[653]
In Franche-Comte, the province of France to the west of the Jura
mountains, if the Yule log is really to protect a house against thunder
and lightning, it is essential that it should burn during the midnight
mass, and that the flame should not go out before the divine service is
concluded. Otherwise the log is quite useless for the purpose.[654] In
Burgundy the log which is placed on the fire on Christmas Eve is called
the _suche_. While it is burning, the father of the family, assisted by
his wife and children, sings Christmas carols; and when he has finished,
he tells the smallest children to go into a corner of the room and pray
God that the log may give them sweeties. The prayer is invariably
answered.[655]
[The Yule log and the Yule candle in England.]
In England the customs and beliefs concerning the Yule log, clog, or
block, as it was variously called, used to be similar. On the night of
Christmas Eve, says the antiquary John Brand, "our ancestors were wont
to light up candles of an uncommon size, called Christmas Candles, and
lay a log of wood upon the fire, called a Yule-clog or Christmas-block,
to illuminate the house, and, as it were, to turn night into day. This
custom is, in some measure, still kept up in the North of England. In
the buttery of St. John's College, Oxford, an ancient candle-socket of
stone still remains ornamented with the figure of the Holy Lamb. It was
formerly used to burn the Christmas Candle in, on the high table at
supper, during the twelve nights of that festival.
Pages:
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412