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approximately a dozen withies. At the beginning of the evening, the butt of the faggot is placed against the rear of the fireplace, where a fire is already ablaze. Bets are then placed on the length of time (which is usually several hours) until the last binding bursts, with the closest estimate winning a prize and the proceeds going to charity.
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When the bindings have all burst and the bundle has fallen loose, each person who plans to host the festivities next year takes one of the half-burned ash sticks and saves it until the following
Christmas, when it will go in the centre of their own ashen faggot. This tradition symbolizes continuity
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This tradition survives in pubs on the border between Devon and
Somerset (The Squirrel Inn in Laymore being one of these) and is celebrated on the evening of the 6th of January each year (old Christmas Eve). Here the ritual centres on an ashen faggot around twelve feet in length bound by
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It was believed that any household that did not burn the ashen faggot would face years of bad luck and misfortune. Some versions suggest that an ashen faggot kept in the house would keep away the
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is a large log or a bundle of ash sticks. It was bound with nine green lengths of ash bands or 'beams', preferably all from the same tree. At the appropriate moment during
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As each binding bursts, the watchers toast it with a drink. Some traditions had the unmarried women each choosing a
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The wassail party passes around a bundle of ash sticks, twigs or branches—the remnant of the previous year's
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culture, it was thought that Jesus was born in a field and that he was kept warm by the head of an ash.
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annually builds an ashen faggot six feet high and three feet wide for their huge fireplace.
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of life and endures (or has been resurrected) in many places; the Winter 2005 issue of
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At
Taunton in the early 19th century, an Ashen Faggot Ball was held on 31st December.
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was probably chosen for this ritual because the ash tree has a long pedigree of
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Willey, G. R. (1983). "Burning the Ashen Faggot: A Surviving
Somerset Custom".
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Ashen Faggot at the Oxford
Dictionary of English Folklore
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Paupers and Pig
Killers: The Diary of William Holland
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278:"Delightfully weird and wacky festive traditions"
88:The Christian version of the use of ash was when
160:'s song the "Ashen Faggot Wassail", on her 1974
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334:The traditional Christmas Ashen Faggot
283:. Devon County Council. Archived from
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77:: perhaps the most important is the
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355:Burning of the Ashen Faggot songs
183:Cultural aspects of the ash tree
382:Christmas in the United Kingdom
131:claims that the Harbour Inn in
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264:10.1080/0015587X.1983.9716254
112:—bound with green ash
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397:Traditions involving fire
39:, similar to that of the
238:Burning the Ashen Faggot
366:Devon Talk, Winter 2005
66:Historical significance
336:Retrieved 26 June 2013
240:Retrieved 26 June 2013
228:Retrieved 26 June 2013
216:Retrieved 26 June 2013
204:Retrieved 26 June 2013
350:Wassail Games Online
166:Adieu to Old England
104:Christmas Eve ritual
75:magical associations
392:Culture in Somerset
290:on 15 December 2018
43:and related to the
149:and evil spirits.
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376:Categories
189:References
129:Devon Talk
258:: 40–43.
79:Yggdrasil
29:Christmas
252:Folklore
172:See also
98:Romanian
41:Yule log
37:Somerset
294:4 March
178:Wassail
133:Axmouth
114:withies
45:wassail
26:English
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164:album
110:faggot
52:faggot
288:(PDF)
281:(PDF)
162:Topic
147:Devil
121:withy
96:. In
94:Jesus
33:Devon
315:ISBN
296:2015
90:Mary
35:and
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81:of
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