Countryman's Diary: The right choice for festive glow

There is little doubt that most of us welcome the cheeriness and warmth of a genuine log fire - it adds life to a room and seems so much a part of the Christmas scene - and there are some general tips when considering the type of logs to acquire.

In very general terms, conifers such as pine, larch and spruce tend to crackle and spark a lot, even if they do issue a rather pleasant smell. They tend to burn away quickly however. The wood of fruit trees is always pleasing because it gives off a lovely perfume - apple and pear are especially attractive, while burning cherry wood is said to smell like flowers.

Beech, chestnut, hornbeam, yew and oak are all better if they have been kept at least a year - with oak being kept for longer if possible - while birch always burns very brightly, but rather too quickly.

Elm burns very slowly without giving off any heat (in fact it almost smoulders - it is said to burn like churchyard mould!), but poplar produces a ghastly and rather bitter smell and, like willow, burns very poorly unless it has been kept dry for a considerable time.

Alder wood burns extremely slowly while holly is best burnt when green, but without doubt, the finest wood for the Christmas fireside is ash.

It burns well, whether it has been kept for a long time or whether it is freshly cut, and it also produces a wonderful heat. An old verse says of ash: "Ashwood wet and ashwood dry, a king may warm his slippers by."

If we are considering logs, it might be pleasing to resurrect the ancient custom of having a yule log. In many houses, a massive log was brought into the home on Christmas Eve when it was placed on the family fire. It was supposed to be large enough to continue burning throughout the festivities - often these trunks of wood, usually oak or ash, were 4-5ft long and they would smoulder until the conclusion of Christmas Day.

Before the log was completely consumed, the remains were deliberately extinguished and kept until the following year. Many people would keep their yule log In the house, believing its presence prevented unwanted fires in the home and then, the following Christmas Eve, the old yule log was used on the existing fire.

The idea was that it would be finally burnt to ashes but the new one had to be ignited from its final flames. In this way, there was continuity both with the fire and within the family, and the origins of this custom seem to be associated with ancient fertility and fire rites.

These were practised at the time of the winter solstice long before the Christian era began.

I'm not suggesting we all rush out and buy a colossal piece of timber - modern firesides are just not built for such delights - but it might be possible to devise your own custom with a much smaller piece of firewood. Your very own yule log could become a talking point over Christmas.

Incidentally, some families ignited a huge yule candle at the same time as their log, and placed it in the centre of the dining table. This burnt throughout the festivities too. A yule candle was always very large and spectacular, far more attractive than the day-to-day candles used for ordinary lighting, and an added benefit was that it lasted a long time. For this reason, it made a very attractive Christmas present - and it was very cheap to buy!

Winter coats

I can't remember the last time I saw a partially white stoat. I have never seen a stoat in a full white coat - in fact, no stoat turns completely white in winter because they always retain the black tip to their tails - but apart from their tail end, some stoats in the northern part of the country can become entirely white in winter. Others are more likely to become rather, patchy, however, producing a coat which is partially brown and partially white.

The normal colouring for a stoat is a soft, warm, light brown along its head, back and tail, although the underparts are creamy white. In many parts of the country, stoats retain these colours throughout the year, but in very cold conditions they can turn completely white - except for that tip of the tail.

No-one is quite sure how or why this transformation takes place. The whole process can take three or four days and some experts believe it occurs as the animal changes into its winter coat. In some cases, of course, that winter coat can remain brown, although it will be much thicker, but if there is a sudden cold spell, then it seems the stoat is likely to produce this beautiful white fur.

One theory is that the white fur does provide a very useful form of camouflage in conditions of snow, and another is that, being white, it might also aid the animal's heat conservation.

The stoat is not the only British animal to make use of this procedure - the mountain hare, more plentiful in both Ireland and Scotland than in England, also produces a special white winter coat. It moults three times a year, wearing a short brown coat in the spring, a blue-grey coat in the summer, and a white one in the winter.

The hare's blue-grey summer coat has led to it being known as the blue hare in some areas.

Like the stoat, however, not every mountain hare turns white in winter. In the milder conditions of Ireland, they tend to retain their brown coats throughout the year and are often known as Irish hares. There they have replaced our brown hare and they seem quite happy living in lowland conditions, whereas in this country they restrict themselves to very high ground, with heather as their main source of food.

Although Scotland is their chief habitat, I believe a few may be seen on the Pennines and in the Welsh mountains.

If, as reported, our country is being subjected to a natural warming process which manifests itself in milder winters, then the sight of white stoats or even white mountain hares might become increasingly rare. Our wildlife has an amazing capacity to adapt to the prevailing conditions, and if there is less snow than in the past, then our changing climate may eradicate the need for these animals to dress accordingly.

The stoat's white fur, however, has always been highly prized as ermine and in some places, a white stoat is known as the ermine. This rare white fur of the stoat is used in heraldic devices and also upon the ceremonial cloaks worn by peers in the House of Lords. It is readily identified because it contains black flecks - ie, the animals' tails!

As that ancient British institution is under constant threat, any future shortage of ermine might not be considered a problem.

Your number's up

There used to be an old belief that if the coroner crossed Wensley bridge, then he would soon do so on two further occasions. This is just one variety of a very persistent superstition that bad things always come in threes and it is surprising how many villagers persist in the notion that if there is a sudden or unexpected death within their community, it will be rapidly followed by a further two. This has been extended to an idea that one item of bad news is always followed by a further two, or that any slice of bad luck will be followed by a further two.

For all we might scoff at these beliefs, it is surprising how many times it does occur and even if such events are nothing more than coincidences, they do tend to add strength to our stubborn beliefs.

It is difficult to know how or why this superstition arose although one possibility is that it dates from the time that Christ was three times denied by Peter.

Contrary to this, three is often regarded as a very lucky number, possibly coming from the fact that it takes three to produce life - father, mother and child, and that many of our ancient rituals had to be performed three times to bring good luck.