Quite frankly, I've never experienced it. What seems to be a Scandinavian model of Candles which may be connected with St Lucia is now fairly popular, though I always have a sneaking suspicion that with its five candle shape that it has a relationship with the Menorah of Chanukah. Remember that I can only write about the Lowlands. What they may do in Barra or South Uist is a different thing. I certainly have never been given a candle by a shop keeper and I've been around Christmas in Scotland since 1968 where it was still in some places a working day - it was just that the family I was with, having English connections celebrated Christmas. Most of these light festivals are much more ancient than Christianity. The ritual which someone described of fire balls has an exact parallel with the swinging of Fire Balls at Stonehaven. The Calvie of Burghead is burnt on Old New Years Day. These light festivals are links with a pre Christian past. In some communities they have been tacked on to Christmas. In others they have been retained in their original position. Now if you first foot part of what you bring is a piece of coal, which is the same line of thought as the Candle for light. However this seems to have rather strayed from S-I Christmas traditions. I think that we have established that there aren't really, however that there are a lot of Scottish fire traditions which are celebrated in the darkness of winter. Remember that the South of Scotland is 54 North and the early dark in Fort William at about 57 N on a December or January afternoon at about 15.00 especially if it is raining is awesome. Ulster is slightly to the South and the winters are not a severe. Hope that this helps Edward Andrews -----Original Message----- From: Lee Ramsey [mailto:lee.ramsey@comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2005 5:15 PM To: Scotch-Irish-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [Sc-Ir] Scotch-Irish Christmas Traditions This article extraction is only one of many found by googling Christmas Folkways. I have added a historical reference at the close of the article from David Hackett Fischer's "Albion's Seed." Lee Ramsey December, 1993 HOLIDAY FIREBALL TRADITION REVISITED by Anne Kimzey A year ago Alabama Folkways featured a column by Doug Purcell describing the tradition of fireballing -- the practice of lighting kerosene-soaked balls of yarn or tightly-wound rags and tossing the fiery objects outdoors at night as a way of celebrating Christmas or the New Year... the practice once occurred in the Alabama counties of Henry, Houston, Dale and Russell and in Hancock County, Georgia. Our respondents indicated that fireballs have also flown through the skies of Chambers, Tallapoosa, Elmore, Bullock, Pike, Crenshaw, Geneva, Covington, Monroe, Dallas, Marengo, Perry, Bibb and Blount counties. While most respondents told of fireball memories dating back to the 1920s and '30s, Jeanette Gibson of Goodway in Monroe County, Alabama wrote that her family and friends began to gather on Christmas Eve a few years ago for "refreshments, fireworks, and fireballs," when she found it difficult to make the trip back to Blakely, Georgia, where her father's side of the family ha! s thrown fireballs at Christmas for generations. This Christmas folkways is most likely the extention of the "Old Christmas" from the boarder lands of Scotland and Northern England. "Old Christmas" was originally celebrated on January 6th. with a feast, bonfires, gunplay and fireworks. This custom continued in the Appalachia and the highlands of North Carolina as well. The January 6th date was traditional believed to be the real Christmas as the birth day of Christ. Lee Ramsey http://www.1n5free.com