.

[The bringing in of the Yule log.]

At the moment when the sun is setting all the members of the family
assemble in the central hall (the great family kitchen) of the principal
house. The mother of the family (or the wife of the chief of the
Zadrooga)[670] gives a pair of woollen gloves to one of the young men,
who goes out and presently returns carrying in his gloved hands the
largest of the logs. The mother receives him at the threshold, throwing
at him a handful of wheat, in which the first chip of the oak tree cut
in the early morning for the Yule log has been kept all day. Entering
the central hall with the Yule log the young man greets all present with
the words: "Good evening, and may you have a happy Christmas!" and they
all answer in chorus, "May God and the happy and holy Christmas help
thee!" In some parts of Servia the chief of the family, holding a glass
of red wine in his hand, greets the Yule log as if it were a living
person, and drinks to its health. After that, another glass of red wine
is poured on the log. Then the oldest male member of the family,
assisted by the young man who brought in the log, places it on the
burning fire so that the thicker end of the log protrudes for about a
foot from the hearth. In some places this end is smeared with honey.

[The ceremony with the straw; the Yule candle.]

Next the mother of the family brings in the bundle of straw which was
left standing outside. All the young children arrange themselves behind
her in a row. She then walks slowly round the hall and the adjoining
rooms, throwing handfuls of straw on the floor and imitating the
cackling of a hen, while all the children follow her peeping with their
lips as if they were chickens cheeping and waddling after the mother
bird. When the floor is well strewn with straw, the father or the eldest
member of the family throws a few walnuts in every corner of the hall,
pronouncing the words: "In the name of God the Father, and the Son, and
the Holy Ghost, Amen!" A large pot, or a small wooden box, filled with
wheat is placed high in the east corner of the hall, and a tall candle
of yellow wax is stuck in the middle of the wheat. Then the father of
the family reverently lights the candle and prays God to bless the
family with health and happiness, the fields with a good harvest, the
beehives with plenty of honey, the cattle and sheep with young, and the
cows with abundant milk and rich cream. After that they all si