Down to about the middle of the nineteenth century the old rite of
the Yule log was kept up in some parts of Central Germany. Thus in
the valleys of the Sieg and Lahn the Yule log, a heavy block of oak,
was fitted into the floor of the hearth, where, though it glowed
under the fire, it was hardly reduced to ashes within a year. When
the new log was laid next year, the remains of the old one were
ground to powder and strewed over the fields during the Twelve
Nights, which was supposed to promote the growth of the crops. In
some villages of Westphalia, the practice was to withdraw the Yule
log (_Christbrand_) from the fire so soon as it was slightly
charred; it was then kept carefully to be replaced on the fire
whenever a thunderstorm broke, because the people believed that
lightning would not strike a house in which the Yule log was
smouldering. In other villages of Westphalia the old custom was to
tie up the Yule log in the last sheaf cut at harvest.
In several provinces of France, and particularly in Provence, the
custom of the Yule log or _tr?foir,_ as it was called in many
places, was long observed.
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