(Noel). It consisted of an enormous tree-trunk, so heavy that the united
strength of several men was needed to carry it in and place it on the
hearth, where it served to feed the fire during the three days of the
Christmas festivity. Strictly speaking, it should be the trunk of an old
oak-tree which had never been lopped and had been felled at midnight. It
was placed on the hearth at the moment when the tinkle of the bell
announced the elevation of the host at the midnight mass; and the head
of the family, after sprinkling it with holy water, set it on fire. The
remains of the log were preserved till the same day next year. They were
kept under the bed of the master of the house; and whenever thunder was
heard, one of the family would take a piece of the log and throw it on
the fire, which was believed to guard the family against lightning. In
the Middle Ages, we are told, several fiefs were granted on condition
that the vassal should bring in person a Yule log every year for the
hearth of his liege lord.[646]

[The Yule log in Normandy and Brittany.]

Similar customs and beliefs survived till recent years in some of the
remote country villages of the picturesque district known as the Bocage
of Normandy. There it was the grandfather or other oldest man of the
family who chose the Yule log in good time and had it ready for
Christmas Eve. Then he placed it on the hearth at the moment when the
church bell began to ring for the evening service. Kneeling reverently
at the hearth with the members of his family in a like attitude of
devotion, the old man recited three _Pater Nosters_ and three _Aves_,
and invoked the blessing of heaven on the log and on the cottage. Then
at the sound of the bell which proclaimed the sacrament of the mass, or,
if the church was too far off to allow the tinkle of the bell to be
heard, at the moment when they judged that the priest was elevating the
host before the high altar, the patriarch sprinkled the burning log with
holy water, blessed it in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost, and drew it out of the fire. The charred log was then
carefully kept till the following Christmas as a precious relic which
would guard the house against the levin bolt, evil spirits, sorcerers,
and every misfortune that might befall in the course of the year.[647]
In the department of Orne "the Yule-log is called _trefouet_; holy water
is poured on it; it should last the three days of the fes