Unwashed hands and the Christmas fire

24 December · England

Lore and belief

Maids were warned to wash their hands before kindling the fire at Christmas, for a fire laid or lit with unwashed hands would not catch however hard they blew. Herrick gives the rule in Another to the Maids, one of his Christmas Eve ceremonies, printed straight after the guarding of the Christmas pie.

Wash your hands, or else the fire / Will not teend to your desire; / Unwasht hands, ye Maidens, know, / Dead the Fire, though ye blow.

From Herrick's Hesperides, p. 310. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

Threshing wheat for the Christmas furmity No longer kept EnglandThe mock calendar in Poor Robin for 1670 read like a householder's Christmas diary.
Ivy and holly to deck the house Still kept EnglandAt Christmas the farmer's wife decked the house with ivy and holly and boiled and soused the brawn.
Psaltries for luck while the Yule log kindles No longer kept EnglandOn Christmas Eve the new log was lit from last year's brand, and music was played while it caught so that good luck would come with its burning.
Modranicht, the night of the mothers No longer kept EnglandThe heathen English called the night before Christmas Day Modranicht, the mothers' night, and kept ceremonies through it without sleeping.
Born on Christmas Eve, blind to ghosts Lore and belief EnglandPeople born on Christmas Eve were thought to be unable to see spirits, even when a dog at their side plainly saw one and crept whining to its master.
The Yule-clog in the northern parts No longer kept Northern EnglandOn Christmas Eve families lit candles of an uncommon size and laid a great log on the fire, called the Yule-clog or Christmas-block, to light the house and turn the night into day.
The Whitbeck ox kneels at midnight Lore and belief CumberlandIn Whitbeck it was said that the labouring ox knelt at midnight on the night before Christmas Day.
Christmas beer for the Cornish carol singers Still kept CornwallIn the west of Cornwall carol singers went from house to house at Christmas wherever they were encouraged, and in some parishes met in church on Christmas Eve to sing in the morning.
Myrtle and laurustinum for Christmas in the West Still kept West CountryIn the West of England houses were decked for Christmas with myrtle and laurustinum as well as holly and mistletoe.
Keeping back the yule-cake Lore and belief LincolnshireOn Christmas Eve in Lincolnshire the yule-clog blazed and the yule-candle burned while the family ate slices of yule-cake toasted and soaked in spiced ale.
The ox cake at Tretire No longer kept HerefordshireOn Christmas Eve at Tretire the farm men made a cake, pushed a stick through it and fixed it on the horn of an ox, saying words that begged a good crop of corn for the master.
Pepper-cake and the Christmas cheese No longer kept YorkshireIn Cleveland the master of the house cut the Christmas cheese on Christmas Eve, and it sat on a platter beneath a thick gingerbread called pepper-cake.
The devil’s knell at Dewsbury Still kept YorkshireOn Christmas Eve the church bells at Horbury, near Wakefield, and at Dewsbury were tolled as the "devil's knell".
The Cleveland bessel cup No longer kept YorkshireChristmas singers in Cleveland carried a "bessel cup", that is a wassail cup, together with a boxed figure of the Virgin and Child decked with whatever ornaments they could gather.
Milly-boxes in the West Riding No longer kept YorkshireAt Christmas the children of the West Riding carried figures of the Virgin and Child from door to door in boxes lined with spice, oranges and sugar.
No stirring the fire at the Yule supper Lore and belief Northern EnglandAt the northern Christmas Eve supper nobody was to stir the fire, move the candlestick or snuff the Yule candle, and nobody left the table until the meal was over.
The first yessle-cup singer Lore and belief Northern EnglandIn the North it was thought that turning away the first yessle-cup singer at Christmas without a gift meant losing the luck of the whole coming year.
Rumbald Night at Folkestone No longer kept KentHasted recorded that the fishermen of Folkestone used to pick out eight of the largest and best whitings from every boat on its return from the whiting fishery and sell them apart.
Frumenty on Christmas Eve No longer kept YorkshireMr Beckwith told the Gentleman's Magazine in 1784 that in the country about Rotherham frumenty had always been the breakfast and supper on Christmas Eve within his memory.
The threepenny loaf at Aston Hall No longer kept WarwickshireOn Christmas Eve at the house of the Holt family at Aston, near Birmingham, a table was set in the hall after supper with a brown loaf bearing twenty silver threepences on top, a tankard of ale, pipes and tobacco.
Hunting the wren in Man No longer kept Isle of ManWaldron wrote that on the evening of 24 December all the Manx servants had a holiday.
Hagmena at Newcastle No longer kept NorthumberlandLittle troops of boys and girls at Newcastle upon Tyne and other places in the north of England went from house to house a few nights before Christmas, on Christmas Eve and on Christmas night, knocking and singing.
Greening the church Still kept EnglandOld church calendars marked Christmas Eve with the words templa exornantur, churches are decked.
Old folks’ night in Cumberland No longer kept CumberlandA Cumberland correspondent told Hone that with Christmas Eve began a round of feasts and merrymakings that kept farmhouse fires and candles burning until the small hours night after night.
The Quainton thorn No longer kept BuckinghamshireAfter the calendar change of 1752, crowds went to see whether the famous thorns would blossom on the new Christmas Day.
Bees singing on Christmas Eve Lore and belief EnglandAlongside the belief that the cattle knelt in their stalls at midnight on Christmas Eve, it was said that the bees sang in their hives at the same hour.
Ivy or his breeches No longer kept OxfordshireAubrey recorded that in several parts of Oxfordshire it was the custom at Christmas for the maidservant to ask the manservant for ivy to decorate the house.
The Christmas standard at Leadenhall No longer kept LondonStow recorded that at Christmas every London house and parish church was decked with holm oak, ivy, bays and whatever else was green, and the conduits and standards in the streets were dressed too.
The Lord of Misrule No longer kept EnglandStow wrote that at Christmas the king's house, and the house of every nobleman of honour, had a Lord of Misrule or Master of Merry Disports, and that the Lord Mayor of London and each of the sheriffs had one too, each trying to make the rarest pastime.
The Christmas waits Still kept Cumberland, Lanarkshire, LondonThe waits were bands of musicians who played through the streets at night for two or three weeks before Christmas, usually finishing on Christmas Eve, and then called at the houses for a Christmas box.
The cock crows all night Lore and belief EnglandIt was held that on the night before Christmas the powers of darkness were helpless and no evil could touch mankind.
The Yule candle No longer kept EnglandAlongside the Yule log a candle of great size, called the Yule candle or Christmas candle, lit the table through the evening.
Kissing under the mistletoe Still kept EnglandBrand found that mistletoe was kept out of churches, where one sexton told him it had once been put up and the clergyman at once ordered it down, but that it was hung in state in the kitchen.
Mistletoe at York Minster No longer kept YorkshireStukeley, writing in the eighteenth century, said that within the last hundred years mistletoe had been carried to the high altar of York Minster on Christmas Eve.
Carols after midnight in Wales Still kept WalesHone found that carol singing, unknown in Presbyterian Scotland, was kept up in Wales more fully than in England.
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.

Unwashed hands and the Christmas fire

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