A southwestern English variant on the Yule Log is the ashen faggot, a bundle of ash sticks tied together with bark bands. It was burnt on one of the Twelve Nights and it was customary that a fresh round of drinks was served every time one of the bands broke in the fire. The faggot could be quite large, taking hours to burn, and the bands could number over a dozen. Like the Yule Log the faggot must traditionally be lit with a piece of last year`s wood. In a Devonshire custom, the unmarried women of the household each choose a band and the girl whose band is the first to catch fire is the next one to be married; a more recent tradition holds that a woman who steps over the bundle will become pregnant within the year.
Though many of the ceremonies surrounding the bringing in of the Yule Log have disappeared, the burning of the ashen faggot is preserved in Devon and Somerset, especially in pubs where the conviviality and drinks now come at a price. Also known as the ashton faggot.