Yule straw in Aberdeenshire

6 January · Aberdeenshire

No longer kept

In parts of Aberdeenshire nobody worked during the three days of Old Style Christmas. Straw, called yule straw, was gathered in advance and all food and fuel made ready, so the feast could be kept in peace. Dyer took this from Notes and Queries.

Straw, termed "yule straw," is gathered beforehand, and everything needed for food and fuel prepared in a similar way, so that the festival may be kept in peace.

From Dyer's British Popular Customs, p. 489. Read the original

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Folklore from the old calendars

The Piddle Hinton Old Christmas dole No longer kept DorsetOn Old Christmas Day the rector of Piddle Hinton handed every poor parishioner a pound of bread, a pint of ale and a mince pie.
Stang and swill on Old Christmas Day No longer kept CumberlandIn Cumberland it was a regular Old Christmas Day custom to catch every man in reach, carry him to a public-house on a pole, and fine him a pint of beer.
Presents from the Twelfth Day king and queen No longer kept EnglandWhoever was chosen king and queen on Twelfth Day was once expected to give each other handsome presents and to entertain the whole company.
Hazard for the groom-porter No longer kept LondonThe Gentleman's Magazine for January 1731 reported that on Twelfth Day the king and the Prince of Wales made their offerings of gold, frankincense and myrrh at the Chapel Royal, and that at night the royal family played at hazard for the benefit of the groom-porter.
Lobscouse and Ponsondie No longer kept CumberlandIn Cumberland and other northern parts of England, Twelfth Night ended the Christmas holidays with a dance in a large room from seven o'clock until twelve.
The Twelfth Night Wassail at Court No longer kept EnglandThe Royalle Book of Henry VII's household laid down how the king kept Twelfth Day, going crowned in his robes and offering gold, myrrh and incense.
The Hobby Horse of Paget’s Bromley No longer kept StaffordshirePlot's Natural History of Staffordshire records a Twelfth Day custom at Paget's Bromley, now Abbots Bromley, which had gone out by the seventeenth century.
The King of the Bean No longer kept EnglandOn Twelfth Night a large cake was baked with a bean inside, and the family and friends cut it by lot: whoever found the bean was King of the Bean for the night, and in England there was always a queen too, sometimes found by a pea.
Cutting Off the Fiddler’s Head No longer kept Isle of ManWaldron's history of the Isle of Man says that through the twelve days of Christmas every barn was in use and every parish hired fiddlers at the public charge.
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh Still kept LondonOn Twelfth Day the king used to go in procession with heralds and the knights of the Garter, Thistle and Bath to the Chapel Royal at St James's, and offer gold, frankincense and myrrh in imitation of the Magi.

Yule straw in Aberdeenshire

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