yule, n.
(juːl)
Forms: 1 ᵹeol, ᵹeochol, ᵹeoh(h)ol, -el, ᵹeh(h)ol, ᵹehhel, ᵹeola, iula, 2 iol, 2–4 ȝol (yol), 3 ȝeol, 4 ȝool, 4–5 ȝole, 5 ȝoil(l, yoyll(e, ȝowle, yowle, youle, yole, yoole, ȝwle, (yold(e), 5–7 ȝule, 6 ȝoile, ȝuill, ȝull, ȝowill, -ell, ȝoull, ȝeoll, (ewle), 6–7 yeul, yewl, yool, yuill, ȝuil, (ule, 9 yuhl), 6– yule. Also dial. (in comb.) 7 yew, 7–8 yu, u.
[The modern form descends from OE. ᵹeól, earlier ᵹeoh(h)ol, ᵹeh(h)ol, also ᵹeóla sometimes pl.) Christmas day or Christmastide, and in phr. se ǽrra ᵹeóla December, se æftera ᵹeóla January; corresp. to ON. jól pl. a heathen feast lasting twelve days, (later) Christmas. An Old Anglian ᵹiuli, recorded by Bede (see quot. 726 in sense 1) as the name of December and January, corresponds to ON. {yacu}lir month beginning on the second day of the week falling within Nov. 10–17, and Goth. jiuleis in fruma jiuleis November. The ultimate origin of the Teut. types *jeul- (jeᵹul-) and *jeχul-:—pre-Teut. *jeq{supw}l- is obscure.]
† 1. December or January. Obs.
| 726 Bæda De Temp. Rat. xv, De Mensibus Anglorum..Primusque eorum mensis, quem Latini Januarium vocant, dicitur Giuli... December Giuli, eodem quo Januarius nomine, vocatur... Menses Giuli a conversione solis in auctum diei, quia unus eorum præcedit, alius subsequitur, nomina accipiunt. a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 1 Jan. 12 Ianuarius, þæt is on ure ᵹeþeode se æftera ᵹeola. Ibid. 10 Dec. 216 Se monað ys nemned on leden Decembris ond on ure ᵹeþeode se ærra ᵹeola. c 1200 Ormin 1910–15 Crist wass borenn i þiss lif Wiþinnen Ȝoless moneþþ,..þatt wass o þe fiffte daȝȝ Att twenntiȝ daȝhess ende Off Ȝol. |
2. Christmas and the festivities connected therewith. (Still the name in
Sc. and
north. dial.; since
c 1850 also a literary archaism in
Eng.).
| a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 6 May 76 Feowertiᵹ daᵹa ær Criste acennisse, þæt is ær ᵹeolum [v.r. ᵹyhhelum]. c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xix. (1890) 318 Þy twelftan deᵹe ofer Ᵹeochol [v.rr. ᵹeohol, ᵹeohhel]. a 901 Laws of ælfred §43, xii daᵹas on ᵹehhol [v.rr. ᵹehol, ᵹehhel, ᵹeol]. ? 12.. Charter of Eadweard an. 1067 in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 209 Ealle ða gyltes ða belimpeð to mine kinehelme inne Iol and inne Easterne. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 284, I craue..a crystemas gomen, For hit is ȝol & nwe ȝer. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 49 Þ e kyng one on þe morn went to London, His ȝole forto hold was his encheson. c 1425 Engl. Conq. Irel. (1896) 42 Seynt Tomas-ys day, Apostle, ys þe fyft day afor yold. c 1440 Bone Flor. 1897 Of seynt Hyllary the churche ys, The twenty day of yowle y wys. c 1450 Merlin vi. 96 The kynge is now deed sithe Martin-masse, and fro hens to yoole is but litill space. 1533 Extr. Aberd. Reg. (1844) I. 149 At the natiuite of our Lord, callit zowill. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. xiii. xiv. (1821) II. 340 Quhen he wes sittand with his modir, on the Epiphany Day, at his yuill. a 1580 Sir R. Maitland Sat. Age 45 Thai..yat held grit ȝulis. 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxiv. 108 At Ewle we wonten, gambole, daunce, to carrole, and to sing. 1637 Bk. Com. Prayer Scotland Table Proper Ps., Yule, or Christmas day. 1644 in Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) p. xxix, Knowing that the superstitious dayis of Yool was approching. 1753 Stewart's Trial App. 61 About Yule last. 1794 Burns Bonie Peggy Ramsay i, And dawin' it is dreary, When birks are bare at Yule. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxiii, Ye ken a green Yule makes a fat kirk-yard. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxviii, They bring me sorrow touch'd with joy, The merry merry bells of Yule. 1878 Susan Phillips On Seaboard 74 And many a Yule since..You chose a spray all brightly berried over. |
¶ Yule of August,
Lammas Yule: the festival of Lammas, the first of August.
Obs. This use has arisen from confusion of this word with
gule n.2 (Lammas Day).
| 1643 Hammond Let. Resol. Six Quæres vi. §65. 465 Gula Augusti, or the Yule of August. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Northumbld. (1662) ii. 304 It [sc. Yule] is a name general for festivals, as Lammas Yule, &c. |
† 3. Used as an exclamation of joy or revelry at the Christmas festivities.
Obs.| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 28 It is easy to cry vle at other mens coste. a 1568 in Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 380 It is eith [pr. dith] to cry yule [Maitl. Fo. MS. hailȝule] On ane vder manis coist. 1661 Blount Glossogr. s.v. Ule, In Yorkshire and our other Northern parts, they have an old Custom, after Sermon or Service on Christmas day, the people will, even in the Churches cry Vle, Vle,..and the common people run about the streets singing Ule, Ule, Ule, Three Puddings in a Pule, Crack nuts and cry Ule. 1737 Ramsay Sc. Prov. (1750) 58 It is eith crying yool on anither man's stool. 1853 W. Sandys Christmastide 143 In some places it seems to have been the custom to dance in the country churches, after prayers, crying out, ‘Yole, yole, yole!’ &c. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
yule banquet,
yule batch,
yule common (
common n.1 8),
yule fare,
yule feast,
yule hearth,
yule night [
cf. ON. jólanótt],
yule time; locally applied to articles of food made specially for Christmas as
yule-bread,
yule-cake,
yule-dough,
yule-loaf (see
quots.); also
yule-block = yule-log;
yule-candle = Christmas candle (
Christmas 4);
yule-clog = yule-log;
yule-game, a Christmas game or sport;
† a frolic, gambol;
† yule-girth [see
grith n. 6;
cf. ON. jólagrið], the peace of Christmas;
yule-log, a large log of wood burnt on the hearth at Christmas;
yule-song dial., a Christmas carol;
† yule-stock, (
a) [?
stock n.1 20, 47], ? contribution to Christmas festivities; (
b)
= yule-log;
yule-tide [
cf. ON. jólat{iacu}ð], the season of Yule, Christmas-tide;
† yule-waiting (
yolwayting) [
app. ON. veiting,
waiting vbl. n.2],
app. a due paid by bondmen at Christmas;
† yule-waitstand (
yolwayte-), ? the place where the waits (
wait n. 8 a) stood at Christmas;
† yule-work (
Sc. ȝeoll vark), ? preparations for Christmas festivities.
| 1629 Orkney Witch Trial in N.B. Advertiser Oct. (1894), If ever the guidman of the hous sould mak ane other *yull bankett. |
| 1674 Ray N.C. Words, *Yu-batch. 1796 Pegge Derbicisms (E.D.S.), U-back, U-block. See Yu-batch..Yu⁓bach. |
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Northumberland (1662) ii. 304 The Northern parts call Christmas Yule, (hence the *Yule-block, *Yule-cakes [pr. oakes], Yule-songs, &c.). 1820 Sporting Mag. (N.S.) VI. 283 Yule Cake, a kind of spiced cake, often supplies the place of gingerbread. 1884 Besant Dor. Forster xiii, The tables were covered with Yule-cakes, which are, in the north, shaped like a baby, and Christmas pies in form of a cradle. |
| 1808 Jamieson s.v., The candle, that is lighted on Yule, must be so large as to burn from the time of its being lighted till the day be done... Hence large candles are by the vulgar called *Yule-candles. 1820 Sporting Mag. (N.S.) VI. 283 The yule candle, a tall mould candle, is lighted and set on the table. |
| 1725 Bourne Antiq. Vulg. xiii. in Brand Pop. Antiq. xiii. (1777) 155 Our Fore-Fathers..were wont..to lay a Log of Wood upon the Fire, whlch they termed a *Yule-Clog, or Christmas-Block. 1836 R. Furness Astrol. iii. Wks. (1858) 163 When ample yule-clogs lent their heat and light, And all-spiced possets warm'd the Christmas night. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxviii, The yule-clog sparkled keen with frost. |
| a 1614 J. Melvill Autob. & Diary (Wodrow Soc.) 274 That *Yuill comoun they thought to repey weill now at Pasch. |
| 1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. 163 The *Yule-Dough,..a Kind of Baby or little Image of Paste, which our Bakers used formerly to bake at this Season, and present to their Customers. |
| 1888 Jessie M. E. Saxby Lads of Lunda 210 Such bounty, in the form of *Yule-fare, as the folks are pleased to bestow. |
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Northumbld. (1662) ii. 304 A *Yule feast may be quat at Pasche. That is Christmas-cheer may be digested, and the party hungry again at Easter. a 1774 Fergusson Geordie & Davie 14 Poems (1789) ii. 6 For the Yule-feast a sautit mart's prepar'd. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Gambade, a gamboll, *yew-game, tumbling tricke. 1632 Sherwood, A yew-game, or yeule-game, gambade. 1615 R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 93 The shipps company..plaied Christmas ule games in good sort. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iv. 346 Masks, singing, dancing, vlegames. 1674 Ray N.C. Words, Yu-game. |
| 1569–70 Rec. Inverness (New Spalding Club) I. 182 For breking of *Yule gerthe and trubling of the towne. ? 16.. in F. Drake Eboracum i. vi. (1736) 197 The fower serjeants shall go and ride..and so go forth to the fower barrs of the citty and blow the youle-girthe. Ibid., To make proclamation at the pillory of the Yoole-girthol. |
| 1656 Mennis & J. Smith Mus. Delic. (ed. 2) 23 Thrice had all New-yeares Guests their *yewl guts fill'd With embalm'd Veal, buried in Christmas Past. |
| 1848 Lytton Harold iv. vi, We strip not the green leaves for our *yule-hearths. |
| 1729 P. Walkden Diary (1866) 85 A *yule loaf, 3d. |
| 1725 Bourne Antiq. Vulg. xiii. in Brand Pop. Antiq. (1777) 157, I am apt to believe, the Log has had the Name of the *Yule-Log, from its being burnt as an Emblem of the returning Sun. 1848 Longfellow K. Witlaf's Drinking-horn viii, The Yule-log cracked in the chimney. |
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4648 Howe God was born yn *ȝole nyght. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 101 On feld thar thai woc on yol niht. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 342 Betuix none of the day and Ȝule nicht. 1792 Burns Duncan Gray i, On blythe yule night when we were fu'. a 1661 *Yule-songs [see yule-block]. 1876 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Yule-sangs, s. pl. Christmas carols. |
| 1282 Yorksh. Inquis. (Yorks. Rec. Soc. 1892) I. 244 [The same pays 12d. at Christmas, which is called] *Yolstoch. c 1480 Henryson Sum Practysis Med. 77 (Bann. MS.) With thre crawis of the cok, The schadow of ane ȝule stok, Is gud for þe host. |
| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 4 Quhair Empreouris and Erlis, and vther mony ane, Turnit fra Sanct Thomas befoir the *ȝule tyde. 1860 Longfellow Wayside Inn i. Musician's T. xii. ii, Three days his Yule-tide feasts He held. |
| 1787 W. Taylor Poems 44 About *Yule-time an' Hogmenai. 1864 Prior in Athenæum 2 Jan. 10/2 [Mistletoe] ripened its snow-white fruit just at Yule-time. |
| 1183 Boldon Bk. (Surtees) 20 Dant cum villanis partem suam de scat et de metride et de *yolwayting. c 1380 Bp. Hatfield's Surv. (Surtees) 22 Iidem tenentes red. p. a. pro yol⁓wayting, ad festum Nativitatis Domini, 5s. |
| 1413–14 Boldon Bk. (Surtees) Gloss. p. lxxii, De quadam placea vocata *Yolewaytestand. |
| 1540 Rec. Elgin (New Spald. Cl. 1903) I. 47 Dauid Hardy..sall pay ane stane wax to the nixt *Zeoll vark. |
Hence
yule v., intr. to keep Christmas.
Sc. and
north. dial.| a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Bannatyne Club) I. 39 The lords refuised to lett the lady marchioness go to the castle with her husband, except she would waird also, and with great intreatie had the favour, to Yule with him, but to stay no longer. 1828 Craven Gloss., Yuling, Christmas feasting. |