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Key Points
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n Beforenthere was Christmas, there was Yule. But when that was, exactly, we are notnquite sure as the pagan peoples have left no written records. It seems likelynthat there were celebrations to mark the turning of the year and thenlengthening of days following midwinter, that there were rites to celebrate thenancestors and we can expect that animals would have been slaughtered in winternas feed became scarce, so there would almost surely have been some sorts ofnfeasting.
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| The Venerable Bede |
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nThe Venerable Bede records in his De Temporum Rationis (c.n726) that in his day the Angles used the word ‘Guili’ for both Decembernand January, adding,
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n“The months Giuli get their names from the turningnround of the sun towards the increasing of the day, because one of themnprecedes and the other follows it.”n
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nHe also notes that the Anglesncelebrated on the eighth day before the Calends of January, which would benDecember 25th, and they called this feast Modranicht, orn‘Mother’s Night’, although he is unsure if this is the origin of Guili.nThere is etymological evidence that ties the word to Old English ġéol or ġéohol,nwhich can be linked jól and thus huil meaning ‘wheel’ and havenconnotations of turning, (although some scholars dispute this). Jól (q.v.nmodern Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Jul – ‘Christmas’) became Yule over the years and camento be associated with the days of celebrations over the Christmas period –nthere was aerrageol and there was afterrageol whichntranslate as Early Yule and Later Yule, and some link Yule to Noweln(as it appears in Chaucer – ‘Nowel crieth every lusty man’) and thus Noël.
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| Bringing In the Yule Log |
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nBy the early Middle Ages, Yule was established in the English language; inn1183, at Durham, tenants attended the Bishop over the festive period and thisnis recorded as Yolwayting (Yule Waiting), a practice also recorded innthe Domesday of St Paul’s (1222). The twelve days after Christmas were a periodnof unbridled licence and protection for the Lord and his property was ansensible precaution – a register at York reports that a declaration called the Yoole-girtholnwas read at the pillory by the sheriffs after the Mass of St Thomas (Decembern21st),
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n“… that all manner of whores, thieves, dice-players, andnall other unthrifty folk be wellcome tonthe towne, whether they come late or early, at the reverence of the high feastenof Yoole, till the twelve days be passed.”n
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nThis Youle-girthe is thenIcelandic Jóla-grið – the Yule-Peace or sanctity, echoing the strongnlinks between York and the Viking settlers in the North of England. By 1475,nthe word Yuletide was being used in English and, as was common practice,nexisting feasts and festivals were taken over and continued under another namenby Christian missionaries.
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| Bringing the Yule Log In |
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nThe old tradition of winter bonfires, in memory ofnthe dead, was subsumed in the Yule Log, a great log (also called a clog or anblock) was burned in the hearth over the twelve days of Yule. In some areas,nthe Yule Log was chosen at Candlemas (February 2nd) and preparednthroughout the year. The Yule Log was larger than the usual wooden branches burnednin the household; it was often brought as a type of ‘tax’ to the Lord of thenManor. The English preferred oak or ash, the Scots used birch, in Provencenfruitwood is favoured and the Serbs use green oak, olive or beech.
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| The Yule Log Dragged Home |
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nThe log isndragged to the house with singing and is sprinkled with beer or wine, sometimesna human figure is drawn on it in chalk, barefoot or squinting people should notnbe allowed into the house whilst the log is being lit, and maidens are notnpermitted to touch the log unless they have washed their hands first.
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| Lighting the Yule Log |
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nA piecenof the previous year’s Yule Log is kept back and is used to light the new log,neither on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, which should then be kept burningnthroughout the twelve days of Christmas. Bad luck will follow if the log isnallowed to go out. A charred chunk of the Yule Log was kept in the housenthroughout the year, to bring luck and ward off fires and lightning. The ashesnwere spread on the fields to ensure fertility, were believed to help hens laynand cattle bear calves, and were used in folk medicine to cure toothache andnchilblains.
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| Modern Yule Log |
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nAs the great, communal hearths of the old houses gave way tonsmaller, more decorative fireplaces during the Victorian times, Yule Logs fellnfrom favour and are seldom seen today, although they are remembered in thensmall, chocolate, Swiss-roll style cakes that are sold at this time of the yearn(in France, they are called bûche de Noël).
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