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In other parts of the island, again, though the
Christmas cake has neither the name nor the shape of a boar, it is
kept till the New Year, when half of it is divided among all the
members and all the quadrupeds of the family. The other half of the
cake is kept till sowing-time comes round, when it is similarly
distributed in the morning among human beings and beasts. In other
parts of Esthonia, again, the Christmas Boar, as it is called, is
baked of the first rye cut at harvest; it has a conical shape and a
cross is impressed on it with a pig's bone or a key, or three dints
are made in it with a buckle or a piece of charcoal. It stands with
a light beside it on the table all through the festal season. On New
Year's Day and Epiphany, before sunrise, a little of the cake is
crumbled with salt and given to the cattle. The rest is kept till
the day when the cattle are driven out to pasture for the first time
in spring. It is then put in the herdsman's bag, and at evening is
divided among the cattle to guard them from magic and harm.


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