The Yule Log

The custom of burning the Yule Log goes back to medieval times. It was originally a Nordic tradition. The Yule Log was originally an entire tree, that was carefully chosen and brought into the house with great ceremony. The largest end of the log would be placed into the fire hearth while the rest of the tree stuck out into the room! The log would be lit from the remains of the previous year’s log which had been carefully stored away and slowly fed into the fire through the Twelve Days of Christmas. Having the remains of the Yule log in the house throughout the year was thought to give protection against fire and it was considered important that the re-lighting process was carried out by someone with clean hands. Nowadays, of course, most people have central heating so it is very difficult to burn a tree! We still have an open fire in my house every Christmas in my house, but it is not big enough to burn a Yule Log!

The custom of the Yule Log spread all over Europe and different kids of wood are used in different countries. In England, Oak is traditional; in Scotland, it is Birch; while in France, it is Cherry. Also, in France, the log is sprinkled with wine, before it is burnt, so that it smells nice when it is lit.

Different chemicals can be sprinkled on the log like wine to make the log burn with different coloured flames!

Potassium Nitrate	=	Violet
Barium Nitrate	=	Apple Green
Borax	=	Vivid Green
Copper Sulphate	=	Blue
Table Salt	=	Bright Yellow

This sounds very dangerous, so please only try this out with some adult supervision!!