Now, Now, The Mirth Comes - The Hymns and Carols of Christmas

“Now, Now The Mirth Comes”
Kindle The Christmas Brand
Candlemas Day
[February 2]
Source: William Henry Husk, Songs of the Nativity (London: John Camden Hotten, 1868)
Kindle
the Christmas brand, and then
Till sunset let it burn;
Which quench'd then lay it up again
Till Christmas next
Part must be kept wherewith to teend 1
The Christmas log next year;
And where 'tis safely kept, the fiend
Can do no mischief (there).
Husk's Notes:
The custom noticed in the first of these extracts is here again more particularly
mentioned, and a reason for its observance given.
On [Christmas] eve our ancestor's were wont to lay a log of wood upon the fire,
called a Yule-clog, or log, or Christmas block, to illuminate the house. It was a custom
to preserve a portion of this block until the next year, with which to light the new
block, and the omission to do so was deemed unlucky. The practice still prevails in
many parts of the country.
Henry Vizetelly notes that: “In Herrick's time it was customary with the country people to
prolong the merriment of the Christmas season until Candlemas Day ― a circumstance
referred to in the following couplet: ―
Candlemas Day
End now the white-loaf and the pie,
And let all sports with Christmas die.
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