Swedish Candle

I went to the Forestry Commission office at Glenbranter this morning to buy a Christmas Tree - an annual visit for us and indeed during the couple of years when I was Environment Minister I used to do the Christmas Photo Call there complete (one year at least) with foresters in elf hats.

Anyway the trees were good and we found one very quickly that will fit in the conservatory perfectly.   However they were also selling, for the first  time,  "Swedish Candles" which I understand are also sometimes called "Swedish Torches".   They had one burning and I was fascinated by it.  

Apparently they have their origins in the Swedish Army in the the 18th century where they were used to provide cooking and warmth.   The idea is simplicity itself so when I got home I looked for  some suitable logs in the wood shed and, as I have identified a couple, at some stage during the Christmas period I will have a go at making one using the various instructions on line  of which this is the one from the Scouts.