Old Scottish Festival Cakes and Dishes

‘Some of the cakes which have a prominent place in folk usage at certain periods of the year, e.g. Christian festivals and holy days, as well as on other occasions, are probably lineally descended from cakes used sacrificially or sacramentally in pagan times. This is suggested by the customs observed in the making of these cakes, or the eating of them; by their division among the members of the family, or by their being marked with sacred symbols.’—L. A. MacCulloch: Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, article on ‘Cakes and Loaves’.