Читать книгу Christmas Dodos: Festive Things on the Verge of Extinction - Steve Stack - Страница 20

The chances are that when you think of a Yule log the picture in your head will be of a chocolate cake fashioned to look like a tree trunk. However, these are actually a recent invention, first made to replicate the real wooden logs to which most Western cultures attached great significance at Christmas time.

Although the specifics of the Yule Log tradition differs from country to country, the basic principles are the same: someone brings a massive log, or even a whole tree, into the house and it is burned to bring good luck to the family for the coming year.

Here are some of the variations:

UK. An entire tree is brought in and stuck into the fire, trunk first. The name differs from region to region: Yule Clog, Yule Block, Y Bloccyn Gwylian in Wales meaning the Festive Block, and, my favourite, Yeel Carline in Scotland, which means ‘the Christmas Old Wife’.

Serbia. A young oak tree is felled on Christmas Eve and a log taken from it. This log, called a badnjak, is burned all through Christmas Day. The first visitor to the house on that day has to hit it with a poker and wish the family good luck.

Germany. The Christmas log is added to the fireplace on December 24th.

France. A similar tradition was followed in France as in Germany, but from the 1940s onwards it was replaced with the Bûche de Noël, the cake we all know as a Yule Log today.

Bulgaria. Here hosts one of the most convoluted Yule Log rituals. A young man dresses in his best clothes and goes out on Christmas Eve to chop down a pear, elm or oak tree, this is known as the Budnik. He must then carry the tree home without it touching the ground. Once he reaches the door of his house, he engages in a call-and-response with the family inside: ‘Do you glorify the young god?’ he asks three times, and on each occasion the family responds with ‘We glorify him, welcome’. A hole is then drilled into the log and filled with a blend of incense, before being burned in the fireplace. In the morning, the fire is extinguished with wine and the ash and charred wood are used to bless the harvest for the coming year.

Catalonia. In my favourite of all the traditions, a log is wrapped in a blanket and fed grass for several days. On Christmas Eve it is spanked over and over again in order to make it poo presents.

It’s not hard to work out why these traditions are dying off: we don’t have fireplaces any more, at least very few of us do (as Santa himself can testify) and, to be honest, the chocolate versions are a lot less hassle and much, much tastier.

Still, I love the idea of hitting a log till it defecates a gift.

Suggested by Chris Nicholl

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