Boars Head and Yule Log Festival

Saturday 31 December
This evening Roger and I went see the Boars Head and Yule Log festival at Christ Church cathedral downtown. They have been performing this since 1940. This pageant is rooted in ancient times in Europe when the boar was sovereign of the forest. A ferocious beast and menace to humans it was hunted as a public enemy. Like our Thanksgiving turkey, roasted boar was a staple of medieval banquets. As Christian beliefs overtook pagan customs in Europe, the presentation of a boar’s head at Christmas came to symbolize the triumph of the Christ Child over sin.
The Festival as we know it today originated at Queen’s College, Oxford, England in 1340. Legend has it that a scholar was studying a book of Aristotle while walking through the forest on his way to Christmas Mass. Suddenly, he was confronted by an angry wild boar. Having no other weapon, the resourceful Oxonian rammed his metal-bound philosophy book down the throat of the charging animal, whereupon the brute choked to death. That night the boar’s head, finely dressed and garnished, was borne in procession to the dining room, accompanied by singing carolers.
By 1607, an expansive ceremony was in use at St. John’s College, Cambridge, England. There, the boar’s head was accompanied by “mustard for the eating” and decorated with flags and sprigs of evergreen, bay rosemary and holly. It was carried in state to the strains of the Boar’s Head carol, still sung in the present day Christ Church Cathedral ceremony. The pageantry is interspersed and accompanied by carols some for choir, some including the audience too. We had seen it once, or maybe twice, decades ago. There is no admission charge, though they welcome a free will offering. You do have to reserve tickets though, and they sell out within hours of them being offered online. As you can see, it is a wonderful colourful pageant, and a lovely way to kick off our New Years Eve. The rest of it was spent quietly at home - Laura was out celebrating with friends. We watched a movie, then saw the New Year Inn with champagne, watching the TV coverage of the Ball drop in New York.