[639] August Witzschel, Sagen, Sitten und Gebraeuche aus Thueringen (Vienna, 1878), p. 172.

[640] K. Hoffmann-Krayer, Feste und Braeuche des Schweizervolkes (Zurich, 1913), pp. 108 sq.

[641] Le Baron de Reinsberg-Dueringsfeld, Calendrier Belge (Brussels, 1861-1862), ii. 326 sq. Compare J.W.  Wolf, Beitraegezur deutschen Mythologie (Goettingen, 1852-1858), i. 117.

[642] J.B.  Thiers, Traite des Superstitions*[5] (Paris, 1741), i. 302 sq.; Eugene Cortet, Essai sur les Fetes Religieuses (Paris, 1867), pp. 266 sq.

[643] J.B.  Thiers, Traite des Superstitions (Paris, 1679), p. 323.

[644] Aubin-Louis Millin, Voyage dans les Departemens du Midi de la France (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 336 sq. The fire so kindled was called caco fuech.

[645] Alfred de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 151 sq. The three festivals during which the Yule log is expected to burn are probably Christmas Day (December 25th), St. Stephen’s Day (December 26th), and St. John the Evangelist’s Day (December 27th).  Compare J.L.M.  Nogues, Les Moeurs d’autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis (Saintes, 1891), pp. 45-47.  According to the latter writer, in Saintonge it was the mistress of the house who blessed the Yule log, sprinkling salt and holy water on it; in Poitou it was the eldest male who officiated.  The log was called the cosse de No.

[646] Laisnel de Salle, Croyances et Legendes du Centres de la France (Paris, 1875), i. 1-3.

[647] Jules Lecoeur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand (Conde-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 291.  The author speaks of the custom as still practised in out-of-the-way villages at the time when he wrote.  The usage of preserving the remains of the Yule-log (called trefouet) in Normandy is mentioned also by M’elle Amelie Bosquet, La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 294.

[648] A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 256.

[649] Paul Sebillot, Coutumes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne (Paris, 1886), pp. 217 sq.

[650] Albert Meyrac, Traditions, Coutumes, Legendes et Contes des Ardennes (Charleville, 1890), pp. 96 sq.

[651] See above, p. 251.

[652] Lerouze, in Memoires de l’Academie Celtique, iii. (1809) p. 441, quoted by J. Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1882-1883), i. 469 note.

[653] L.F.  Sauve, Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges (Paris, 1889), pp. 370 sq.

[654] Charles Beauquier, Les Mois en Franche-Comte (Paris, 1900), p. 183.

[655] A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes, et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 302 sq.