Folklore

Lore, beliefs and customs no longer kept, day by day, from Hone’s Every-Day Book, Chambers’s Book of Days and others.

Saturday 5 December

Folklore from the old calendars

The Yule log and the mock Lore and belief Cornwall, EnglandThe Yule log was brought in with ceremony on Christmas Eve and lit from the saved remains of the year before.
The Christmas mummers Still kept England, PembrokeshireThe mummers, called guisers in Scotland, set out on Christmas Eve to visit the chief houses of the parish and act the play of St George.
Hoodening Still kept KentAt Ramsgate the Christmas festivities began with a hoodening.
The kneeling oxen Lore and belief Cornwall, DevonIn west Devon and Cornwall it was believed that at midnight on Christmas Eve the oxen in their stalls knelt as if in prayer, and after the change of calendar they were said to do it only on Old Christmas Eve.
The Christmas Eve orchard wassail Still kept Devon, Hampshire, NorfolkOn Christmas Eve in parts of Devon the farmer, his family and friends ate hot cakes dipped in cider, then carried cake and cider to the chief apple tree in the orchard.
The ashen faggot Still kept DevonIn Devon the Yule log took the form of the ashen faggot, a bundle of ash sticks bound with bands of ash, ideally nine of them.