The bayberry candle has a lovely history that dates back to the earliest settlers. Colonials typically formed their candles from animal tallow, a useful material, but not one with an especially pleasant scent. The tallow candles were smoky, as well.

When some of the early settlers learned they could boil wild bayberries down and use their wax for candles that not only smelled good, but also had a naturally pretty green color, it quickly turned into a coveted item.

Colonial women began to give a pair of bayberry candles as a gesture of friendship, and a new tradition emerged: to burn the candles on a chosen night as soon as the first star appeared in the sky. Today, they are often purchased and shared with an accompanying tale and poem about the past and current beliefs of burning the bayberry candles.

One common verse found along with the sweet-smelling candles is as follows,

“This bayberry candle comes from a friend,

 so on a holiday burn it to the end.

For a bayberry candle burned to the socket,

will bring joy to the heart, and gold to the pocket.”

 Perhaps you want to share in the tradition and give out bayberry candles this year!