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FOLKLORE OF YULE. 



Chief of all the heathen festivals which have become 

 identified with those of Christian churches is that of 

 Yule — the " merry feast " of Scandinavia. 



It would seem that Yule was not one festival, but 

 a series of them, and that period is still named by the 

 Shetlanders " the Yules." 



The Yules began with Tul-ya's e'en, which was 

 seven days before Yule-day. On that night the Trows 

 received permission to leave their homes in the heart 

 of the earth and dwell, if it so pleased them, above 

 ground. There seemed to have been no doubt that 

 those creatures preferred disporting themselves among 

 the dwellings of men to residing in their own sub- 

 terranean abodes, for they availed themselves of every 

 permission given, and created no little disturbance 

 among the mortals whom they visited. One of the 

 most important of all Yuletide observances was the 

 " saining " required to guard life or property from the 

 Trows. If the proper observances were omitted, the 

 " grey-folk " were sure to take advantage of the oppor- 

 tunity. 



At day-set on Tul-ya's e'en two straws were plucked 

 from the stored provender and laid, in the form of a 



