The Yule Tree

When do you put up your Yule tree and take it down again?

I work on the assumption that saints’ days were originally festivals of the deity they replaced (this works in some cases but not necessarily all, so I really should cross-check it with a calendar of Pagan festival days).

For example, Martinmas (29 September) is when you eat goose, and according to countryside lore, it’s the last day you can eat blackberries picked from the bush, as otherwise the Devil spits on them. 29 September was...