Raise the Julenek!

(A Yule related post inspired by the Old Wife's Neck.)

Our Scandinavian cousins have preserved a Yuletide custom known as the Julenek - a sheaf of grain stalks kept over from the summer harvest, which is then hung up outside on Christmas eve. The custom was apparently condemned in the 1700's as having pagan origins, but today it is still a popular Christmas decoration in Nordic countries.

'Nek' is an old Scandinavian word for a harvested sheaf of grain (oats, barley, wheat etc) while Jule / Yule is the week long period around the winter solstice. So the Julenek is the 'midwinter Sheaf'.

Today, the purpose of the Julenek is said to provide a food supply for winter birds, and as a symbol of charity and caring for animals at Christmas. A story attached to the Julenek tradition tells how a poor man gave one of his last sheaves to provide food and shelter for the birds on Christmas Eve. The birds prayed that God would help the man, and the following morning the grains of the Julenek were turned to gold. This Christian charity element may have been emphasised to allow the continued use of the Julenek after the accusations that it had pagan overtones.

The Old Wife's Neck - Sneaton Moor

 The Old Wife's Neck is a short standing stone located on Sneaton Low Moor, 5 miles to the south of Whitby.

  This is another North Yorks Moors location associated with the folklore figure of the 'Old Wife' (see also The Old Wife of Lund Ridge). It also continues the Old Wife's association with prehistoric sites, as this stone is part of an ancient bank and ditch earthwork running across the moor. Four parallel banks run for 750m on an east/west alignment, with several upright stones located along the banks. More stones are said to have existed on the banks in the past but these have since been removed. It has also been suggested that a stone row may have originally stood on the same alignment, and these stones were incorporated into the later earthworks.

Cailleach an Dùdain (Old Woman of the Mill Dust)

  The legendary 'Old Wife' figure of the North York Moors seems to have had a sister further north who was known as the 'Cailleach' (both their names meaning 'The Old Woman'), who was celebrated in music, song, and dance. Cailleach an Dùdain (Old Woman of the Mill Dust) is an old tune for pipes or fiddle, which was noted in the Scottish Highlands and Islands in the mid 1700's. The dance and tune were thought to be long forgotten, however, folk dance researchers (Flett, 1956) were able to record a version of it from an old crofter on Benbecula in 1953. The words to the tune did not survive so well, but some verses were recorded by Alexander Carmichael in his Carmina Gadelica (Carmichael, 1900).

Have a listen, and picture the lively scenes played out in those remote crofts and barns all those years ago.....

  This was the tune to which the Dannsa Na Cailleach - the' Old Woman's Dance' was performed (an interesting topic for another time). The tune being played on the pipes or fiddle, or if an instrument was not available, then someone would sing the tune 'Purt a Beul' style.