As part of the Troy Victorian Stroll, Hoosac School singers will perform selections from the “Boar’s Head and Yule Log” Festival at 2 pm on Sunday, December 8, at St. Paul’s Church, 58 Third Street, Troy. The Hoosac School Boar’s Head and Yule Log Singers are a select group of students in striking Renaissance costumes who will sing songs from the traditional Boar’s Head and Yule Log Pageant.
The Boar’s Head is one of the oldest continuing festivals of the Christmas season, first celebrated at Queen’s College, Oxford, in 1340. Legend has it that a scholar was studying a book of Aristotle while walking through the forest on his way to Christmas Mass. Suddenly he was confronted by an angry wild boar. Having no other weapon, the resourceful Oxonian rammed his metal bound philosophy book down the throat of the charging animal, whereupon the brute choked to death. That night the boar’s head, finely dressed and garnished, was borne in procession to the dining room, accompanied by carolers singing “in honor of the King of Bliss.”
This ceremony was brought to colonial America by the Bouton family, persecuted French Huguenots who had learned of the custom during a period of exile in England. The Boutons settled in Troy and were closely connected with the Episcopal church and its schools, including Hoosac School. St. Paul’s of Troy was the “City Church” of the Tibbits family and as such has significant connection to Hoosac School, which was founded in 1889 by The Reverend Dr. Edward Dudley Tibbits, a member of that famous Troy family.
Hoosac School hosts the Yule Log Christmas celebration/pageant annually. Its great array of old costumes has been kept intact for many years. Every faculty member and student has a role in the preparation and performance. Directing the show this year is Music Master Christopher Uhl who said, “The Yule Log is divided into two parts. The first part tells the story of Christ’s birth and its meaning and implications to individual beliefs. The second part is the earthly celebration of that birth and the revelry that accompanied the human celebration – feasting.”
Hoosac School will hold its 123rd celebration of Boar’s Head & Yule Log on Thursday, December 12, 2013.