the field by the time the match was due to start. Peter Morris records that the Welshmen refused to start the match until one of their late-arriving players turned up, while according to G. A. Willmore, the entire Druids team was late to arrive. Either way, Albion scored unopposed straight from the kick-off, after which the Druids players did take to the field. Albion scored again, through Arthur Loach, but the earlier goal was not counted and the score was recorded as 1–0.
Following the loss of their Plasmodic ground in the autumn of 1878, Druids were temporarily disbanded. During this period, Kenrick and several of his Druids team-mates joined the Oswestry club. In 1879, the Druids had gained the use of the ground at Wynnstay and Kenrick returned to the Druids for one further season as captain, leading them to the Welsh Cup Final when they defeated Ruthin 2–1 (with goals from Jack Vaughan and John Jones). As captain of the Druids, Kenrick collected the cup from Sir Evan Morris, who acclaimed him as the founder of Welsh football.
Terminological differences exist as well, especially in terms of what "druid" means. Some Neo-druid groups call anyone with an interest in Celtic spirituality a "druid", and refer to the practice of any Celtic-inspired spirituality as "druidry", while reconstructionist groups usually use the older definition, seeing "druid" as a culturally-specific office that requires decades of training and experience, which is only attained by a small number of practitioners, and which must be conferred and confirmed by the community the druid serves.FestivalsCeltic Reconstructionists rely on primary mythological texts, as well as surviving folklore, for the basis of their religious practices. No list can completely cover all the recommended works, but this is a small sample of sources used.
The druid was one of the standard character classes available in the original "Player's Handbook", and appeared as a sub-class of cleric. The druid was one of five subclasses presented in the original "Players Handbook". Originally, druids were very limited in their choice of weapons and armor (not able to wear any metal armor, and only permitted a few weapons, though that did include the scimitar and crossbow), and were of True Neutral alignment, but were able to cast spells more times per day than the magic-user and at a faster speed than clerics; they also had access to both healing and attack spells (albeit at different levels). Essentially, they were in many ways in between the cleric and the magic-user in function and use, with different special abilities. There were also a set of societal rules governing druidic life as well as higher-level abilities. In order to reach some of the higher levels, players had to defeat a higher-level druid in combat; after accomplishing this, they earned different titles (such as Archdruid) and gained lower-level druids as followers. The later-published Unearthed Arcana featured several higher-level abilities for druids, including the ability to summon various elementals and para-elementals, the ability to enter and survive in various planes (such as the elemental planes and the Plane of Shadow), and so on.
After a difficult childhood, Jillian Marie Woods left home to attend the University of San Francisco. While there she met occult lecturer Anthony Ludgate Druid, the super hero known as Doctor Druid. They discovered that a psychic link existed between them. Druid probed Jillian's mind and learned her soul had inhabited a male alchemist in King Arthur's court in a past life, and that the alchemist loved a princess whose soul was reincarnated as Dr. Druid. The alchemist and princess were killed by the princess' brother because of their relationship, and the alchemist swore he would find the princess again. Jillian and Druid, surprised by these revelations, became lovers. Sometime later, Jillian accidentally released a demon which killed her when she and Druid were investigating mystical artifacts Druid took from the sorcerer Magnus. Dr. Druid, using a mystical statue called the Bride of Slorioth, bonded a piece of Jillian's soul to her shadow. When Jillian woke up with her new powers, Druid told her that they were a result of her exposure to the demon.
The Shape-Shifting tree gives the Druid the ability to become an animal, with gigantic bonuses to life. The Druid may either become a nimble Werewolf or a large Werebear. Each form has its own special attacks, such as the Werewolf's Feral Rage, which causes the Druid to get faster and faster as he continues to attack enemies, and the Werebear's Maul, which makes the Druid swing harder and harder during attacks. The Werebear is also able to obtain substantially more life and armor than the Werewolf is. It is worth noting that all of the Druid's equipment functions as normal when shifted, if at different speeds, but the druid is virtually unable to cast spells, except for Armageddon and summoning ones.
Rituals commonly take place at formations in the natural landscape or at prehistoric sites, among them megalithic constructions from the Neolithic and Bronze Age or earthworks from the Iron Age. Druids often believe that, even if the Iron Age druids did not build these monuments, they did use them for their rites. Performing rituals at said sites allows many Druids to feel that they are getting close to their ancestors. Druids regard them as sacred sites in part as recognition that prehistoric societies would have done the same.
Druids in various parts of Ireland and Britain have reported such sites being home to a "Spirit of the Place" residing there.
Many Druids also believe that such sites are centres of earth energy and lie along ley lines in the landscape. These are ideas that have been adopted from Earth mysteries writers like John Michell.
In the lives of saints and martyrs, the druids are represented as magicians and diviners. In Adamnan's vita of Columba, two of them act as tutors to the daughters of Lóegaire mac Néill, the High King of Ireland, at the coming of Saint Patrick. They are represented as endeavouring to prevent the progress of Patrick and Saint Columba by raising clouds and mist. Before the battle of Culdremne (561) a druid made an airbe drtiad ("fence of protection"?) round one of the armies, but what is precisely meant by the phrase is unclear. The Irish druids seem to have had a peculiar tonsure. The word druí is always used to render the Latin magus, and in one passage St Columba speaks of Christ as his druid. Similarly, a life of St Beuno states that when he died he had a vision of 'all the saints and druids'.
The origins of the Ancient Order of Druids are still largely mysterious, because much of the original source material from the time of its foundation has been lost. However, it is known that it was founded in 1781 in London, and it arose at a time when the idea of voluntary societies and clubs was becoming particularly popular in the country, with the historian Peter Clark stating that around 130 different types of club had come into existence. The historian Ronald Hutton noted that two pre-existing Welsh clubs, the Druid Society, which was based on Anglesey, and the Society of the Druids of Cardigan, had already been founded in the previous decades, basing their names and some of their iconography upon what was then believed about the ancient druids.
In 1993 Shamrock High School acquired its (Navy Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NJROTC) program. In 1996 Shamrock graduated its last class and was converted into a middle school. With Shamrock's NJROTC still in its infancy, the decision was made to maintain the program. Since the US government did not have a JROTC program at the public middle school level, the program could not stay at Shamrock. Druid Hills HS at the time did not have a JROTC program, so the program was moved there, thus forming Druid Hills NJROTC.
Clifton's speculations are in contrast to the actual motivations for Reformed Druidism. In fact, at a meeting in Fisher's dormitory room about the religious requirement, Cherniack volunteered that his family had always responded to questions about religion by claiming to be Druids, and the group adopted this moniker. When someone pointed out that none of the group knew anything at all about Druids, the suggestion quickly arose that the new group call itself The Reformed Druids of North America, so it could create tenets and rituals out of whole cloth without having to know or care anything about any previous Druids.
Some Arthurian legends hold that Jesus travelled to Britain as a boy, lived at Priddy in the Mendips, and built the first wattle cabin at Glastonbury. William Blake's early 19th-century poem "And did those feet in ancient time" was inspired by the story of Jesus travelling to Britain. In some versions, Joseph was supposedly a tin merchant and took Jesus under his care when his mother Mary was widowed. Gordon Strachan wrote "Jesus the Master Builder: Druid Mysteries and the Dawn of Christianity" (1998), which was the basis of the documentary titled "And Did Those Feet" (2009). Strachan believed Jesus may have travelled to Britain to study with the Druids.
In the popular imagination, Druids are closely linked with Stonehenge—a Neolithic and Bronze Age site in Wiltshire, southern England. Although Stonehenge predates the Iron Age and there is no evidence that it was ever used by Iron Age druids, many modern Druids believe that their ancient namesakes did indeed use it for their ceremonies. Druids also use many other prehistoric sites as spaces for their rituals, including stone circles like that at Avebury in Wiltshire. Some Druids have erected their own, modern stone circles in which to perform their ceremonies. 
Druidic practices have also taken place at Early Neolithic chambered long barrows such as Wayland's Smithy in Oxfordshire, and the Coldrum Long Barrow in Kent.
In Ireland, Druids perform ceremonies at one of the island's best known prehistoric sites, the Hill of Tara. In 2000, scholar of religion Amy Hale noted that Druidic rituals at such prehistoric sites were "increasingly more common". She regarded the stone circle as "a symbol of an imagined Celtic past" shared by both Druids and Gorseth Bards. As well as performing group rituals at sites, Druids also visit them alone to meditate, prayer, and provide offerings. Aside from Sabbat rituals, rites of passage can also take place at such sites, such as a Druidic baby-naming ceremony which took place at Kent's Chestnuts Long Barrow.
With their new home Druids once again entered the Welsh Cup and the 1879–80 edition saw the start of an era of success for the Ruabon Club. Druids reached the Welsh Cup final seven consecutive times between 1879 and 1886 winning the trophy five times. Druids also had some success in the FA Cup reaching the Fifth Round (last eight) in 1882–83 and the Fourth Round in 1884–85
After seven years of success in Welsh football Druids would begin to suffer with the advent of professionalism. Druids failed to reach further than the Second Round in the Welsh Cup until the 1892–93 season. The earlier success in the FA Cup was also not to be matched as after 1887–88 they did not progress to the First Round proper again.
In 63 BC, following their defeat, the Aedui statesman and druid Diviciacus traveled to Rome, the Aedui's ally to plead for military aid. He plead the Aedui's case before the Roman senate. While in Rome, Diviciacus was a guest of Cicero, who spoke of his knowledge of divination, astronomy and natural philosophy, and named him as a druid. Diviciacus is the only druid from antiquity whose existence is attested to by name. His name may mean "avenger."
Despite the decentralization of the U.A.O.D. as a national organization, the United Ancient Order of Druids of California (or simply "Druids of California")--founded in Placerville, CA by Fredrick Sieg in the nineteenth century--continues to exist. It is governed by a "Grand Grove" with coordinated 13 subsidiary Groves and numerous Circles spread across the state. California Grove No. 1 was officially reinstated in Placerville, CA in 2017-18 and continues to enjoy a modest membership as of 2019. The stated mission of the Druids of California is "to promote knowledge, unity, and peace".
The first Druids Lodge in Victoria was established in Melbourne in 1851 by a Mr Hymen who arrived from London with authority from the AOD, but a permanent lodge did not eventuate until Asher Barnard established a lodge in 1861. A Victorian Grand Lodge of the United Ancient Order of Druids was begun around 1862 with Mr A Hunt appointed first Grand Secretary. Alderman James J. Brenan (1843–1914) was Grand Secretary for over 40 years from 1875 and, with the establishment of the Supreme Grand Lodge of Australia and New Zealand in 1912, he was granted the title Supreme Arch Druid. Total membership of the Supreme Lodge was then reported to be 72,000. Mr W.T. Simpson similarly held the role of Grand Treasurer from 1875 to 1914, being succeeded by J.T. Whiteway. Juvenile lodges were established in Prahran in 1886, and in South Melbourne and Footscray, but had ceased to exist by 1900. The first female lodge was opened in 1899 in Launceston, Tasmania, and by about 1925 there were fifteen ladies lodges. Proceeds from fundraising efforts enabled the Victorian Lodge to erect its own buildings "'Druids Hall' (Druids House)" at 407-9 Swanston Street, Melbourne, which was opened by the Lord Mayor on 4 April 1927.
Medb and Ailill had seven sons, all called Maine. They originally all had other names, but when Medb asked a druid which of her sons would kill Conchobar, he replied, "Maine". She did not have a son called Maine, so she renamed all her sons as follows:The prophecy was fulfilled when Maine Andoe went on to kill Conchobar, son of Arthur, son of Bruide — not Conchobar, son of Fachtna
Fathach, as Medb had assumed the druid meant. Medb and Ailill also had a daughter, Findabair.
Broke was then appointed to in June 1806 but his replacement, Captain John R. Bennett, came aboard "Druid" on 31 August. Therefore, when "Druid" captured "Swanen" on 2 July, she was still under Broke's command.
As of 2013, a permanent Druid Ensemble exists to work alongside artistic director Garry Hynes to further the artistic programme of the company and share a commitment to “investigate new creative possibilities.” This ensemble is composed of seven actors who have performed in numerous Druid productions over the last thirty years. Alongside founding member Marie Mullen, the Druid ensemble are, Marty Rea, Rory Nolan, Aaron Monaghan, Aisling O’Sullivan, Garrett Lombard and Derbhle Crotty.
This is extensive list of the key productions which have been produced and performed by the Druid Theatre Company over the span of forty four years. However, some productions have been omitted. All information can be found at the Druid website Archive.