lais_, and ploughmen give to the poor as many
of these loaves as they possess oxen and horses.{24} These horns may be
substitutes for a sacrifice of oxen.

Sometimes the French Christmas cakes have the form of complete oxen or
horses--such were the thin unleavened cakes sold in the early nineteenth
century at La Chatre (Indre). In the neighbourhood of Chartres there are
_cochenilles_ and _coquelins_ in animal and human shapes. Little cakes
called _naulets_ are sold by French bakers, and actually represent the
Holy Child. With them may be compared the _coignoles_ of French Flanders,
cakes of oblong form adorned with the figure of the infant Jesus in
sugar.{25} Sometimes the Christmas loaf or cake in France has healing
properties; a certain kind of cake in Berry and Limousin is kept all
through the year, and a piece eaten in sickness has marvellous
powers.{26}

Cortet gives an extraordinary account of a French custom |288|
connected with eating and drinking. At Mouthe (Doubs) there used to be
brought to the church at Christmas pies, cakes, and other eatables, and
wine of the best. They were called the "De fructu," and when at Vespers
the verse "De fructu ventris tui ponam super sedem tuam" was reached, all
the congregation made a rush for these refreshments, contended for them,
and carried them off with singing and shouting.{27}

The most remarkable of Christmas cakes or loaves is the Swedish and
Danish "Yule Boar," a loaf in the form of a boar-pig, which stands on the
table throughout the festal season. It is often made from the corn of the
last sheaf of the harvest, and in it Dr. Frazer finds a clear expression
of the idea of the corn-spirit as embodied in pig form. "Often it is kept
till sowing-time in spring, when part of it is mixed with the seed corn
and part given to the ploughman and plough-horses or plough-oxen to eat,
in the expectation of a good harvest." In some parts of the Esthonian
island of Oesel the cake has not the form of a boar, but bears the same
name, and on New Year's Day is given to the cattle. In other parts of the
island the "Yule Boar" is actually a little pig, roasted on Christmas Eve
and set up on the table.{28}

In Germany, besides _stollen_--a sort of plum-loaf--biscuits, often of
animal or human shape, are very conspicuous on Christmas Eve. Any one who
has witnessed a German Christmas will remember the extraordinary variety
of them, _lebkuchen_, _pfeffernuesse_, _printen_, _spekulatius_