644 REPORT—1896. 
In these cases annual renewal from an old fire, which was in turn 
derived from an old fire, and so on backwards, takes back the ‘seed of the 
fire’ to the original method of obtaining it, namely, from the village- 
fire ; and in this way these imperfect examples are connected with the per- 
fect examples. But the formula of annual renewal also contains the 
formula of continuous life, and it becomes a ‘struggle for existence’ be- 
tween these two formule as to which should ultimately prevail in deter- 
mining the form which each survival should finally take. In the first 
of the above-mentioned groups both formule appear; in the second and 
third only the symbolism of continuous life ; and thus we obtain a very 
instructive lesson in the process of degradation in survivals. 
Of the first form a Nottinghamshire example is the best. There must 
always be a portion of last year’s yule log left in the house to be burnt 
upon the next Christmas eve. The method is to first put a bit of last 
year’s log into the fireplace and burn it, then the fresh log must be put on 
the fire and be allowed to burn for a little while. It must then be taken 
off and burnt a little every night until New Year's eve, when it is put on 
the fire and burnt, all except the small portion which is kept in the house 
until next Christmas Day. It is believed that the observance of this 
custom will ‘keep the witch away.’! Ido not think the significance of 
this piece of ritual will be lost upon any student; and the sanction for its 
due observance is the safety of the household, the same sanction, that is, 
which was noted among the survivals of the tribal fire rites at Burghead, 
in the Isle of Man, and elsewhere. In Lincolnshire the yule log was placed 
with ceremony on the fire on Christmas eve, the unconsumed part of the 
old log having been carefully preserved to burn with the new one.” In 
Northamptonshire it is taken from the fire when only half burnt and care- 
fully preserved in a cellar or some other safe place, its possession being 
looked upon as bringing good luck to the house and preventing fire 
throughout the coming year.* This last divergence in the form of pro- 
tection obtained from the fire is clearly a modern addition due to associa- 
tion of ideas; and we next come upon an example of this form of 
«protection when it is unaccompanied, as in the present case, with the more 
archaic conception of safety to the family being bound up with the 
preservation of the sacred fire. In Northumberland a fragment of the 
Christmas log was saved for next Christmas,* during which time it secures 
~ the house from fire, and a small piece of it thrown into a fire occurring at 
the house of a neighbour will quell the raging element. A tall mould 
candle is also procured for the evening, and it would be unlucky to light 
either the log or the candle till the proper period. A piece of the candle 
is also kept to ensure good luck.® Here yule log and yule candle are 
evidently struggling for mastery as the emblem of the house-fire annually 
renewed, while the foreign element of protection from fire receives its 
most advanced form. The same evidence is derived from the district of 
_Nidderdale. There the fag-end of last year’s yule log is used to light the 
new one, which in its turn is saved for a like purpose in the following year. 
_Each house is provided with twelve or more candles, which are all lighted 
* Addy, Household Tales and other Traditional Remains, p. 104. 
2 Brogden, Provincial Words, s.v. ‘Yule log.’ 
3 Sternberg, Folklore of Northamptonshire, p. 186. 
4 My authority does not actually say ‘to light’ the next Christmas log, but there 
is no doubt, I think, that this is implied. 
5 Denham Tracts, ii, 25-26. 
