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Burning of the Clavie
The Burning of the Clavie was an ancient Scottish custom on the first day of the new year according to the Julian Calendar (I have a notation here that that day is January 11, but I have not verified that). A split cask was filled with tar and lit on fire. It was carried to the altar called the douro where it served as the base of a bonfire. People scrambled for bits of it to light their hearth fires for luck. The charcoal of the Clavie was put in chimneys to prevent the ingress of witches.