Guise dancers would dress entirely in black and would rub the ash of burnt cork on their faces leaving only lips and eyes visible.  They would then dance around the streets, knocking on doors to scare residents or receive a treat.  It has become popular again in recent years and there have been allegations that blacking the face is racist.  This ridiculous suggestion is complete nonsense.  In previous centuries, there would be no street lighting so towns and villages would be extremely dark in the late evening.  Cork ash on the face emphasised the eyes and lips adding to the fright the dancers intended to give to the residents.

The Cornish Christmas Bush, also known as the ‘kissing bush’, is a willow wreath decorated with holly, mistletoe and ivy and topped with a apple and a candle stuck into it.  The candle would be lit on this day.

Many villages had torchlit processions which ended at 10pm with a bonfire and with the burning of the Mock which was sometimes called the ‘Cornish Yule Log’.  A chalk-drawn stick figure drawn on a log was cast on the bonfire to represent Old Father Time and the death of the old year.